Gulf rig widows urge repeal of high seas death law
By MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press Writer
CHALMETTE, La. (AP) -- Members of Congress vowed Monday to amend a 90-year-old law that limits the amount of money survivors can recover in the deaths of family members killed in the Gulf of Mexico oil rig explosion.
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and other members of the House Energy and Commerce committee said the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion exposed the need to reform the
1920 Death on the High Seas Act, which limits liability for wrongful deaths more than three miles offshore.
"One way we can hurt BP is to make sure that 'BP' stand for 'Bills Paid,' that the money for families, the money to cleanup the Gulf comes out of their pocket, and that we repeal the Death on the High Seas Act," Markey said."My family can never and will never be adequately compensated for our loss," said Courtney Kemp of Jonesville, La., whose husband was killed in the April 20 explosion. "What I am seeking is accountability from the wrongdoers who caused this terrible tragedy."
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