[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14072-14075]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, we passed, by an overwhelming margin, a 
supplemental emergency spending bill that will fund our ongoing 
operations in Iraq and in other parts of the world and will send some 
money stateside.
  In the view of this Senator, we have shortchanged, even with our good 
effort that was just made, shortchanged some real ongoing serious 
emergencies here at home.
  As far as the gulf coast is concerned, I voted for the bill because I 
have always believed that half a loaf is better than none.
  In the bill, in large measure because of the work of Members on both 
sides of the aisle, we have a significant amount of money toward the 
construction of levees that failed and put a great city and region and 
regions throughout the gulf coast at risk, particularly the New Orleans 
metropolitan area. I know people get tired of reviewing the details, 
but less than 3 years ago, several significant levees along the great 
port system in the city of New Orleans, levees that should have held 
collapsed, and 80 percent of the city went under water. The water is 
long gone, but the pain is still there. The rebuilding is still going 
on. The anxiety of homeowners, renters, small business owners and large 
business owners, and industrial investors is still there, questioning 
whether the Federal Government's commitment to not only fix the levees, 
restore the levees and bring them up to the standards that were 
promised decades ago, if that promise is going to be kept.
  This bill gets us part of the way there, but we still have an awfully 
long way to go. In the underlying bill we passed, in large measure 
crafted by House leadership--and I am disappointed in this view of the 
House leadership--they put in only a portion of the very critical levee 
funding that is needed for us to go forward, to restore these levees to 
100-year flood protection. I don't know how to explain this, but 100-
year flood protection is the bare minimum for the United

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States. There are a few areas that are enjoying 200- and 300-year flood 
protection in this country, but very few. Most do not have, as you can 
tell by the flooding going on now in States such as Missouri and Iowa 
and parts of Illinois, most places don't have the 100-year protection.
  For a reference point, I wish to impress upon my colleagues that this 
is a minimum standard. The country of the Netherlands, which is so 
small it could fit inside of Louisiana, a powerful economy but a small 
nation, has flood protection for its people against storms that happen 
once every 10,000 years. We, the United States of America, cannot claim 
that we have flood protection for 99 percent of our people against 
floods once every 100 years. I am going to say again, as I have said 
100 times on this floor, incremental funding, nickles and dimes, a few 
hundred million here or there, is not going to get the job done. In the 
long run, it is going to cost the American taxpayer billions and 
billions of dollars more.
  So here we go again, after the flood, after the storm, after the 
promises, after the speeches, after the lights, after the photographs, 
the bill is passed, but we do not have the whole amount of money 
necessary to reconstruct the levees as promised by the President and as 
spoken to on numerous occasions by many Members of the House and 
Senate. We do have $5.8 billion in this bill, $1.16 billion for the 
Lake Pontchartrain vicinity which is a long, ongoing project, I think 
started back in the 1960s. We do have $920 million in for west bank 
levee which was started back in the 1960s. We have $967 million in the 
southeast Louisiana flood control project that was started in the 
1990s. We have $2.9 billion of flood control and emergency projects, 
modifying drainage canals, installing pumps, armoring levees, improving 
protection at the inner harbor canal, federalizing certain non-Federal 
levees in Plaquemine Parish, the long parish that sits at the toe of 
the boot in Louisiana, reinforces and replaces floodwalls, repairs and 
restores floodwalls. The problem is the match that is required because 
of the House action. The Senate reduced the match required by the State 
of Louisiana and extended our payment terms. Instead of requiring the 
State of Louisiana to pay a higher level of 35 percent, the Senate had 
suggested, I think wisely, that we revert back to the historic share, 
which is 25 percent. No one in Louisiana thinks we have to get these 
projects for free. Everyone in Louisiana understands we have to step up 
and pay our share. No one is objecting. What we simply asked for was a 
reasonable share, a historic share, not 35 percent but something like 
20 or 25 percent. And most importantly, we had asked that we be allowed 
to pay it over 30 years.
  But, no, under the House version that was very ill-conceived and very 
poorly thought out, the terms are tougher than historical standards and 
will require the State to come up with a greater match, 35 percent, and 
require us to pay it over 3 years.
  I submit for the Record a letter from the president of Jefferson 
Parish, Aaron Broussard, a parish now of a half million people, as well 
as a letter from Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana. I ask 
unanimous consent that these letters be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                  Jefferson Parish, Louisiana,

