Martin Sabo: “I would just say I find this amendment inappropriate. I do not know how Louisiana governs. I do not know how the city…”

“I would just say I find this amendment inappropriate. I do not know how Louisiana governs. I do not know how the city governs. In our area we call them counties. I guess the gentleman calls them parishes. Twenty-five, thirty years ago we went through the same type of situation in our State; center cities owning an airport, eventually a regional structure to govern, but that was created by the State legislature, not by local units of government. As a matter of history, at the point of time that it required local property taxes to start the airport, those were only levied in the center city. By the time we made it regional, all local property taxes had disappeared. Now I suspect the gentleman's situation is different. We are not the legislature of Louisiana, and so I think it is just totally inappropriate for us to start interjecting ourselves into this governing structure of the airport in New Orleans. I am sure it is a controversial issue. It, however, has to be worked out in whatever local fashion they are worked out in Louisiana, whether it is negotiation between the affected communities or by action in the State legislature, but we cannot be second-guessing that.”