Ronald J. Dubois Sr.
May 19, 2008
Edna Besson
May 21, 2008
Coastal restoration, veterans affairs and oil revenues were at the heart of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s campaign visit to the Veteran of Foreign Wars on Barrow Street Saturday.
During the town-hall meeting hosted by the state Democratic Party, Landrieu boasted of her ability to bring much-needed funds to Louisiana.
“It’s my job in Washington to bring your tax dollars back home to better serve your communities, and I don’t shy away from that,” she said. “One day last year, I was literally able to deliver $12 billion to Louisiana.”
Under a banner reading “We love our Senators,” Landrieu was introduced by state Sen. Reggie Dupre, D-Bourg.
“Louisiana’s bayou region could not have a better friend in Washington than Mary Landrieu,” he said.
Landrieu is seeking reelection to her third term in November. State Treasurer John Kennedy and coin-collector Paul Hollis are running for the Republican bid.
One of Landrieu’s biggest accomplishments mentioned was the passage of a 2006 bill to get the state 37.5 percent of federal oil and gas revenue royalties in the Gulf.
She was most impassioned when discussing the much-delayed Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection project.
Despite winning congressional authorization last year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it will not move forward with the project because it now exceeds the original $886 million cost estimate. Two weeks ago, the USACE director of civil works told Terrebonne Parish officials Morganza was “the most important project in Louisiana.”
“I don’t know what the conflict is, but I have given up trying to understand the Corps of Engineers,” Landrieu fumed. “However, I am going to direct the effort to make them move forward. They don’t have the final word on this; Congress does.”
She emphasized being “100 percent” against a lawsuit filed last week to halt the Morganza project by an environmental law clinic.
Landrieu delved into the plight of local shrimpers, who are being squeezed by historically low product prices and high fuel costs.
“I think part of this has to be done at the state level,” she said. “What I can do at the national level is to make sure the shrimp tariffs are high on the shrimp coming in.”
She also assured the military-friendly audience of her strong support for the Iraq War, more veterans’ health benefits and outpatient care, military bases and the Second Amendment.
Landrieu praised last week’s passage of the 2007 Farm Bill, which includes provisions that help Louisiana’s 20,000 farmers.
The biggest beneficiaries are sugar producers, who will get an increase in government-backed loan rates from 18 cents to 18.75 cents per pound over the next three years.
It is the first loan rate raise since 1985; however, Landrieu has plans for the sugar industry.
“My vision for sugar is to use the cellulolytic biomass of crops grown here to start producing fuels we need and move us away from gasoline and carbon-based fuels,” she said. “This is a real exciting opportunity for south Louisiana.”
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu discusses issues with Houma residents at a town meeting at the VFW hall on Barrow Street Saturday. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF
