Mitch Landrieu: “These are coastal wetlands. We are proud of that. It is a totally different environment and topography than exists in…”

“These are coastal wetlands. We are proud of that. It is a totally different environment and topography than exists in many other places. But we do have some very special and extraordinary needs, and I would be doing a great disservice to the people of our State if we didn't fight as hard as we could for the many projects in this bill--for the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration; the Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico Hurricane Protection Project, which we literally have been working on for 20 years; the Port of Iberia Navigation and Vermilion Parish Hurricane Protection Project; Jefferson Parish consolidation; Larose to Golden Meadow, which is a little community down here in Lafourche Parish, but it was the only authorized Federal levee that did not collapse in the last hurricane. But it has been shrinking. This will help us to build it up, to strengthen it, and to keep that wonderful community safe and dry, as the next storms approach. We understand people cannot live in some areas. They are prohibited from development. We are doing much more strict zoning and planning and community planning and design. In fact, some communities are picking up and moving north. Some communities are not building any more in flood zones. We are with the program when it comes to keeping our people safe. We can do more in that regard and we will. But without these fundamental earthen barriers and levees and locks, this job will never get done.”