On the recordSeptember 24, 2010
I come to the floor today to speak on an issue that is of great importance to my home State of Louisiana: Federal disaster assistance. As you know, along the gulf coast, we keep an eye trained on the Gulf of Mexico during hurricane season. This is following the devastating one-two punch of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005 as well as Hurricanes Gustav and Ike last year. Our communities and businesses are still recovering from these disasters--some from a disaster that devastated the gulf coast almost 5 years ago. We are now also dealing with the economic and environmental damage from the Deepwater Horizon disaster which occurred this April. For this reason, as chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship ensuring effective Federal disaster coordination is one of my top priorities. While the gulf coast is prone to hurricanes, other parts of the country are no strangers to disaster.
