Mitch Landrieu: “I restate how difficult it is for some of us from some States that have serious needs of critical infrastructure. We…”

“I restate how difficult it is for some of us from some States that have serious needs of critical infrastructure. We supply 20 percent of the Nation's oil and gas. I have more pipelines in my State than any other State in the Union. We are happy to provide the energy. We have more chemical plants than Illinois, New Jersey, and other States. To ask us to be forced to say we don't really need money for that and we can give money to urban areas--the fact is, we need to give money to both, and to New York, Pennsylvania, New Orleans, as well as other places where pipelines run under very small communities. I hope the Senator from Pennsylvania will take seriously--and I know he does--what point I am making and perhaps work as a member of the Appropriations Committee as this bill moves through to try to find an additional remedy so we don't have to get rural areas giving up their money for urban areas, or urban areas giving up their money for rural areas, and we can try to make fair allocations to protect all of the critical infrastructure in the Nation, whether it is in rural or urban areas.”