Rep. David Rivera, one of eight Republican representatives present at the subcommittee hearing, has introduced legislation, now in Mica’s committee, that would require foreign parties and their collaborators to pay for all cleanup costs.

“If something happens, that oil is coming right here to these beaches that you see…. We need to figure out now we can inflict maximum pain, bleed Repsol,’’ Rivera said.

Debbie Payton, chief of the emergency response division for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, noted that the fast-moving currents surrounding Florida could carry oil 70 to 80 nautical miles in a 24-hour period. A good portion of oil spilled in Cuba or the Bahamas would likely remain offshore because it would have to cross very strong currents to reach the shoreline.

But, she said, some scenarios do show oil reaching the Florida coast — most likely 10 to 20 days after a spill.

John Proni, executive director of the Applied Research Center at Florida International University, said more research is needed on how oil-bearing water moves as well as on the impact of drilling-fluid releases on coastal waters. He proposed the creation of a consortium of local universities, regional science laboratories and private industry that would do research and address information gaps on how oil releases affect U.S. waters.

Such an effort, he said, should be “an extremely urgent priority.’’

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, whose district includes the Keys and Miami-Dade County, said that while it is not possible to prevent Repsol from drilling now, “I urge my congressional colleagues to push the Obama administration to act in order to prevent new potential lease holders [in Cuban waters] from moving forward so we can prevent the Castro brothers from becoming the oil tycoons of the Caribbean.’’