[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1818-1819]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, for the 10th anniversary of Hurricane 
Katrina,

[[Page 1819]]

I went down to the Lower Ninth Ward. President Obama had a little 
convocation which I was privileged to be part of. I pointed out that 
his budget that year attempted to take the money that the Federal 
Government had committed, voted on by a majority of this Chamber, to 
share in the offshore revenue from Louisiana's coast, Texas's coast, 
and other Gulf Coast States, with those States.
  I said: Mr. President, your budget is taking this money away.
  If you look at the devastation wrought by Katrina, it was wrought 
because we lost our wetlands, which was a loss directly connected to 
the Federal Government's decision to channel the Mississippi River for 
the benefit of the rest of the country's economy, and also because the 
Army Corps of Engineers failed to build--and this has been established 
in court--levees to the degree that would protect the city of New 
Orleans.
  The President clearly agreed. He said so. He looked at his budget 
man, Shaun Donovan, and said: Why would this be? We need this State to 
have that money.
  I paraphrase, but it was essentially that. And he committed to taking 
care of that issue so that our State would not be confronted with the 
kind of disaster Katrina was. He did not want this to happen again.
  On Tuesday the President released his fiscal year 2017 budget. Once 
more, despite his words, he proposed repealing existing revenue-sharing 
law, which would deny Louisiana and other Gulf Coast States billions. 
Louisiana will use this money on critical coastal restoration. By doing 
this, the President betrays the commitment he made in the Lower Ninth 
Ward. The President and some in this Chamber want to repeal a law that 
received bipartisan support, with over 70 Senators supporting the 
original legislation in 2006. By the way, it is also a law that anti-
poverty and environmental organizations support.
  I hold up a letter from Oxfam. Oxfam America states in this letter 
that ``America's Gulf Coast is home to some of our nation's highest 
rates of poverty and greatest risks of natural hazards like sea level 
rise, hurricanes, flooding and coastal land loss.''
  Passage of amendment No. 3192--which, by the way, is my amendment to 
the Energy bill which brings more equity and revenue sharing--will 
provide new resources to address the glaring inequities facing these 
communities.
  In response to the President's fiscal year 2016 budget, the 
Environmental Defense Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, the 
National Audubon Society, and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation 
stated:

       But we are disappointed by the budget's proposed diversion 
     of critically needed and currently dedicated funding for 
     coastal Louisiana and the Mississippi River Delta.
       This proposed budget undercuts the Administration's 
     previous commitments to restore critical economic 
     infrastructure and ecosystems in the Mississippi River Delta, 
     where we are losing 16 square miles of critical wetlands 
     every year--a preventable coastal erosion crisis.

  So if you are pro-environment and pro helping poverty-stricken 
communities, how can you not support revenue sharing for coastal 
States?
  Coastal restoration is critical to Louisiana's economy and safety but 
also to America's economy. Every 38 minutes, Louisiana loses about a 
football field-sized chunk of land. I am presiding next. At the bottom 
of the hour, Louisiana will have lost another football field of land. 
This revenue sharing helps reverse that.
  By the way, in Louisiana, our Constitution dedicates 100 percent of 
revenue from offshore energy production to restoring and rebuilding our 
coastal wetlands.
  A strong coast protects families and businesses against storm surge. 
It prevents posters like this: ``Why New Orleans Still Isn't Safe,'' 
and posters like this, and many other posters.
  With our coasts so degraded--it puts Louisiana's economy in jeopardy, 
but it also puts America's energy and trade infrastructure in jeopardy. 
Most importantly, loss of coastal wetlands puts American lives in 
jeopardy.
  Not only do we need to protect this revenue sharing as promised, but 
I and others feel we must increase that revenue sharing amount if we 
are to truly protect our coast.
  Royalties to States from energy produced offshore is a fraction of 
what States that produce energy onshore receive. In fiscal year 2014, 
the Federal Government received $4.6 billion--with a ``b''--in 
royalties from energy production in the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal 
States that provide the energy infrastructure received $3.4 million--
with an ``m''--so 0.7 percent of the royalties. In comparison, States 
that produce energy onshore--and I think the Presiding Officer's State 
is such--get 50 percent of those royalties. So 0.7; 50 percent--there 
is no equity there.
  I have introduced a bipartisan amendment to the Senate's Energy bill 
that I hope we can keep working on to provide greater equity and 
revenue sharing for States that do host offshore energy production.
  For decades, energy activities in the Gulf of Mexico have produced 
billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. 
Gulf of Mexico offshore oil production accounts for close to 20 percent 
of the U.S. crude oil production. Over 45 percent of total petroleum 
refining capacity in the United States is located along the gulf coast, 
as well as 51 percent of total natural gas processing plant capacity. 
The Gulf States provide the docks, roads, railroads, refineries, and 
other infrastructure that makes energy production possible to fuel 
America's economy.
  On top of this, our waterways support trade throughout the country. 
Farm crops produced in the Upper Midwest pass through the lower 
Mississippi on their way to international markets. We need equitable 
revenue sharing to continue hosting these industries, ensuring that 
America continues to have a resilient domestic energy supply and access 
to the goods and services we need.
  If the President is serious about protecting families, our 
environment, enhancing the resiliency of the gulf coast and improving 
the Nation's economic infrastructure, he should have worked with 
Congress to ensure that this never happens again.
  I yield to the Senator from Texas.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority whip.

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