Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my remarks may conclude shortly after 1:10 p.m.

Mr. President, I have good news for the people of Louisiana and good news for the American people: We have an agreement on an infrastructure package.

Now, OK, an ``infrastructure package''; what does that mean? Let's just talk.

There will be $110 billion for roads and bridges nationwide--$40 billion for bridges. By the way, Louisiana has the third most bridges in poor condition. So, if you are stuck right now in traffic trying to get over the Sabine River or the Calcasieu River or the Mississippi River or any of our other rivers which have bridges in poor condition, there is relief for you. There is $47 billion for resiliency.

Now, my State is flooded more than other States, but every State, it seems, has had an issue with flooding. There is $47 billion; a significant portion of it is for flooding issues, for coastal restoration, and other things regarding resiliency.

There is permitting reform. Right now, we know it can take 6 to 10 years for a bridge project--an Army Corps of Engineers project--to be permitted. Sometimes it takes so long to permit that the facts on the ground have actually changed, and the permit almost is inaccurate. In building upon pilot projects which have shown that permitting can be shortened from 6 years to 2 years, this infrastructure package has that permitting reform. There will be less money for bureaucrats and attorneys, and there will be more money for construction--what a major advance.

By the way, some people have confused this bill with the $3.5 trillion Democratic tax-and-spend extravaganza. They are two different bills. This bill is for roads and bridges and broadband and resiliency and flood control and coastal restoration. The other is for who knows what.

This bill, the infrastructure bill, has been judged by economists as to not contribute to inflation. The $3.5 trillion bill, obviously, is going to make the inflation we have now worse. The bill we have does not raise taxes. The $3.5 trillion bill is estimated to raise hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes.

One bill I love; the other bill I hate. The infrastructure bill that is going to shorten someone's commute time across a bridge, to make their home less likely to flood, to extend broadband to areas of our country which are not served at all or are poorly served is the bill I love, and I think that it is the bill that the American people desperately need.

Let me conclude by saying, again, if you are stuck in bridge traffic in my State or in any other State right now, wondering why this bridge in poor condition can't get fixed, help is on its way. If you are in a place in our country, but particularly in my State, which has either flooded or is at risk of flooding or if you live near a coastline, and that beachfront, which 30 years ago when you bought that home was hundreds of feet out and now waves are lapping up on the road in front of your house and coastal erosion has endangered your property and your life savings, help is on its way. If you have seen an initiative to build a bridge but have been so frustrated that it has taken so long to get the permits, that is about to change. This is legislation-- bipartisan, paid for--that will address all of those issues.

I conclude the way I started.

We have good news. There is a bipartisan infrastructure bill that begins to address the needs of the American people--to create jobs, to take away frustrations, and to provide more security--that all Americans should support.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following interns in my office be granted floor privileges today, July 28, 2021: Bryce Billiot and Will Sirmon.

Madam President, we are seeing record numbers of people coming to the U.S. Mexican border. I am told 63 different countries have folks that have arrived at our border.

In the latest numbers released by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP, they encountered almost 190,000 people coming to the United States illegally through the southern border last month. That is the highest monthly number of encounters by CBP in two decades.

This is where we are now. That number is up 471 percent from June 2020. Across the board, every category of CBP encounter at the southwest land border--single adults, unaccompanied children, individuals in a family unit--they are surging in 2021, including in the hot summer months, when it has traditionally been that is when it falls. It is important because these people coming across in the hot summer months are at increased risk for death from dehydration and heat exhaustion.

With June's tally, CBP's migrant encounters surpassed 1 million for the fiscal year.

Now, in context, the last fiscal year had 460,000 encounters; fiscal year 2019, 980,000. That year was labeled a humanitarian catastrophe. That was for the entire year. Now, we are speaking of 1 million, and we have 3 months left to go in this fiscal year.

On Monday, Texas and the national media broadcast videos of migrants trying to force their way past Texas border guards. Eight Federal agents and police officers pushed back on the gate to prevent a rush of about 300 people just breaking through, coming across the border from Mexico.

By any definition, this is a crisis--for the individual, who is at risk of dying of dehydration in the desert; for our country, which cannot control the border crisis; for the infection of the COVID and coronavirus situation in our country, because, obviously, coronavirus could be rampant among these folks.

The Biden-Harris administration could not be doing worse if they intentionally set out to mismanage the situation. This past weekend, it became clear that it is not just a situation on the border, but it is also a situation in Louisiana.

