It’s not every day that we get to cheer about major policy victories for Louisiana, but we won several this month.
 
In the Senate, we passed legislation known as the Highway Bill, which is a great bipartisan jobs bill. It’s an infrastructure bill with zero earmarks!
 
I was fortunate to have a seat – the only Louisianian – at the table on the bipartisan conference committee to meld the House and Senate versions of the Highway Bill. As Louisiana’s only representative, I made the case for several major priorities for our state. And now that the conference report is law, we have very good news for Louisiana. The Highway Bill included support for Louisiana infrastructure projects, the Restore Act, a five year reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program, and legislation supporting use of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for maintenance and dredging.
 
Please continue reading below to learn more about these victories and other ways that I’ve been working to bring Louisiana common-sense to Washington.

Sincerely,
 

David Vitter
United States Senator

Highlights from the past month (click the hyperlinks for more information):

Video Spotlight: Committed to Repealing Obamacare Outright

This month, the Supreme Court voted to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. This is an extremely disappointing ruling, but I am more committed than ever to repealing Obamacare outright. Obamacare may have been judged constitutional, but I think it's also proven to be a bad idea since its passage. It continues to increase the cost of health care services and puts the federal government between patients and doctors.
 
Click here to listen to my remarks about Obamacare on the Senate floor.

Highway Bill to Become Law, Includes Restore Act & Flood Insurance

I’m happy to announce that the Highway Bill was approved by the U.S. House and Senate conference committee and passed by both chambers. As the only member of the Louisiana delegation on the conference committee, I made it an absolute top priority to include the Restore Act in the final version of the bill. I also worked to get a five year reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program and language supporting the complete use of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund dollars for critical dredging projects included in the bill. Click here to learn more about the final version of the legislation.

This is a huge step toward vital, long-overdue coastal restoration work along the Gulf Coast in Louisiana and our neighboring states. The Restore language will go a long way in addressing the impacts of the environmental and economic damage from last year’s oil spill, and we think it’s more than fair to have 80 percent of the fines for this event dedicated for restoration along the Gulf Coast.

Vitter Continues Fight Against Amnesty for Illegal Aliens

This month, President Obama announced that the federal government will halt the deportation of as many as 800,000 illegal immigrants under the age of 30 who arrived here when they were 16 or younger. Click here to read more about White House announcement.  Additionally, the Supreme Court ruled against parts of the Arizona immigration law. Click here to read more about the decision.

Both the White House announcement and the Supreme Court ruling highlight a void created by the federal government in neglecting its duty and allowing illegal immigration to run amok. President Obama still isn’t serious about immigration reform – just the politics of it.  Serious immigration reform leadership would first focus on securing our border and enforcing the laws already on the books.  Instead, the Obama administration is only interested in granting blanket amnesty, which is why I’ll continue to be a leader on tackling those two big challenges.

JPMorgan Chase Debacle Highlights Need to End Too Big To Fail

This month, I had the opportunity to question JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon in a U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing to analyze what went wrong with their recent $2 billion failed trade. Click here to watch a video of my questions.

The JPMorgan debacle makes a strong case that megabanks need a higher capital standard and smarter trading regulations in place. If the megabanks are required to have more capital, we'll either incent them to become smaller or help ensure that they can weather the next crisis without a taxpayer bailout.

Prohibit Gender Discrimination of Unborn 

I believe that it’s flat out morally wrong to assign different values to unborn babies’ lives based on gender, but unfortunately, even in the United States, it happens. That’s why I introduced the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act this month. It’s a bill that would make it illegal to obtain an abortion due to a gender preference.

Click here to learn more about my Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, which would bring the U.S. closer to eradicating gender discrimination. 

Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Act Extension Passes Committee

This month, I was able to secure a reauthorization of my Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Act that passed out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. This bill would continue restoration efforts in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin for five more years through 2017. Now it now awaits consideration from the full Senate.

Getting the Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Act through committee is a huge step towards continuing restoration efforts for the region. I’ll be urging my colleagues in the Senate for a swift process to complete the bill and getting it signed into law.