PELOSI: "Mr Barton's Comments Fit Comfortably Among The Leadership Of The Republicans In The House"

[kpete]

Speaking to reporters at her weekly press conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Barton's remark was "one comment."

"I think it's important to note that it was not inconsistent with comments made by the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, part of the Republican leadership, Representative Tom Price. He said; 'BP's reported willingness to go along with the White House's new fund suggests that the Obama administration is hard at work exerting its brand of Chicago-style shake-down politics,'" Pelosi said.

"I think that Mr. Barton's comments fit comfortably among the leadership of the Republicans in the House of Representatives," Pelosi added, referring specifically to Price but noting that Barton serves as ranking republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee at the behest of Republican leaders.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) issued a statement as Pelosi's press conference was beginning in which he called the comments made by Barton and other Republicans "simply unbelievable, and illustrative of a psychology of regulatory neglect that led to a meltdown on Wall Street and now the worst manmade environmental disaster our country has seen."

"In their rush to protect BP, Washington Republicans seem to have forgotten that the real tragedy is not corporate accountability, but the severe personal, economic and environmental devastation that the oil spill has caused for millions of Americans," Hoyer said.

more:
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/103979-pelosi-hoyer-blast-barton-gop-leaders