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Storm Relief to Aid State

Posted on: Thursday, 22 December 2005, 21:00 CST

By GERARD SHIELDS

Storm relief to aid state

WASHINGTON The Senate unanimously approved $29 billion in reallocated hurricane relief funds Wednesday for Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states.

Louisiana, however, lost another $9.8 billion to be dedicated to coastal wetland restoration and hurricane protection when a provision that would have allowed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was stripped from the legislation. An estimated $7.8 billion in royalties from the oil production was slated to go to Louisiana. Another $2 billion would have been obtained through the sale of analog spectrum when the nation switches over to digital television. An angry Sen. Ted Stevens, R- Alaska, proposed the funding and lashed out at his Senate colleagues for supporting the removal of the ANWR provision. I do think the hurricane area lost most, a red-faced Stevens said. How many of you have been to the disaster area? The ANWR provision was stripped after Republicans fell four votes shy of getting the 60 votes necessary to end the Democrat filibuster of the Department of Defense Appropriations bill to which it was attached. Failure to pass the $453 billion Pentagon bill would have resulted in U.S. troops getting a pay cut Dec. 31. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La, voted with Republicans to end the filibuster and threatened colleagues by saying that she would tie up the Senate until the hurricane relief package was approved. I am prepared to work through Thursday, Friday, Saturday and into Christmas on Sunday if we have to until we can get this package done, Landrieu said. She called the defense bill imperative to the rebuilding of the region ravaged by the hurricane. Without this, it will be impossible, Landrieu said

. Likewise, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., pleaded with colleagues to support the measure. He noted that 1 million people from the area destroyed by the hurricanes remain in exile from their homes at Christmas. My neighbors want to come home, Vitter said. This vote is crucial for that to happen. Vitter asked colleagues to put aside partisan ideology. He called the filibuster vote the single most disappointing moment in his six years in Congress. Its about people, real people trying to live and survive and rebuild in the real world, he said. The package contains $29 billion in hurricane relief for Gulf Coast states with the lions share going to Louisiana. Congress approved the money earlier this year for use by the Federal Emergency Management Agency but decided to reallocate it to various other federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation, to help with hurricane relief and recovery. About $1.6 billion would go for schools, including $645 million for institutions that took in evacuee students. Another $2.75 billion offered by President Bush would go to repair roads and bridges. The legislation contains $11.5 billion in Community Development Block Grants, more than half of which would go to Louisiana and help homeowners out of the flood zone without insurance. The funding also includes $2.9 billion to shore up New Orleans damaged levees and $4.3 billion for damaged military bases and veterans facilities. The House of Representatives approved the recent reallocation earlier and it now goes to Bush for his signature into law. The Department of Defense bill is really important for the future of the Gulf Coast, Bush said on Wednesday. Critics of the ANWR provision called the funding unreal. The ANWR money for Louisiana is dependent upon an agreement for Alaska to share royalties 50-50 with the federal government. Earlier in the week, powerful House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, was quoted in an Alaska newspaper as not being willing to accept anything under a 90-10 state-federal split. In addition, the $2 billion from analog spectrum occurs after $10 billion in sales is achieved. Congressional Budget Office estimates say the spectrum auction is supposed to attract $10 billion. Maura Wood of the Sierra Club in Baton Rouge was delighted that ANWR provision was stricken, despite its possible impact on hurricane relief. Said Wood: There is a great deal of real relief in that bill rather than that speculative Alaskan money. In another dramatic vote, Vice President Cheney cast the tie-breaking 51st vote to approve a $40 billion budget-cutting bill. Bill critics decried cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and an increase in student loan payments. The measure contained $2 billion for the Gulf Coast to pay for hurricane evacuees who have had to enroll in Medicaid through May. Vitter and Landrieu voted along party lines on the measure with Vitter supporting it and Landrieu voting against it. At The White House, Bush signed into law $8 billion in tax breaks to hurricane-damaged businesses and communities. The measure approved by Congress last week creates Bushs Gulf Opportunity Zones that he called for in a September address to the nation. When I spoke to the nation from Jackson Square, in New Orleans, I said our job and our goal for the Gulf Coast was not just to survive, but to thrive, Bush said before signing the bill. The White House also announced late Tuesday night that it was extending the 100 percent federal funding of debris removal to hurricane-stricken communities from January until June. I cant imagine anything more discouraging than to continue to see the piles, and I mean literally piles, of debris, Bush said. The move was welcomed by U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Kenner. The less our communities need to worry about the red tape surrounding the cleanup and other immediate needs, the more time they can spend helping their citizens, Jindal said.

Source: Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.

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