For Immediate Release
Contact: Anna C. Little for Congress Inc.
P.O. Box 382
Highlands, NJ 07732
(732) 216-4771
anna@annalittleforcongress.com

Anna Little: Pallone’s Dereliction of Duty Contributed to Gulf Oil Spill
Rigorous oversight could have prevented tragedy


Highlands, NJ- June 22. Republican nominee for congress from New Jersey’s 6th district, Highlands Mayor Anna Little, today called upon Congressman Frank Pallone to accept responsibility for his negligence regarding his oversight responsibilities that directly contributed to the Gulf oil spill disaster.

“The recent news that our federal government knew of serious problems with BP’s operations in the Gulf of Mexico as early as February, two months before the explosion that killed 11 people, caused billions of dollars in economic turmoil and unimaginable environmental damage is appalling,” said Little, “As a senior member of the congressional committee with oversight jurisdiction over these operations, Frank Pallone is culpable. It is inexcusable that our government, through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, could have and should have prevented this disaster, yet did nothing.”

Pallone, a 22-year incumbent, is a senior member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce with oversight jurisdiction over exploration, production, storage, supply, marketing, pricing, and regulation of energy resources, including all fossil fuels.

Pallone issued a “tweet” on June 18 saying that he was, “Frustrated w/BP CEO’s nonresponses at yesterday’s hrg - Gulf coast residents & Amer. [People] deserve better explanation for causes of this mess.”

Little agrees, “The American people and the residents of New Jersey’s 6th district do deserve and explanation for the causes of this mess. However, we also deserve an explanation as to why Frank Pallone, his colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee as well as the Obama administration’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement failed to prevent this ongoing disaster from happening given the information they had in February. It is little wonder that the American people have such a low esteem for Congress.”