                                     Jefferson, LA, June 23, 2008.
     Hon. Mary Landrieu,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Landrieu: We are concerned that language 
     contained in the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill, 
     as passed by the House of Representatives last week, creates 
     an unfair and unacceptable new cost share on the citizens of 
     Jefferson Parish and Orleans Parish and creates a new 
     financial burden that will unduly delay the SELA project and 
     impose significant new risks to Southeast Louisiana.
       As you know, the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control 
     Project, SELA, was authorized by WRDA of 1996 to provide for 
     urban flood control in Southeast Louisiana on an expedited 
     basis. The SELA Project has been a true partnership between 
     local governments and the Army Corps of Engineers for over a 
     decade. A major and very important feature of SELA has been a 
     cost share of 75/25. The non-Federal sponsors of SELA have 
     sought and received the approval of the electorate for the 
     revenues needed to meet this 75/25 cost sharing requirement.
       Now, without the benefit of legislative hearing or 
     committee oversight, the House of Representatives has 
     unilaterally changed the traditional cost share for the 
     project. This fundamental change in the SELA project will 
     create unprecedented delay in the delivery of the benefits of 
     SELA Project. Specifically:
       The change in the cost sharing for SELA from the presently 
     authorized 75/25 to 65/35 equates to an additional $121M in 
     payments for the SELA sponsors.
       This increase will have an impact on the economic recovery 
     of Jefferson Parish as $50M in new revenue sources must be 
     approved and/or revenues now slated for other recovery work 
     will have to be diverted to SELA.
       The impact on Orleans Parish will be even greater as their 
     share of the SELA work will increase by approximately $70M.
       All of these increases are on top of the $331M that 
     Jefferson Parish has agreed to pay under the presently 
     authorized 75/25 cost sharing.
       It will be very difficult, if not impossible, to maintain 
     our construction schedule as the Administration will 
     undoubtedly request that a new Project Cost Agreement be 
     executed to reflect the higher cost sharing formula. This 
     will in turn, require that Jefferson Parish submit a new 
     financing plan showing adequate capability to meet these 
     increased obligations. We may be forced to seek revenue 
     bonding or seek new revenue sources, such as additional taxes 
     from our citizens. This could further delay the completion of 
     the SELA Project and the delivery of its benefits.
       Senator Landrieu, I believe you will agree that the House 
     of Representatives should not be allowed to unilaterally 
     change the cost sharing authorized by WRDA '96 in an 
     Emergency Supplemental Bill without the benefit of hearing, 
     senate committee oversight or conference committee 
     negotiations. In fact, as you know, the Senate Bill had 
     language that maintained the historic cost sharing and 
     directed the Secretary of the Army to use a 30 year pay out 
     so that we could maintain the rapid pace of our recovery from 
     Katrina. Now in light of the House actions, long term 
     financing of the new cost share is the least that will be 
     needed to address this unprecedented new cost share 
     obligation.
       I implore the Senate leadership and the Energy and Water 
     Appropriations Sub-committee to retain its language on the 
     Emergency Appropriations Bill and send the amended bill back 
     to the House of Representatives for final passage.
           Sincerely,
                                                  Aaron Broussard,
     Parish President.
                                  ____

