Steve Scalise: “I want to thank the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, Mr. Hastings, for his support and help on this. Despite…”

“I want to thank the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, Mr. Hastings, for his support and help on this. Despite the gentlelady from Florida's comments, the RESTORE Act actually has a broad range of support, not only from over 30 Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, but also from numerous outside groups, both on the environmental side and on the business side. I will include in the Record all of these letters from various business and environmental groups in support of the RESTORE Act. This amendment is a crucial first step towards ensuring that 80 percent of the BP Clean Water Act fines will be dedicated to help Gulf Coast States, and especially our fragile ecosystems along coastal Louisiana, to fully recover from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Just the other day, parish president Billy Nungesser from Plaquemines Parish brought me these pictures that were taken just 2\1/2\ weeks ago from south Plaquemines' inner marsh where you can still see clearly dead turtles and oil in the marsh. We're going to be dealing with these impacts for years to come, Mr. Chairman, and we've seen from other disasters that the proper way to do this is by setting aside those funds to make sure that BP, the responsible parties, not the Federal Government, pay to restore that damage. The Associated General Contractors of America, Arlington, VA, October 17, 2011. Re H.R. 3096, the Gulf Coast Restoration Act. The Hon.…”