Scalise praises levee project

GRAY — U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise took an aerial tour of the work on a 98-mile levee system that will protect Houma, and said the Army Corps of Engineers should take notice.
Scalise, R-Metairie and the House minority whip, was guest speaker at a joint Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday.
Chambers from St. Mary Parish, Houma-Terrebonne, Lafourche, and Thibodaux hosted the event.
Scalise took his tour Monday morning to see the half complete 98-mile levee protection system from the Morganza to the Gulf that surrounds the Houma area. Scalise is working towards securing $2.1 billion in federal money to help complete the project.
After Katrina, the Army Corps of Engineers gave this project a $10.3 billion price tag. In June they reduced this to $3.2 billion.
Scalise gave the credit for these savings to Terrebonne and Lafourche.
“You’ve built, on your own, a lot less expensive and a lot more effective [levees] than the levees that were built, for example, in New Orleans that flooded the city of New Orleans,” Scalise said. “You built your own for 25 cents on the dollar and it protects your communities and it worked, and frankly, the corps needs to learn from you.”
Scalise addressed a different type of flood protection as well, the National Flood Insurance Program. The existing program expires Sept. 30. Scalise said he is working on a bill with others, including U.S. California Democrat Maxine Waters, who is someone he is not usually together with on big votes, for a five-year reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program.
“This issue brings a lot of different people from across the country together where they recognize you have to have a program that works functionally,” Scalise said. “We need certainty. This thing shouldn’t expire. … It has expired like a dozen times in the last couple of years.”
Scalise addressed coastal restoration and the Restore Act which was passed into law and “says that 80% of the money from the BP funds will be spent proportionately within the communities where the damage was done.
“The majority of this money comes to Louisiana and a lot of new land is being built as well as infrastructure that protects the land and lets you keep water out when you want to, but also keeps commerce moving through.”
Scalise also discussed deep-water drilling off Louisiana’s coasts in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil is another major part of our economy and Scalise discussed that in 2017 we “finally started getting our fair share” due to the passing of the constitutional amendment that lets Louisiana receive revenue sharing due to drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
“That money is finally starting to flow in and I would like to see us do even more deep-water drilling,” Scalise said. “Let’s keep producing energy for America.”
Scalise also congratulated the East Bank Little League team that won the world championship.
This is the first time a team from Louisiana has won the world title, and they won it after losing their first game.
“We are tough, resilient people,” Scalise said. “We don’t take no for an answer. We work hard, we play hard and celebrate the wins along the way.”