Clearwater Mayor to Address the Committee on Homeland Security

7/12/2010 1:55:04 PM

Contact: Joelle Castelli

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 12, 2010

Contact: Joelle Castelli

(727) 562-4881

Clearwater Mayor to Address the Committee on Homeland Security

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Mayor Frank Hibbard will testify Monday, July 12, 2010 at 2 p.m. in New Orleans, La. to the Committee on Homeland Security, regarding the BP oil spill. Hibbard is expected to make the following points in his speech:

• Communication between different levels of government, BP and the public is important.

• This catastrophe is affecting our local and state economy.

• Concerns about usurping resources that are currently needed elsewhere must be addressed. Coastal residents and businesses need assurance that we will be prepared to minimize damage and coordinate rapid clean-up.

• Information needs to be technically accurate and yet geared to the layman so we can educate the media, citizens and tourist industry.

• Florida is seeing a decline in tourism.

• European visitors often rely on tour operators who cannot guarantee the quality of the consumers’ experience.

• The disaster is seriously hampering economic recovery impacting many Florida businesses.

• BP should be spending more money on public relations for areas affected tangibly and by perception.

Mayor Hibbard traveled to New Orleans in June with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and was able to see some of the damage along the Louisiana coast line.

The House Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Management, Investigations and Oversight is holding a field hearing entitled “The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Chain of Command: An Examination of Information Sharing Practices During a Spill of National Significance.”

Public access to this testimony is available via the Internet at the U.S. House of Representatives http://homeland.house.gov,or the Library of Congress http://www.house.gov.

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