On the recordJune 24, 2010
I come to the floor today to add some comments to the Record about this horrendous environmental and economic disaster unfolding in the gulf and to try to provide some additional perspective on behalf of the people I represent, the people of Louisiana. I have been proud to represent them over the last 14 years in the Senate, and in that capacity I have had the opportunity, on a variety of occasions, to speak up strongly for our neighboring States, the gulf coast, America's working coast--a coast that does the work of this country in many ways. We produce most of the oil and gas off the shores of our Nation. We provide a great percentage of petrochemicals that are relied on by men and women in every part of the world, including those in our own country. I could go on and on, from agriculture, to seafood, to navigation of the Mississippi River. We work hard down South, and we are proud of the work we do. We are extremely troubled, as you can imagine, by what is happening today.