                                               State of Louisiana,


                                       Office of the Governor,

                                   Baton Rouge, LA, June 25, 2008.
     Hon. Harry Reid,
     Senate Majority Leader, The Capitol, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Robert Byrd,
     Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, The Capitol, 
         Washington, DC.
     Hon. Mitch McConnell,
     Senate Republican Leader, The Capitol, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Thad Cochran,
     Ranking Member, Committee on Appropriations, The Capitol, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Leader Reid, Leader McConnell, Chairman Byrd and 
     Ranking Member Cochran: Our state appreciates the strong 
     support that you have demonstrated for the Gulf Coast victims 
     of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The emergency supplemental 
     appropriations bill soon to be considered by the U.S. Senate 
     attempts to fulfill an important commitment to Louisiana--the 
     restoration of the 100-year level of hurricane protection by 
     2011. I support the inclusion of these funds in the final 
     bill; however. I remain concerned that the goal of the 
     funding is jeopardized by the unprecedented cost share 
     required under the legislation.
       As proposed in the House bill, the State of Louisiana would 
     be faced with a $1.8 billion cost share over the next three 
     years for hurricane protection. This would result in a 4000 
     percent increase over the state's pre-Katrina contribution 
     toward hurricane protection efforts. As we understand, 
     Louisiana could be faced with paying up to $1.1 billion in 
     2010 alone. This is nearly one-third of the state's 
     discretionary budget. Burdening Louisiana with an 
     unprecedented cost share in this compressed time frame will 
     cause irreparable harm to our ongoing recovery efforts and 
     stall our coastal restoration efforts.
       The emergency supplemental bill also proposes to increase 
     the overall percentage of funds provided by the state. Under 
     the House proposal, Louisiana's cost share responsibilities 
     would actually increase by over $200 million above the cost 
     share required under current law. Considering the 
     extraordinary impact the 2005 hurricanes and the various 
     aspects of recovery ongoing, it is alarming that Congress 
     would choose to require a higher cost share at this time.
       As you know, the Senate version of the emergency 
     supplemental allowed Louisiana

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     the opportunity to pay its share of these important hurricane 
     protection efforts over a longer period of time as allowed 
     under current law. The Senate bill also used the traditional 
     cost share requirements that reflect current law.
       The Senate is right. Placing this extraordinary burden upon 
     the backs of Louisiana citizens would set back our recovery 
     for years. The large cuts to budgets, services and programs 
     required to make $1.8 billion available for levees would have 
     a profound impact on Louisiana families across our state.
       To be clear, Louisiana is willing to partner with the 
     federal government on these important protection efforts. We 
     are not asking for a waiver. The Senate bill requires our 
     state to pay its share for hurricane protection under 
     reasonable terms and in compliance with current law. I 
     strongly urge you to support our Congressional delegation's 
     efforts to retain the Senate provisions related to hurricane 
     protection. If not possible to include this language in the 
     supplemental, I encourage you to adopt this legislation on 
     its own or through another legislative instrument.
           Sincerely,
                                                     Bobby Jindal,
                                                         Governor.

  Ms. LANDRIEU. I wish to read part of the Governor's letter:

       As proposed in the House bill, the State of Louisiana would 
     be faced with a $1.8 billion cost share over the next three 
     years for hurricane protection. This would result in a 4000 
     percent increase [not 4, not 40, not 400] over the state's 
     pre-Katrina contribution toward hurricane protection efforts.

