them to be standing by in case of other spills elsewhere. you d say, look, the nation s worst environmental disaster is unfolding right here, right now. what does the federal government say to that? not much. admiral thad allen last week saying that working around the 1990 law is, and i quote, a work in progress. is that what you would say if this country was being attacked? meantime, new waves of oil hitting the shore in mississippi and florida. new beach closings in both states. and officials closing the inlet into pensacola bay as a six-square-mile sheet of thick reddish oil patches is getting closer. what about foreign countries offering up their skimming vessels? turns out there s a law against that, the jones act of 1920, intended to prevent foreign ships from taking part in american domestic trade, taking cargo from one american port to the other. the law meaning that foreign skimmers cannot pick up oil within three miles of shore