On Friday, KTBS, a Shreveport news outlet, reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement--ICE--dropped off approximately 80 Haitian immigrants with little or no warning to local government and law enforcement officials.

And, again, this is multiple levels. I presume that these folks are dropped off because we are out of capacity, but let's think about the individual being dropped off. A source told KTBS that the men had money, but some of the women had little or no money--no contacts, no money, they don't speak the language, dropped off in a strange city.

Multiple Louisiana outlets are reporting approximately 400 immigrants from 42 countries have been dropped off by ICE in Shreveport since the end of March, but this is the first we heard. In Baton Rouge, WBRZ, the ABC affiliate, had photos and video of a similar dropoff in Baton Rouge on Friday, July 16. Monroe, LA, had a similar situation; Natchez, MS, similar as well.

We called ICE over the weekend, and yesterday, they--we actually spoke to the acting director. He told me the dropoffs are ``not our common practice.'' I would argue that releasing migrants without notifying local officials--at least the NGOs that can give them help, particularly when there isn't--when some of them have no money, no contacts, no place to go, is not good. And he acknowledged that. In fairness, he acknowledged that that was a mistake and that the number of 70 was too large a number.

He denied that it was a problem of capacity, but, frankly, when we see what is happening at the southern border and then we see a whole group of 70 being dropped off without the organization required to make sure there is seamless entry into our society, that tells me that there probably is a capacity problem.

Again, you cannot imagine a worse immigration policy and execution of what we have seen in the first 6 months of this administration. It is incoherence; it is dysfunction. It appears that Washington told ICE: Just send them someplace with, again, little or no notice to State and local officials.

We have to ask: Does the President, does the Vice President care about controlling the border? Do they care about communities? Do they care about these immigrants? It is almost as if they are wishing that the issue be swept under the rug

Unfortunately, the crisis continues to worsen. I don't know if there is a plan. I say that because if there is a plan, we have not yet seen it executed. What we have seen is that record numbers of people are now coming into our country. It is more as if hands are being thrown up in the air.

I will also say there was a lot of criticism of what President Trump did, but it is my observation, whatever the last thing the last President did was the first thing that worked because it is not as if they tried the immediate solution first off. It is like they worked through some things that didn't work and they finally got to where they were able to stem the tide.

So if it is the era of ``let's do the opposite of what President Trump did, even if it is the only thing that has ever worked,'' we are in trouble.

I do think it is time for the Biden administration to admit they were wrong and to begin going back to that which appeared to work.

I want to thank the people of Shreveport. They have been kinder than the Federal Government in terms of helping people out--the churches, the NGOs that came out to help folks. As one of them said, the Scripture teaches us to help those who are aliens in our land.

They have been willing to handle the situation when the administration failed. But the charity of the American people is not a substitute for a coherent policy, and this is an issue for the executive branch, specifically President Biden and Vice President Harris, who was personally put in charge.

We need to get it right. We need answers. We need accountability. We need sound immigration and border policies, and it starts with securing our southern border and enforcing our laws.

Again, the current situation is unfair to everyone--the migrants, the community, our country. The situation in Shreveport, Monroe, and Baton Rouge shows the failure of the policies. I don't think they are the only communities dealing with this, and we will continue to deal with it even more so until we have a controlled border.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Ashley Roberts, an intern in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the day.

Madam President, I am here to talk about two things.

First, let me give a heartfelt congratulations to Zaila Avant-garde, this incredible--if we can get the poster up--14-year-old young lady, who just won the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

She is Louisiana's first winner and is the first African-American winner of this spelling bee. She dominated, getting words that I don't think any of the rest of us would have been able to spell.

By the way, I should also note that she holds a Guinness World Record for dribbling. I am told there is a YouTube video of her dribbling and, at the same time, juggling basketballs that is incredible to watch.

She has a bright future. Zaila shows that hard work and dedication bring success.

This week, Senator John Kennedy and I introduced a resolution congratulating Zaila. And Zaila, if you are watching, if you want to do it, when you are a little bit older and you want to do an internship in a Senate office in the U.S. Senate, please give me a call. Believe me, I will remember you.

And if you wish to do that internship, we are here to encourage you as you embark on the rest of your life, a life that is going to be incredibly successful.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Savannah Tanguis, an intern in my office, be granted floor privileges today, July 13, 2021.

