November 6, 2007
Contact: Robin Winchell (202) 225-4031
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA) thanked his colleagues
in the House of Representatives today for overriding the President's veto of
the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (WRDA). WRDA had previously
passed both chambers of Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support, securing
a vote of 381-40 in the House and 81-12 in the Senate. The House
successfully overrode the President's veto by a strong bipartisan vote of 361
to 54.
"Today is a historic day for Louisiana, and I thank
my colleagues for standing firm and continuing to support this bill that is
critical to our state's future," Rep.
Melancon said. "For the citizens of south Louisiana,
our long wait for authorization for building Morganza, closing MR-GO,
strengthening levees in Lafourche, and restoring wetlands across Louisiana's Gulf
Coast is almost over."
"After seven years of anxious
waiting and too many close calls that ended in disappointment, today south
Louisianians are just one more vote away from seeing WRDA finally cross the
finish line. I urge the Senate to act quickly, and prove Congress's
commitment to protecting America's
Energy Coast
and the thousand of Americans that live and work in coastal Louisiana."
During debate on the bill, Rep. Melancon spoke in support of
WRDA and the critical hurricane protection and coastal restoration projects for
Louisiana
included in the bill. The speech can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL3xF6pSORI
Rep. Melancon's comments, as prepared for delivery, are below.
Today I ask you to join me for in
supporting one of the most critical bills for Louisiana's recovery and future.
The Water Resources and Development
Act contains several critical authorizations for hurricane protection projects
in South Louisiana.
WRDA authorizes the closure of the
Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (dubbed the "Hurricane Highway" after Katrina)
which funneled deadly flood waters into the heart of eastern New Orleans and
St. Bernard Parish, destroying thousands of homes and devastating these
communities.
Also authorized in WRDA is the
comprehensive hurricane protection system known as Morganza to the Gulf, a
64-mile system of levees, locks and floodgates planned for south Louisiana.
Morganza would offer hurricane
protection to about 120,000 people in south Louisiana who currently have no defense
against storms and are like sitting ducks in the path of the next killer
hurricane.
This hurricane protection system is
so critical, the local communities have been taxing themselves for years to try
to build parts of the levee system on their own.
But they need the federal government
to be a partner in this project, and have anxiously followed the progress of
WRDA for years, hoping for full authorization for Morganza.
WRDA also authorizes funding to
bring the federal levees in the South Lafourche Levee District up to 100-year
protection, creating better hurricane protection to residents in Lafourche
Parish, which is home to one of the largest energy corridors in the country.
In addition to these vital hurricane
protection projects, WRDA includes a comprehensive coastal restoration plan
that will authorize projects to rebuild the protective wetlands along Louisiana's coast.
When I travel across south Louisiana, I see with my
own eyes how our rich marshes and wetlands are disappearing. Louisiana loses a
football field-sized piece of land to the sea every 35 minutes. During
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we lost over 200 square miles of coastline.
Our state is literally washing away into the Gulf of
Mexico.
The Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA)
authorized by WRDA is a responsible plan that ensures the marshes and wetlands
that buffer our coast from storms are protected, as well as the infrastructure
that provides for over 20% of the nation's oil and gas production and the
habitat for 30% of the seafood consumed in the United States.
We must override the President's
veto today.
Every day WRDA is delayed is another
day that 120,000 Americans in south Louisiana
remain unprotected from storms because we haven't broken ground on
Morganza-to-the-Gulf.
Every year that we don't pass a WRDA
bill is another year that Louisiana's
coastal wetlands wash away even further because we haven't begun work on the
LCA comprehensive coastal restoration plan.
And every hurricane season that goes
by without WRDA becoming law is another season that the citizens of St. Bernard
and New Orleans
remain more vulnerable to deadly storm surges because the MRGO hasn't been
closed.
We can't wait any longer.
Congress has come up short in
finishing a WRDA bill for seven years now, and today we are so close we MUST
NOT be stopped.
Louisiana's hurricane protection and coastal restoration needs must
not be pushed aside any longer.
Finally, I would like to thank
the committee members and staff for their steadfast dedication to the this
legislation and I urge my colleagues to support the successful recovery of
Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf Coast by voting to override the President's
veto and passing WRDA with an overwhelming bi-partisan vote.
Thank you, and I yield back the rest
of my time.
The compromise legislation includes authorization for over
$3 billion in projects for south Louisiana, including full authorization for
the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane and storm protection system, $1.9 billion
for a comprehensive federal coastal restoration plan, closure of the
Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, and $90 million to bring the federal levees in
the South Lafourche Levee District up to 100-year protection, which will offer
better protection to residents in the parish and make their homes eligible for
the National Flood Insurance Program.
The bill also authorizes numerous other water resource
projects throughout the country.
Specifically, WRDA included full authorization for the
Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico Hurricane and Storm Protection System.
This 64-mile system of levees, locks and floodgates will provide hurricane and
flood protection to about 120,000 people and 1,700 square miles in Terrebonne
and Lafourche Parishes who currently have no hurricane protection.
Congressman Melancon has made Morganza to the Gulf one of his top priorities in
Congress, and has secured assurances from his leadership that this vital
project would not be removed from WRDA bill.
WRDA also authorizes $90 million to bring the federal levees
in the South Lafourche Levee District up to 100-year protection, which will
offer better protection to residents in the parish and make their homes
eligible for the National Flood Insurance Program.
Also, WRDA authorizes up to $100 million to consolidate the
scattered levees in lower Jefferson Parish into a comprehensive hurricane
protection system for the town of Lafitte.
In addition, WRDA authorizes approximately $1.9 billion for
the Corps of Engineers to carry out the comprehensive program for the
restoration of the Louisiana Coastal Area. This program will help restore
populated and coastal areas significantly impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita, and will help in preventing future damage from hurricanes and storm
surge, by slowing the continuing land loss, and replenishing the coastal
marshes of southern Louisiana. The bill also authorizes the Corps to
integrate into this comprehensive program the findings of a current Corps study
for "category 5" protection for coastal Louisiana.
Finally, WRDA deauthorizes and calls for the physical
closure of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet ("MR-GO"), the 76-mile ship
channel through St. Bernard Parish that has been dubbed the "hurricane
highway." Rep. Melancon has long advocated in Congress for the complete
closure of MR-GO because of the environmental degradation it has caused in St.
Bernard Parish and the threat it poses to the parish's residents. Shortly after
the Katrina, Rep. Melancon worked in Congress to pass legislation to stop any
further dredging of the MRGO to ensure that the channel could begin to silt in
while the Corps came up with a plan for the MRGO's long-term future.
Congress is supposed to pass a new WRDA bill every two
years. However, no new WRDA bills have been signed into law since 2000
because the House and Senate have repeatedly been unable to reach a compromise
on the legislation since then. As a result, many vital projects in south Louisiana have been
stalled, awaiting authorization from Congress.
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