Capps, Markey push Senate on spill commission subpoena power

Two House Democrats are pressing Senate leaders to quickly provide subpoena power to the presidential commission probing the BP oil spill, but the Senate appears unlikely to act in the remaining hours before it breaks for weeks.

Reps. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), in a letter Wednesday that blames Republicans for Senate inaction, note that BP and other companies involved in the spill have “failed to provide accurate and timely information to investigators regarding a number of critical issues.”

The two House members sponsored legislation approved 420-1 in June that provides subpoena power to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. But the Senate has not taken up the measure.

The co-chairs of the commission – former Florida Sen. Bob Graham (D) and former EPA Administrator William Reilly – on Tuesday said the lack of subpoena power is hindering the probe.

“The Senate must act this week so investigators can compel testimony from reticent companies and enable the commission to complete its report on the causes of the spill by the January deadline. Without this critical tool BP and the other companies involved in the spill may escape being held accountable for their mistakes,” Capps and Markey wrote Wednesday in the letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

But their 11th-hour request is unlikely to be granted. A spokesman for Reid noted earlier today that Republicans have objected to the legislation in the past. The Senate is slated to adjourn tonight until after the mid-term elections.

“By blocking the commission subpoena power, Republican obstructionists in the Senate are shielding BP from investigators tasked with getting to the bottom of this crime,” Markey said in a prepared statement.