Madam President, Emmanuel Larryn Slack, age 17, entered into eternal rest on Friday, June 4, 2021, at Oschner LSU Hospital in Shreveport, LA. Emmanuel was born on January 18, 2004, to Melvin G. Slack, Jr., and Bridgette L. Wililams in Shreveport, LA. While attending Union Spring Baptist Church under the leadership of Pastor Roosevelt Seaberry, he was an active member of the youth choir and the drill team. Upon changing residences, he later accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior under the leadership of Pastor Joey Ketchum at the Western Hills Baptist Church. He was a faithful and active member in the ministry. Gifted with reaching young people, he became active with Bible studies, Vacation Bible School, and Youth Group activities under both leaders. Emmanuel attended Huntington High School, where he was a member of the Yearbook club and participated in JROTC. When thinking of career choices, he was originally certain he wanted to be a police officer or an FBI agent, but it was after he took an interest in politics and the Republican Party that he began to thrive. He became active with the Texas Young Republicans and Republican Women of Bossier, where he expressed his beliefs in American individualism, rule of law, the Constitution, and the Holy Bible, which guided him to greatness and continual self-improvement. Emmanuel expressed his views across Louisiana and Texas lines and considered himself to be bipartisan, a conservative Republican, a proud soon-to-be Texan, upholding traditional values like bravery, courage, leadership, and principle, and above all, a follower of Christ. Emmanuel was actively working on an internship with Rhonda Anderson of Longview, TX. He was embraced by Governor Greg Abbott's office; Tarrant County Young Republicans of Fort Worth, TX; attorney general of Louisiana Jeff Landry's office; Caddo Parish Commissioner Jim Taliaferro; Commissioner Mario Chavez of District 10; Congressman Mike Johnson of the Fourth District of Louisiana; Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana Billy Nungesser; Republican Women of Bossier; and Ouachita Parish Republican Women. His hope was to become a Governor, Senator, or President.

Preceding Emmanuel in death were his maternal grandmother Marel D. Williams, grandfather Larry N. Williams, Sr., and paternal grandfather Melvin Slack, Sr., a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. He leaves to celebrate his life parents Bridgette L. Williams and Melvin G. Slack, Jr.; paternal grandmother Jackie Spivey Slack; brothers Triston M. Williams, Nehemiah C. Slack, and Melvin Slack III; sisters De'Angelique Slack and Jasmine Slack; Godparents Tamra P. Thompson, Michael Pennywell; Pastor Handy Giles and First Lady Charlene Giles; aunt Yolanda Y. Williams-Brown; uncle Larry N. Williams, Jr.; special friends Mario Chavez, Jenna Marie Kimball, Tayler Davis, Clayton Quinn, Parker Ward, and Whitney Scates; mentors, Christ Henry and Joshua Harvey; as well as several uncles, aunts, and loving cousins.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, June marks the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, and 2021 is on us, but my constituents are still suffering from the storms of 2020. There are a lot of folks in Louisiana who are still hurting. If you were to fly over Lake Charles, LA, you would still see blue tarps on roofs of homes damaged a year ago.

I took to the Senate floor last month stressing the need for disaster supplemental while Lake Charles and Baton Rouge at that time were getting hit by heavy rains and severe flooding. At the time, Lake Charles ended up with 8 to 15 inches of rain in less than 12 hours. It is heartbreaking to see them affected once more by a natural disaster. Baton Rouge got more than 13 inches of rain overnight, with 15,000 homes and businesses without power the next morning. All this comes on the heels of Hurricanes Laura and Delta and winter storms which had catastrophic damage to livestock, crops, and structures for Louisiana farmers.

For those who need a refresher, 2020 set a record for the most named storms--30 in 1 season and 5 of those named storms hitting Louisiana, which is also a record. Hurricane Laura, a category 4 hurricane, hit Lake Charles, devastated it, and then almost the exact same place that Laura hit, Delta hit--category 2--6 weeks later. It is unprecedented to have one hurricane followed by another.

NOAA calculates the damage from Hurricane Laura at about $19 billion and Delta at $2.9 billion. Laura wreaked havoc through devastating winds, which reached 150 miles per hour at landfall--the strongest hurricane to hit my State since 1856. Delta was just rain. In LeBleu Settlement, just northeast of Lake Charles, they received almost 18 inches.

I may sound like a broken record, but I need to just play this broken record once more. We cannot allow the impact of an entire year's worth of natural disasters to go unaddressed.

Just a few weeks ago, I was in Lake Charles, and I heard incredible frustration about rebuilding in the aftermath of these storms--a church still with its roof ripped off; homes, as I mentioned, covered with tarps--and stories from members of the community who are not back in their homes and, frankly, may not even be back in their city because there are no homes and there is no housing for them to return to.

