| June 30, 2005 - (Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senator David Vitter announced that the U.S. Senate passed $1.7 million in federal funding for the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program late yesterday. “The Senate recognizes the importance of Lake Pontchartrain to Louisiana and to our nation,” Vitter said. “This $1.7 million in federal funding for the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program will advance these efforts so that one day the lake will be fully restored.” As a freshman in Congress, Vitter authored and passed into law the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program, which created a partnership between the federal government and local stakeholders to further efforts to clean up the lake. Through this program Vitter has steered nearly $20 million to Louisiana for cleanup efforts in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. Lake Pontchartrain is the second largest lake in the United States after the Great Lakes and is surrounded by 1.5 million residents, making it the most populated area in the state of Louisiana. The 16 parishes in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin are Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Jefferson, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington. The Interior Appropriations Bill has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives and will now move to a House-Senate conference committee where a final agreement will be produced. |
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