Washington, DC – Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) today voted for a group of three Appropriations bills that included a Wicker-sponsored amendment requiring an independent audit of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF).

“From the beginning, we asked for transparency and fairness from the GCCF as it worked to help people impacted by the oil spill,” said Wicker.  “Many questions about the claims process have arisen without sufficient answers, so this audit should bring needed explanations.”

Wicker joined Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to introduce the amendment, which requires the U.S. Attorney General to identify an independent auditor to evaluate the GCCF.  From its establishment in August 2010, there have been complaints from many Mississippians impacted by the BP oil spill that claims paid through the GCCF have not been consistent or fair and that the process has not been fully transparent. 

Wicker and others began pressing the GCCF last year to provide more information about the claims process.  This will mark the first independent audit of the GCCF and the methods and policies by which they determined claims payments for individuals and businesses affected by the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.

The Rubio-Wicker amendment is similar to a provision in a House spending bill sponsored by Representative Jo Bonner (R-Ala.). 

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