The people in Lake Charles have an incredible resilience and an incredible we-can-do spirit. So you go there, and people are laughing and they are smiling, but then you see that blue tarp, and you know that this community will not recover at the way things are going. I would argue that the weather events were tragic, but the lack of action upon recovery is making a tragedy worse.

In March, my colleague from Oregon, Senator Jeff Merkley, and I urged the Biden administration to support a supplemental disaster appropriation to urgently address and direct Federal resources to communities throughout America struggling to recover from hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and other 2020 natural disasters.

President Biden came to Louisiana. Once more, he heard from Mayor Nic Hunter, Governor Edwards, and myself that we could hopefully have some relief. We need programs like community development block grants, disaster recovery, mitigation funding, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineer funding for southwest coastal Louisiana hurricane and storm damage risk reduction. We need emergency solutions grants and social services block grants to provide assistance to the thousands of families who have lost their homes due to hurricanes like those I have been describing.

We are past due moving quickly. If it happened tomorrow, it still would have not happened quickly, and we have gone into another year which could have similar storms. We need to help the people of Southwest Louisiana. The region has been pounded. My job is to do all I can to help them get back on their feet.

Once more, I call on my colleagues in the House and the Senate with a simple message: Let's get a disaster supplemental done.

With that, I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, today I rise in recognition of seersucker manufacturers and enthusiasts across the United States. I wish everyone a happy National Seersucker Day. This uniquely American fashion has a storied history dating back to 1909. The first seersucker suit was designed by Joseph Haspel at his Broad Street facility in New Orleans, LA. Louisiana is proud to have played an important part in introducing the country to seersucker apparel.

This lightweight cotton fabric, known for its signature pucker, has been worn and enjoyed by Americans across the country during the hot summer months. Mr. Haspel said it best: ``Hot is hot, no matter what you do for a living.''

In the 1990s, Seersucker Day was established by Members of this Chamber to honor this unique American fashion. I proudly resumed this tradition in 2014 in the U.S. House of Representatives and continued this tradition in the U.S. Senate. This year, I wish to designate Thursday, June 17, as the eighth annual National Seersucker Day. I encourage everyone to wear seersucker on this day to commemorate this traditionally American clothing.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Parker Loy, an intern in my office, be granted floor privileges for today, June 17, 2021.

Madam President, I rise today to honor the life of a young man who was not only an intern in my congressional office but also a friend. Earl Michael Willis was born on May 29, 1993, in Baton Rouge and was the beloved son of Earl and Cristal Willis. He grew up in Brusly, LA, and attended Holy Family School and Catholic High School in Baton Rouge. Michael developed a strong connection to God during his formative years, especially through close friendship with Father Michael Allelo, and his Christian faith and values were an important aspect of his daily life. When Michael was in middle school, his sister Rachael Lynn passed away from cancer. From that point on, Michael's life was dedicated to his sister's memory, and he and his family participated in many Light the Night events. More recently, Michael and his wife Megan established a nonprofit foundation named ``Running for Rachael'' in honor of his sister.

Ever since working at River Road Day Care in Port Allen in high school, Michael was passionate about advocacy. At age 20, he became a legislative assistant to Cindy Bishop of Checkmate Strategies and went on to become the director of business development for the firm after finishing college. Michael graduated from Louisiana State University in May 2015 in political science. While at LSU, he was an active member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and vice president of policy for The Center for Development and Learning, where he led the center's ``Literacy and Economic Development'' summit and led a highly successful ``Literacy Day at the Capitol.'' Michael married the love of his life, Megan Voda, on April 17, 2020. He possessed an incomparable measure of love and devotion for his wife, his parents, and all of his family. Sharing quality time with them was always atop his list of priorities.

Michael is survived by his wife Megan, parents Earl and Cristal Willis, brother Nicholas Boudreaux, nephews Noah and Nicholas Boudreaux, mother- and father-in-law Cris and Tim Voda, sister-in-law Katie Voda, his honorary nephews Beau Seymour and Harrison Danna, his honorary nieces Lilly Seymour and Caroline Danna, and a host of aunts, uncles, extended family, and friends. Michael Willis was a truly loving and inspiring individual who always ensured that those around him felt loved, valued, and appreciated. He will be deeply missed, but his memory will live on forever in the hearts of those who knew and loved him.

