[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8] [House] [Page 10572] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]ADMINISTRATION AWOL ON OIL SPILL (Mr. SMITH of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it took President Obama 12 days to visit the gulf coast oil spill. In contrast, President Bush visited New Orleans just 4 days after Hurricane Katrina; yet the national media harshly criticized his response as being too slow. For more than a month, the Obama administration said that BP was responsible for stopping the oil. Finally, during the President's first news conference in 10 months, he said, ``I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down.'' Tomorrow the President finally will address the country to discuss the oil spill. The national media should hold the Obama administration to the same standard they did the Bush administration. Anything less shows a partisan bias. ____________________