BP's chief executive officer Tony Hayward repeatedly told Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep Monday that his company will pay all "legitimate claims" rising from its responsibility for the dynamic disaster from the free-flowing oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico from his company's destroyed drilling project.

The current federal cap of $75 million in economic damages on what oil companies must pay certainly wouldn't be too challenging for a company the size of BP.

But $75 million wouldn't go very far considering the amount of economic losses that may be experienced by the fishing and tourism industries alone, sectors responsible for billions of dollars of annual economic activity.

So several Senate Democrats have introduced legislation that would raise that cap to $10 billion.

An excerpt from a statement by Senators Robert Menendez (D-N.J), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Bill Nelson (D-FL.) said:

MENENDEZ: "The bottom line is that oil spills can leave massive holes in the economy. If you spill it, you should have to fill it. We're glad that the costs for the oil clean up will be covered, but that's little consolation to the small businesses, fisheries and local governments that will be left to clean up the economic mess that somebody else caused. We can't let the burden fall on the taxpayers — we should ensure that those who cause the damage are fully responsible. There is no such thing as a 'Too Big to Spill' oil well, which is why we need this economic protection in place. With some predicting that this spill could potentially make its way up the eastern seaboard, and with future plans for drilling along the East Coast, I look at this bill as a safety net for our small businesses owners and fisheries on the Jersey Shore as well."