Steve Scalise: “As we remember the life of Jerry Lewis, I remember the first time that I had the opportunity to meet with him. It was…”

“As we remember the life of Jerry Lewis, I remember the first time that I had the opportunity to meet with him. It was back in 2005. I was a State representative from Louisiana, and Hurricane Katrina had ravaged the whole New Orleans region. Thousands of people were out of their homes. The city was decimated. The whole region was decimated, and we were starting to work on a plan to rebuild New Orleans. Obviously, there was a big Federal role to be played. President Bush had committed to help us, but it took action from Congress to ultimately make that happen, to rebuild the levees so that the communities could be protected, to help people get back in their homes. And that brought me to Jerry Lewis. He met with me and a few other people, and he committed to do the things that needed to be done to help us get back on our feet at our lowest point. That is who Jerry Lewis was. The city of New Orleans, the people of the New Orleans region, owe a great debt to Jerry Lewis for the things he did, the real action he took to help build New Orleans back after Katrina.”