国际英语新闻：Obama to make fourth visit to Gulf coast

WASHINGTON, June 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama will make his fourth visit to the Gulf of Mexico coast next week, the White House said Tuesday.

The White House says Obama will visit Mississippi, Alabama and Florida next Monday and Tuesday. The three states are being damagingly affected by the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

"On Monday, June 14 and Tuesday, June 15, President Obama will travel to Mississippi, Alabama and Florida to further assess the latest efforts to counter the BP oil spill," the White House said in a statement.

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) pauses while speaking about the BP oil spill during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington June 7, 2010. Beside Obama is Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen.

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, owned by Transocean and leased by BP, sank April 22 some 52 km off Venice, Louisiana, after burning for roughly 36 hours. The untapped wellhead continues gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The White House has called the spill the biggest environmental disaster that the country has ever faced.

With the oil continuing to come ashore, criticism of the spill response mounted. Obama has come under pressure to show that his administration is in charge of the effort to contain and stop the spill.