WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) -- U.S. lawmakers should consider amendments to the 2010 federal budget to aid the massive response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the U.S. president said.
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig sank in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico after exploding in April. A subsea well is gushing oil, threatening the southern U.S. coast.
U.S. President Barack Obama in a letter Wednesday to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the oil spill "is a massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster" that could have a major impact on vulnerable U.S. markets in the Gulf region.
In his letter, he called on lawmakers to consider amendments to the 2010 budget that would "provide critical funds and authorities needed to respond to this spill as well as changes to current law to better prepare the nation for any future spills."
Rig operator BP, owner Transocean and contractor Halliburton are under fire for operations at Deepwater Horizon that led to the gas explosion that sunk the rig. BP is responsible for funding the cleanup effort and is in the process of placing a containment dome over the leaking well.
"My administration and I will not rest -- or be satisfied -- until the leak is stopped at the source, the oil on the Gulf is contained and cleaned up, and the people of this region are able to go back to their lives and livelihoods," the president added.
