David Vitter: “I rise in support of my filed amendment No. 3025. I will not formally call it up because some revisions to it are still…”

“I rise in support of my filed amendment No. 3025. I will not formally call it up because some revisions to it are still being worked on in conjunction with my colleague from Louisiana, Senator Landrieu, and many other leaders in the Senate. But I will speak on this very important topic, and it has to do with meeting in a positive and responsible way our ongoing needs throughout all the coastal areas--not just Louisiana--for hurricane protection and other coastal needs. Obviously, we have faced many challenges since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This is a responsible way to help meet those needs and to help future coastal needs of all coastal States and to do it in a way that we can afford and that we can build into the budget. Rather than having to come back here every 2 months, every 3 months for additional appropriations, wouldn't it be far better to have a stable revenue source that can help us meet these needs directly? The biggest part of that stable revenue source is royalty share, getting our fair share of what we produce off our coasts in terms of offshore oil and gas. This amendment is a first vital step in that direction because it would look to excess revenue, not anything built into the budget right now, but excess revenue in three areas to use for those vital purposes, not just for Louisiana but for coastal needs and coastal States in general. What are these three areas I am talking about?…”