Melancon rips Vitter over oil spill speech

Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.), who’s challenging Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) this year, on Saturday said Vitter’s speech accusing Democrats of politicizing the Gulf of Mexico oil spill shows that Vitter himself is ... politicizing the oil spill.

“David Vitter had a chance to put the needs of Louisiana families affected by this disaster in the national spotlight, but unfortunately he chose to make a partisan speech that was more about DC politics than helping Louisiana,” Melancon said in a statement released through his Senate campaign.

Vitter, in the GOP’s weekly address Saturday, said that as the crisis unfolds, senior Democrats have “rushed to create media events for television cameras instead of devoting full attention to stopping the immediate problem.”

“I guess it’s typical of the culture in Washington for politicians to believe that they can solve an ongoing crisis with statements and testimonies in Congressional committee rooms. But the time for committee hearings is for after the well has been capped – not before,” Vitter said.

But Melancon called Capitol Hill hearings – which have piled up in recent weeks –  an important part of ensuring accountability for the spill.

“If David Vitter thinks congressional hearings are a waste of time, then he should stop attending them. In the meantime, Congress will continue to call whomever they think is necessary to testify under oath to get to the bottom of what went wrong, whether it's government agencies, BP or any other entities,” Melancon said. “As long as they keep telling half-truths about what happened, how bad the leak is, and what they're doing to fix it, we'll keep asking the tough questions.”