Political Quotes

“This amendment will cost $19 million, but in some ways it is simply advancing what the President already has in his budget for these very important projects. President Obama should get a tremendous amount of credit for being the first President in the last decade or more--actually, the last 15 or 16 years--to actually fund a construction project on Louisiana's coast--a wetlands construction project. All we have been doing for the last 35 years is studying the situation. It has been very difficult for our delegation, and maybe it won't be so difficult, now that people have watched us go through Katrina and Rita, and now the oilspill, to understand the impact we have been talking about. It is hard to even say this, but neither President Clinton nor President Bush--although we had many plans that had been approved--ever sent any money for construction and for new programs for the wetlands. We finally got President Obama, to his credit, to send in his budget to us this year $19 million for the purpose of protecting vulnerable coastal wetlands and strengthening the resiliency of that coast. So while we have a score of $19 million--and I know we are trying to keep the bill to a minimum--it is almost as if we might spend it now, and save it later, as long as we don't respend the $19 million. It is in the President's budget. It would be good to get that signal now from the Congress that these programs can go forward. I hope the administration will take a strong look at this.…”