3rd UPDATE:Rep Waxman Blasts BP CEO At Congressional Hearing

(Updates with comment from Rep. Stupak.) By Siobhan Hughes, Tennille Tracy and Stephen Power Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.S. lawmakers on Thursday blasted BP PLC's (BP, BP.LN) chief executive at his first appearance before Congress since a deadly oil-rig explosion, with a top Democrat saying he "found no evidence that you paid any attention to the tremendous risks BP was taking." "There is not a single email or document that shows you paid even the slightest attention to the dangers at this well," U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D, Calif.) told BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward, the sole witness at the hearing. "You are the CEO, so we considered the possibility that you may have delegated the oversight responsibility to someone else," Waxman said. But after reviewing emails received by other executives, "we could find no evidence" that they had received briefings about drilling activities at the well. The remarks suggest that BP's agreement to contribute $20 billion to a spill-damage fund did little to quell anger among Democrats on Capitol Hill. Though Waxman praised BP's decision, he had little else positive to say. "BP's corporate complacency is astonishing," Waxman said. Hayward, who was sworn in under oath, told the committee the situation is "a tragedy" and said that "I deeply regret" the impact the spill has had on people and the environment. He said that while "we don't yet know" the causes of the April 20 blowout, the company is "doing everything we can" to secure the well and "we will make this right." Rep. Bart Stupak (D, Mich.) asked, "are you trying to tell me you have not reached a conclusion that BP really cut corners here?" Hayward responded that "it's too early to reach conclusions." Waxman, whose panel has been investigating the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, said "there is a complete contradiction between BP's words and deeds. You were brought in to make safety the top priority of BP. But under your leadership, BP has taken the most extreme risks." The mood on the panel suggested the damage to BP from the panel's investigation, which involved a review of 30,000 pages of documents. One email cited by congressional investigators earlier showed a BP official brushing aside warnings from Halliburton Co. (HAL) that the company was using too few "centralizers." "Who cares, it's done, end of story, will probably be fine and we'll get a good cement job," according to the email from BP's operations drilling engineer. "You said safety was your No. 1 priority," said Rep. Michael Burgess (R., Texas). "Safety was traded off; in fact it was not the priority." Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) said "the appearance is, Mr. Hayward, that BP has not learned from previous mistakes." She said "BP cannot blame mother nature, or equipment failure or even other subcontractors. Their actions have put at risk the livelihood of communities and businesses that depend on the Gulf." While focusing their anger on BP, some Republicans also used the hearing to direct anger toward the Obama administration. A Wednesday deal between the White House and BP on the $20 billion escrow fund has riled some people in the business community, who fear the U.S. government is using strong-arm tactics that go beyond ordinary legal processes for handling such disasters. "I think that it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation is subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, in this case a $20 billion shakedown," said Rep. Joe Barton (R, Texas). While "there is no question that BP is liable," he complained about the participation of the Justice Department in talks at the White House. "I apologize. I do not want to live a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong is subject to some sort of political pressure." U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that "I don't apologize for the Justice Department's role in this matter." He said that "what we have done has been entirely appropriate." The White House issued a statement calling on lawmakers to "repudiate" Barton's comments. Rep. Betty Sutton (D., Ohio) said she felt "physically sick" viewing scenes of the spill on television and condemned BP's "culture of carelessness." Rep. John Dingell (D., Mich.) recited BP's history of accidents in recent years involving an Alaska pipeline and a deadly fire at a refinery, and a series of comments Hayward has made in recent weeks, some of which he has apologized for, such as his remark that he wanted his "life back" and that the amount of oil spilled is "tiny" when compared with the total water volume of the Gulf. "Last year, Mr. Hayward enjoyed a 41% pay raise even as BP's profits dropped 45%," Dingell said. "I am just a poor Polish lawyer from Detroit, but that seems like a curious response to a drop in profits." -By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6654; siobhan.hughes@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 17, 2010 12:41 ET (16:41 GMT)