Madam President, I rise today kind of expressing the frustration of many of my constituents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had Federal Agencies and employees not working at all--not from home, not in the office, period. Have not had a lick of work for over 14 months.

In April, the Senate Finance Committee had a hearing entitled ``The Social Security Administration During COVID: How the Pandemic Hampered Access to Benefits and Strategies for Improving Service Delivery.''

Now, following the hearing and in response to my concerns that seniors in my State with issues getting their Social Security benefits are not being sufficiently served due to field and local offices being closed, my office got a letter from Commissioner Andrew Saul. The letter states:

I urge you to encourage the unions to continue engaging in

meaningful dialogue with management that includes a focus on

the very best service to the public.

That is a nice way of saying: We need help getting the unions to the table so we can get Federal employees back to work.

Now, we are talking about mandatory services, reopening Social Security offices for in-person visits in a postvaccine world to assist elderly Americans--my grandparents, your grandparents--having issues with their benefits. This isn't happening because government employees are not showing up.

It brings to mind an old quote from an old Governor in Louisiana, Earl Long. They asked Governor Long: How many people do you have working at the capitol? And he looks off into space, and he goes: Working? About two.

Now, in this case, that is the way it is going with this. The situation at the Department of Veterans Affairs, in connection with the National Archives and specifically the National Personnel Records Center, is even worse. According to the National Archives, the backlog of veterans' records grew to more than 499,000 requests in April of 2021. They estimate it will take 18 to 24 months to clear once the National Personnel Records Center is staffed at full capacity.

I just want to make this point. We have 499,000 ignored document requests from veterans. The people who have served our country are not being served in their current life.

Despite the widespread availability of vaccines and the recent relaxation of COVID-19 guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Personnel Records

Center only moved to phase 2 on March 29, 2021. In phase 2, the National Personnel Records Center has 25 percent of staff onsite. There are supposedly 200 employees per shift, 2 shifts a day, 6 days a week, but they are only processing emergency requests--for example, immediate burials, hospitalizations, and for the homeless.

In the Veterans' Affairs Committee, we led a push to enable National Personnel Records Center employees to get vaccines from the VA's allotment in an attempt to increase staffing. In the latest information provided to my staff, only 36 National Personnel Records Center employees took advantage of this availability. This is 36 out of 600.

Now, these aren't just numbers on a poster. There are real consequences. These are people's lives.

My constituent Mr. Albert Duplantis, 69 years old, of Lake Charles, LA--there is Mr. Duplantis when he was in the Navy, and there you see him now. He served our country during Vietnam stationed on the USS Pyro.

He has diabetes mellitus type II, atrial fibrillation, and hypertension--claimed as due to Agent Orange. He needs treatment for his heart condition, but he cannot get the medical records he needs because the National Personnel Records Center is not processing the needed military record during COVID-19, the one that the VA needs to make this happen.

Now, his application for medical treatment for his heart condition-- this is a heart condition, by the way--was received by the VA in December 2019. That is 2019. In an early response, the VA provided a possible date of completion of March 23, 2021. Now, from 2019, December, to March 23, 2021, that date has come and gone, but Mr. Duplantis's application is stuck in limbo until the VA receives his military records from the National Personnel Records Center.

Let me repeat. A treatment for heart disease has been held up since 2019 because of the inaction of the National Personnel Records Center. We are over 1 year into the pandemic. We have had access to vaccines, the masks are off, and still records are not being processed. And Federal employees are sitting at home, collecting a paycheck, without working. We are talking since March of last year. We are now in May of this year. They have not shown up for work 1 day, nor have they worked from home, and we have a man who can't get his records for heart disease.

This is unacceptable. With vaccines widely available, there is no excuse for mandatory work not being done. If you are not willing to do your job, you shouldn't have a job. This great American went to war for our freedom, but Federal employees won't go to the office to file his paperwork. There are other veterans besides Mr. Duplantis unable to receive medical treatment and other benefits they are entitled to.

This weekend we will observe Memorial Day, a time where we honor and mourn the men and women of the U.S. military who died during their service to this great country. This is a reminder of the sacrifice willingly risked--and unfortunately it occurred--and they did this, they signed up for this, without flinching. We should repay our veterans and do more for them just by doing the job that should be done.

The National Personnel Records Center needs to get their house in order. They need to go back to work. Our veterans deserve better. Mr. Duplantis deserves medical treatment.

With that, I yield the floor.

Madam President, I rise today to bring attention to an ongoing situation in South Louisiana.