  I know it is not the intention of the chairman of the House 
Appropriations Committee or the Speaker of the House or the majority 
and minority leaders in the House to make Louisiana pay 4,000 percent 
more than we were paying before the storm, when we are in an economic 
situation that is far more challenging than we were before the city and 
many of our parishes went under water and 1 million people were 
displaced in the southern part of our State, but that is exactly what 
they did.
  I am going to leave here, along with my colleagues, but I am going to 
come back and find a way, with the goodwill on the floor of this 
Senate, working with Republicans and Democrats, to come to some 
reasonable terms for the people of Louisiana so we can pay a reasonable 
share and have a longer period to pay it back.
  I know we are one Nation and we all have to support each other's 
projects, but to put this in perspective, many of us here have funded 
over the last maybe 15 years a project that is rather famous and well 
known called the big dig in Boston. That project is an eight-lane 
highway under the city of Boston that extends for 3.5 miles. We all 
spent money to do it. It cost $14.8 billion for the big dig. I asked in 
this supplemental for $8 billion to help build 200 miles of levee to 
protect up to 2 million, roughly, people from losing everything they 
have worked for and their parents and their grandparents have worked 
for, because when those levees break, nothing is saved, and insurance 
does not even begin to cover the cost of what people have lost. We had 
to be told in this supplemental discussion that we weren't a priority 
or we needed to wait. It couldn't fit in this bill. Sorry, we couldn't 
do it. Sorry, we couldn't find the appropriate cost share.
  I am happy for projects like the big dig and other projects around 
the country. I know some people think I am wearing out my welcome, but 
it is my job to represent the people of my State. I intend to do it as 
fairly as I can. I have to say, the President was the one who came to 
Jackson Square. I didn't go to Jackson Square and turn the lights on 
and make a promise to the American people that these levees would be 
rebuilt. He did. Then many Members of Congress came down, Republicans 
and Democrats, and took shots with a lot of people and said they would 
rebuild these levees. We want to rebuild our levees. We are willing to 
put up our share. But the people of Louisiana, under no circumstance, 
can pay a 4,000-percent increase. Under no circumstance can our State 
come up with $1.8 billion every year for the next 3 years out of our 
general fund.
  I want to make one more point about the levees. The people on the 
other side of the levee are not in high-rise condominiums. They are not 
lying on the beach sunbathing, and they are not frolicking in 2 feet of 
water for recreational purposes. The people on the other side of these 
levees are running the greatest port system in North America. They are 
engaged in fisheries and transportation and oil and gas. They are the 
men and women who unload the ships that come from all over the world to 
support the economy of this Nation.
  We have work to do when we get back here. I am going to go home for a 
week. Then I am going to come back, and we are going to work on finding 
a better way for us to reduce the cost share and extend the time for us 
to repay our portion so we can get these levees built and give comfort 
and keep our promise to the people before we have to mark the third 
anniversary of Katrina, which will be August 29.
  We have time, but we don't have a lot of it. It is almost July. The 
third anniversary will be August 29. I want to put the Senate on notice 
that I am going to do everything in my power not to allow us to go home 
for August until some provisions have been made. There are two options. 
The President can, by executive order, do this. I am asking him to. I 
am sending him a letter tomorrow asking him to do it. If he doesn't, 
then every bill that comes to this floor will be subject to an 
objection by me until this situation is corrected. It is as if you did 
not give us any levee money, because without us being able to put up a 
match, the project can't go forward. Some provision will have to be 
made. I wanted to go on the record tonight saying I am willing to work 
toward any compromise that will be reasonable and look forward to doing 
that when we return.
  In addition, there were provisions that the Senate graciously, under 
Senator Byrd's leadership, had put in this bill to continue to help us 
with other elements of our recovery. The criminal justice provision was 
stripped out by the House. The health care provision was stripped out 
by the House. These amounted to literally a few hundred million dollars 
in the scheme of things.
  It is not a great deal of money, as these bills go, that are hundreds 
of billions of dollars. But it was important money to the city of New 
Orleans and the region and to hospitals that have never closed from the 
time that hurricane swept through and destroyed so much in its path. 
Oschner Hospital stayed open. West Jeff and East Jeff opened very soon, 
as soon as they could, and have continued to provide indigent care, 
losing millions and millions and millions of dollars, and yet cannot 
get the proper reimbursement necessary because of what they did.
  FEMA only provides help to public entities. Oschner is technically 
not a public entity, but it was the only hospital that stayed open, and 
the doctors and the nurses did the right thing. All they have been--
since doing the right thing--is punished because their board has lost 
money, money, money, month after month after month. I have pleaded 
their case on any number of occasions. Senator Leahy, Senator Harkin, 
and others have been very gracious to try to include help. But it seems 
as though at certain points it always gets stripped out.
  So we are going to come back, and I am going to ask again for some 
health care funding and some criminal justice funding and work with 
Senator Grassley, Senator Harkin, Senator McCaskill, and others to 
fashion better remedies for the thousands of homeowners in other parts 
of this country who have also been disappointed by levee systems that 
should have held and failed, by Federal bureaucracies that promised 
help and did not show up.
  I know only too well the pain that is going on right now in other 
parts of the country. I have lived this nightmare for 3 years in south 
Louisiana and in Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. So we do have some 
work to do when we get back, and I look forward to working with you and 
others to accomplish that.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for 2 minutes to extend my 
remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Thank you, Mr. President.

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