Mitch Landrieu: “I wish to address two amendments I will soon offer to S. 2514, the Defense authorization bill. The first amendment is…”

“I wish to address two amendments I will soon offer to S. 2514, the Defense authorization bill. The first amendment is critical to the training and future deployments of the Interim Brigade Combat Teams, and is, therefore, vital to both Louisiana and our national security. This amendment designates Louisiana Highway 28 between Alexandria, LA, and Leesville, LA, a road providing access to the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, as a Defense Access Road. Fort Polk has been designated as a home for one of the new, transformational Interim Brigade Combat Teams IBCTs. Furthermore, I am proud to say that Fort Polk will serve as the training site for all IBCTs. Louisiana Highway 28 is one of the primary access roads into and out of Fort Polk. Highway 28 is the direct route from Fort Polk to the former England Air Force Base in Alexandria, Louisiana. I mention this because any military equipment designated for Fort Polk that is transported via C-130 must be trucked to Fort Polk if it is non-wheeled or non-tracked from the former England AFB. If military vehicles are tracked or wheeled, they then trek the forty miles from England to Fort Polk along Hwy. 28. No matter how the equipment arrives at Fort Polk, the heavy trucks and military vehicles cause tremendous wear and tear to Highway 28. With the coming of the IBCTs to Fort Polk, the stresses on Hwy. 28 will only be exacerbated.”