【英语国际】英国石油公司CEO唐熙华美国国会山受拷问

BP PLC Chief Executive Tony Hayward went to Capitol Hill to apologize for the disaster caused by his company's gushing Gulf of Mexico oil well, and to absorb the blows as American politics requires when business leaders stumble into tragedy or scandal.

Mr. Hayward stuck to his plan. He sat for hours on Thursday, alone at a witness table, parrying questions from indignant members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a deliberate monotone.

Over and over, he said he wasn't involved in the decisions preceding the accident and declined to speculate on causes until investigations were complete.

Summoning executives of companies caught up in financial or legal trouble to receive televised scoldings is a ritual of U.S. politics. Detroit auto titans, Wall Street bankers, and the head of Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor Corp. have all done time in Congress's dock as lawmakers looked for someone to blame for the calamities of the past two years.

Even by the standards of these proceedings, the fury directed at Mr. Hayward was unusual. Democrats accused BP of sacrificing safety for profit. One said the video of the Gulf spill made her physically ill. A Louisiana Republican held up a photograph of an oil-slimed pelican.

And when one senior Republican -- Rep. Joe Barton of Texas -- stepped up to apologize to Mr. Hayward, the backlash was so severe he was forced to apologize for his apology.

Just minutes into the hearing, Mr. Barton, a ranking member of the committee, denounced the Obama Administration for pushing the British oil company to agree Tuesday to put $20 billion into a fund to cover damages caused by the disaster. Mr. Barton called the plan a 'slush fund.'

To that point, Mr. Barton's critique echoed statements by other Republicans. Then he went further.

'I apologize,' Mr. Barton said. 'I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong is subject to some sort of political pressure that is -- again, in my words -- amounts to a shakedown. So, I apologize.'

Rep. Barton left the hearing immediately after making his statement. The aftershocks rumbled throughout the day.

Mr. Hayward's entourage included a phalanx of dark suits including aides, experts and a body guard. He brought a public-relations specialist.

He soon found that $20 billion and an apology weren't going to make his day better.

'The explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon and the resulting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico never should have happened -- and I am deeply sorry that they did,' Mr. Hayward said in an 11-page written statement.

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations were having none of it. They grew increasingly frustrated as Mr. Hayward dodged specific questions aimed at pinning blame for the explosion on specific BP decisions and on him as the company's leader.

'With respect, sir, we drill hundreds of wells each year,' he said slowly, fingering a pen as he testified.

'That's what's scaring me,' shot back Rep. Michael Burgess, a Texas Republican.

Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) accused Mr. Hayward of stonewalling.

'I'm not stonewalling,' Mr. Hayward said. 'I simply was not involved in the decision-making process' before the explosion.

The hearing ground on and on. As the clock crawled toward 5 p.m., Mr. Hayward's stated positions remained unchanged.

The same couldn't be said for Mr. Barton. The Texas lawmaker's apology to Mr. Hayward had touched off a storm. The White House, stung by earlier criticism from Republicans of its $20 billion deal with BP, unloaded with a rare mid-hearing rebuttal to Rep. Barton.

'What is shameful is that Joe Barton seems to have more concern for big corporations that caused this disaster than the fishermen, small-business owners and communities whose lives have been devastated by the destruction,' a White House spokesman said. Vice President Joe Biden called Mr. Barton's views 'incredibly insensitive.'

Associated Press英国石油公司首席执行长唐熙华前往美国国会为墨西哥湾油井漏油事件造成的灾难道歉并接受质询。英国石油公司(BP PLC)首席执行长唐熙华(Tony Hayward)前往美国国会为墨西哥湾油井漏油事件造成的灾难道歉并接受质询。当商业领袖卷入悲剧或丑闻时，美国政客要求他们接受质询。

周四，唐熙华在国会山死守严防。他独自一人在证人席上坐了四个小时，以一种从容不迫、始终不变的声调抵挡着众议院能源和商务委员会(House Energy and Commerce Committee)愤怒的委员会们提出的问题。

他一遍又一遍地说自己未参与这起事故之前的决策，并拒绝在调查结束之前推测事故的起因。

传唤陷入财务或法律问题的公司高管接受质询并进行电视转播是美国政坛的老规矩。在国会议员们为过去两年的各种灾难寻找替罪羊的过程中，底特律汽车巨头、华尔街银行家以及日本汽车巨头丰田汽车公司(Toyota Motor Corp.)的负责人均在国会山上经受了洗礼。

美国国会就墨西哥湾漏油事件举行听证会。以下视频中，英国石油公司首席执行长唐熙华(Tony Hayward)接受议员们的质询。即使按照这些程序的标准来看，针对唐熙华的风暴强度也不同寻常。民主党人指责英国石油公司为利润牺牲安全。一人说墨西哥湾漏油事件的视频让她身体不适。一位来自路易斯安那州的共和党人拿出了一张照片，照片中的鹈鹕身上粘满了油污。

当来自得克萨斯州的资深共和党人巴顿(Joe Barton)上前向唐熙华道歉时，其他人的反应如此强烈以至于他不得不就其道歉一事表示道歉。

听证会开始后仅几分钟，委员会高级成员巴顿公开谴责奥巴马政府迫使英国石油公司于周四同意提供200亿美元成立一个基金以弥补由此次灾难造成的伤害。巴顿称这一计划为“贿赂基金”。

在这一点上，巴顿的评论与其他共和党人的声明相呼应。然后，他更进一步。

巴顿说，我道歉，我不想生活在这样一个国家：一旦有一位公民或一家公司做了一件合法的错事，便会受到某种政治压力，然后这种压力（用我的话说）会发展成一种勒索。所以，我道歉。

巴顿在做出上述言论之后立即离开了听证会。然而此言论的余震终日未绝。

唐熙华带来了大批身着深色西装的随从人员，包括助手、专家和私人保镖，他还带来了一个公关专家。

他很快发现200亿的基金以及一个道歉并不会让他这一天好过一些。

唐熙华在长达11页的书面声明中说，深水地平线(Deepwater Horizon)上的爆炸和大火以及由此导致的墨西哥湾漏油事件本不应发生，我在此致以深深的歉意。

众议院能源和商务委员会监督与调查子委员会(House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations)的成员却没感受到他的歉意。针对旨在把爆炸的原因归咎为英国石油公司的某些决定以及要求他作为公司负责人承担责任的各种质询，唐熙华采取了回避战术，委员们的挫败感则越来越强。

唐熙华手里拿着笔，缓声说，恕我直言，我们每年钻数百口井。

得克萨斯州共和党人伯吉斯(Michael Burgess)反击道，这才让我害怕。

能源和商务委员会主席、来自加州的民主党人韦克斯曼(Henry Waxman)指责唐熙华妨碍调查。

唐熙华说，我不是妨碍调查，我只是没有参与爆炸前的决策过程。

听证会一再搁浅。表针指向下午五点时，唐熙华的陈词立场始终没有改变。

巴顿的情况则不同。这位得州议员向唐熙华道歉一事引发了一场风暴。此前因与英国石油公司达成200亿美元协议，白宫受到了共和党人的批评。此次白宫十分罕见地在听证会结束前反驳了巴顿的言论。

白宫发言人说，真是可耻，巴顿似乎更关心导致这场灾难的大公司，而不是那些渔民、小企业主和居民，那些被这场灾难破坏了生计的人。美国副总统拜登(Joe Biden)称巴顿的观点“极端麻木不仁”。