Cohen Joins House Colleagues to Call on BP to Direct Dividends to Escrow Account

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After BP announced its intention to move forward with a payment to shareholders, Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) joined a coalition of House members led by Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT) in calling on CEO Tony Hayward to suspend dividend payments and advertising campaigns until it remedies the environmental disaster it caused in the Gulf of Mexico.

In a letter to BP CEO Tony Hayward, the House members – led by Congressman Welch – urged BP to ensure it has the funds to pay the full costs of the devastating Gulf Oil spill by temporarily suspending its annual $10 billion dividend. Furthermore, the group called on BP to establish an escrow account to cover cleanup and compensation costs – and to direct dividend payments to that account.

Cohen and a similar group of House members first wrote BP last week urging the company to suspend its dividend and public relations campaign until it fully remedies the Gulf catastrophe. At a news conference on this first letter, Congressman Cohen said the President should consider placing BP in receivership to ensure that the company will have enough assets to cover the cost of damages to the Gulf Coast and the thousands of families affected by this disaster. This new letter builds on Senate Democrats’ proposal to create a $20 billion escrow account administered by independent trustees and available for compensation claims and cleanup efforts.

The letter was signed by the following House members: Reps. Steve Cohen, Peter Welch, Ed Markey, Lois Capps, Keith Ellison, John Olver, John Hall, Gabrielle Giffords, Rosa L. DeLauro, Ron Kind, Dennis Cardoza, Anna Eshoo, Mazie Hirono, Joe Courtney, Russ Carnahan, Jared Polis, Bill Owens, Dave Loebsack, Paul Tonko, Carolyn Maloney, Doris Matsui, Robert Brady, Bill Delahunt, Rush Holt, Bob Filner, Timothy Walz, Pete Stark, Raul M. Grijalva, Betty Sutton, Maurice Hinchey, Michael Capuano and Michael Michaud.

A copy of the letter follows:

Tony Hayward
Chief Executive Officer
BP
1 St James's Square
London
SW1Y 4PD

Dear Mr. Hayward,

As BP board members debate whether to issue a second quarter dividend payment, we renew our call to suspend the dividend and, further, we urge you to direct such funds to an escrow account dedicated to cleaning up the Deepwater Horizon spill and compensating its victims.

Your company has affirmed its intention to pay the full costs of this devastating environmental and economic disaster. As those costs continue to rise – to $37 billion, by one estimate – the American people require an assurance that your company will be able to honor all legitimate claims.

President Obama and 54 members of the U.S. Senate have called for the establishment of an independently administered $20 billion escrow account, which would be available to cover cleanup costs and economic damages. We join them in their request and further call on BP to divert future dividend payments to this account until such time that all cleanup and compensation costs are fully covered.