Steve Scalise: “last Friday, June 6, 2008, marked the 64th anniversary of D-day, one of the most significant days in our Nation's…”

“last Friday, June 6, 2008, marked the 64th anniversary of D-day, one of the most significant days in our Nation's history. June 6, 1944, marked the beginning of the Allied assault against the Axis forces in Normandy, France, and the beginning of the end of World War II; and it started the liberation of occupied Europe from Nazi Germany. The D-day invasion was the largest amphibious assault the world had ever seen with more than 5,000 ships and over 150,000 American, British, and Canadian troops involved on that single day. Mr. Speaker, as a Member who is honored to represent the people of Southeast Louisiana, I am proud of the role that my State played on D-day. In New Orleans, Andrew Jackson Higgins designed the LCVPs, or the Higgins boats, that were used extensively in World War II for amphibious landings. Higgins and the 30,000 Louisiana workers of Higgins Industries built and tested the Higgins boats in Southeast Louisiana during the war. The Higgins boat was crucial to the success of D-day. According to General Eisenhower, the Allies would not have been able to land on an open beach without the Higgins boat. General Eisenhower claimed that Higgins was the man who won the war for us.”