Heavy rains are hammering our communities. A state of emergency exists across the area, with more rain expected today.

It has been a difficult 2 years, pandemic aside. Eight months ago, Lake Charles was devastated by Hurricanes Delta and Laura, one of the few times in history in which a hurricane followed upon a hurricane, almost identically tracking.

Yesterday, areas got anywhere from 8 to 15 inches of rain in 12 hours. It was heartbreaking to see Lake Charles hit again by natural disaster.

And this is 18 to 15 inches in 12 hours, and there you can see the impact of cars flooded up almost to their window. There is a home in the background, and you can see where the water level is relative to that home.

And here we have another example of vehicles flooded, to give you an idea of how much rain occurred in a short period of time.

Now, other floods and disasters in parts of the country--often floods and disasters in parts of the country, other than the west and the east coasts, get overlooked. I am here to make the case to not overlook. We cannot ignore the pain and destruction left in the wake of these storms.

Overnight, 80 people were rescued from flash flooding in Lake Charles. On top of the rain and submerged roads, there were warnings for possible tornadoes, prompting shelter-in-place precautions.

I heard from constituents that students were kept in schools until late into the night.

Now, it is not just Lake Charles; Baton Rouge flooded as well. In Baton Rouge, more than 250 people were rescued after the city got a deluge of over 13 inches of rain on Monday night.

And this is Baton Rouge--not as bad as Lake Charles in that picture, but even more people had to be rescued.

This morning, at least 15,000 homes and businesses were without power in East Baton Rouge Parish.

The number of homes and businesses flooded in Lake Charles and Baton Rouge combined is not known, but I can promise we will continue to hear distressing and saddening stories about the loss of both life and property throughout South Louisiana in the coming days.

Now, through firsthand accounts, social media posts, and local news coverage, we have already heard emotional stories. In Lake Charles, a resident and their newborn had to swim to safety as water levels rose. In Baton Rouge, a body was found submerged in a vehicle that had gone into a canal.

Water rescues and emergency evacuations have been underway for the last 24 hours, but Americans are at our best when we help those in need, and folks in Louisiana are resilient.

So I give thanks to all the brave men and women of local fire and police departments for their work in saving lives. We will get through this together.

When I was in Lake Charles after the last hurricane, Hurricane Delta, I picked up a bracelet that read ``Lake Charles Strong.'' We are Lake Charles Strong; we are Baton Rouge Strong; we are Louisiana Strong.

While some outside of our State have already forgotten about the natural disasters of 2020, Louisiana has not. Many have yet to return to their homes.

Just 2 weeks ago, President Biden visited Lake Charles, talking about infrastructure in front of the Calcasieu

River Bridge. Well, when I met him, I raised the issue of a disaster relief package.

Our State was hit by hurricanes and winter storms, as well as the pandemic. A record five main storms made landfall last year in my State. The strongest was Laura, a category 4 hurricane, hitting Lake Charles, followed by Hurricane Delta, a category 2, just a month later.

Louisiana farmers were also hit with catastrophic damage to livestock, crops, and structures during unprecedented winter storms.

We need a disaster supplemental legislation to help communities struggling to recover. We cannot afford to allow the impact of an entire year's worth of natural disasters to go unaddressed.

Our best line of defense for these natural disasters is coastal resiliency, which in our State is funded through what is called GOMESA. That is revenue from offshore oil and gas development.

And folks wonder why I fight so hard to preserve that funding for GOMESA. GOMESA allows Louisiana to rebuild our coastline so if there is a hurricane coming onshore, there is the resiliency from a coastline which is built out with wetlands to absorb the strength of that hurricane.

We need to preserve GOMESA to continue having dollars flow not just to Louisiana but to other Gulf Coast States to protect against natural disasters.

It will be raining today and maybe longer, but to those--oh, one more thing to mention.

There is a portion of the President's--a portion of the President's infrastructure bill which has not attracted a lot of notice but which I would agree with. It is called nature resilience--using the natural structures of our coastlines in order to increase resiliency against water events and other events.

And in a spirit of bipartisanship, but once seeing the necessity of it, I would support that provision as I now understand it.

So for all those in South Louisiana, please stay safe, listen to local officials for further instructions.

I will continue to monitor the situation and help, as possible, with recovery efforts. My office is in contact with the White House, ensuring the full support of the Federal Government is there to help now and then to help recovery.

Our prayers are with those experiencing flooding and other hardships. We thank the American people for their support.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.