Political Quotes

“I will yield when I am through. One of my top concerns is the critical outfall canals in New Orleans. It was the breaches in those canals that led to 80 percent of the catastrophic flooding of New Orleans. It was those breaches that were caused by design flaws of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. All I am asking under this category is that the corps do a risk/cost analysis of the different options they have identified in terms of fixing the outfall canals. The reason I am concerned about the path they are moving down, which is their option 1, is that I truly believe it is much less safe and much less robust than their identified option 2. It is not only I who believes that. It is the corps who admits it. In the corps' report to Congress, which we mandated, the corps itself said: Option 2--that is the option they are rejecting--is generally more technically advantageous and may be more effective operationally over option 1 because it would have greater reliability and further reduces the risk of flooding. In addition, Chris Accardo, the corps' chief of operations in New Orleans, said he is in favor of option 2 over option 1, absolutely. In light of that, all I am asking, with the rest of the Louisiana delegation, with all the affected communities in southeast Louisiana, is that the corps perform a risk/cost analysis comparing these different options before they forge ahead building the option they themselves admit is less safe, less dependable.…”