Political Quotes

“Right after the oil spill, I had the opportunity to fly over the spill at ground zero, and as I flew over the gulf, I saw thousands of square miles of our beautiful waters being covered by this brown sludge and additional thousands of square miles of our beautiful gulf was covered by this oily slick. I also toured by boat just a couple of weeks ago with the officials of Plaquemines Parish as well as Jefferson Parish, and as I was traveling through Barataria Bay, I saw patches of brown oil infringing on the oyster beds that are so integral to the seafood industry of Louisiana. And as I saw the oil as it encroaches upon the marshes and the wetlands, my heart dropped for the State of Louisiana as well as for the many fishermen and the many small businesses that are impacted by this catastrophe. I also spent much of my time visiting businesses and talking to small business owners who are being impacted by this oil spill. I visited a seafood open market in Westwego and saw half of the businesses closed, and the parking lot remained empty. And I spoke to the business owners, and they informed me that their business has declined by more than half since the oil spill. And instead of being open for 5 days out of the week, 6 days out of the week, they are only open now 2 days out of the week. So we see that the oil spill has had a devastating impact on the many people of the gulf coast and the many small businesses of the people of my district.”