Political Quotes

“I would like to speak about an issue completely separated from the international concerns we all share because closer to home there was an action taken today by the House of Representatives that has me extremely concerned as the senior Senator from Louisiana and a leader in our delegation and is an issue I have worked on literally since the first day I came to the Senate now almost 17 years ago. Today, the House of Representatives, unfortunately, in presenting their WRDA bill, which was a bill that was negotiated at great length with great skill by Senator Barbara Boxer, the chair of the committee of jurisdiction, and the ranking member, Senator Vitter, who did an outstanding job for the country and for Louisiana, negotiated quite skillfully a bill that was very balanced. It contained no earmarks, as have been eliminated by the majority of the Congress. It did give a green light for projects that had received a positive Chief's report, which is the signal to go forward with the project for flood protection or navigation or dredging under the jurisdictions of the Corps of Engineers. Unfortunately, for unexplained public reasons today, which we will find out as soon as we can and report, the House of Representatives, the leadership, decided to drop probably the most important project in the bill for Louisiana, and that project is Morganza to the Gulf.…”