[StBernard] Weekly Update from Bobby - August 25, 2006

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Fri Aug 25 22:35:34 EDT 2006


August 25, 2006
Dear friends,

Helping residents devastated by Hurricane Rita

After a lot of convincing, the federal government this week agreed to waive
the Medicare Part D drug benefit penalty for people in Louisiana impacted by
Hurricane Rita. In June, the federal government created an extension for
Hurricane Katrina residents at my request, and I have been fighting ever
since to make sure that residents impacted by Hurricane Rita had the same
benefit.

Initially, federal bureaucrats wanted to impose a one percent cumulative
penalty on Louisiana residents for each month enrollment was delayed, even
in hurricane impacted areas. I thought this was ridiculous considering that
most people in South Louisiana have been focused on rebuilding their lives
instead of meeting arbitrary bureaucratic deadlines.

It took many hours of conversations with the Administration, the Department
of Health and Human Services, and Congressional leadership to explain the
burden that a penalty would put on individuals who already suffered so much
because of last year's hurricanes. Too often in the recovery effort,
bureaucrats in Washington have forgotten the parishes and residents that
were impacted by Hurricane Rita. Hurricane Rita was equally as devastating
to those affected, and I urged the Administration to waive the Medicare Part
D penalty for these individuals. I am glad to see that the federal
government finally used some common sense, and agreed that this situation
needed to be rectified.

Building up levees and flood protection

Last year, our state was devastated three separate times--when Katrina and
Rita hit, when the levees failed, and when red tape and bureaucracy hindered
the state and federal recovery efforts. As we near the one year anniversary
of Hurricane Katrina, we are still waiting for the hurricane and flood
protection that is needed to protect our state during this hurricane season.

I have been a vocal advocate in Congress for ensuring that we have Category
5 protection for our levees with independent oversight of the design and
construction, and I am a co-sponsor of the National Levee Safety Program Act
of 2005 directing the Secretary of the Army to:

- inspect each levee in the United States constructed or maintained by the
Secretary or identified by a state governor;

- notify the governor of the state in which a levee is located of inspection
results, hazardous conditions found, and necessary remedial measures;

- submit, annually, a priority list of flood damage reduction studies and
projects; and

- periodically publish an inventory of U.S. levees, including inspection
results.

This week, I joined residents from throughout South Louisiana at an event
for levees.org, to remind the nation that we still need increased hurricane
and flood protection. We deserve to know that we are safe to rebuild our
homes and our lives. The more uncertain the capabilities of the levees and
the more delays in providing us with actual hurricane and flood protection,
the more hesitant people will be to return, and I will keep working in
Congress to ensure that we have increased flood and hurricane protection.

Improving literacy in Louisiana

<http://www.bobbyjindal.com/email_template/images/ror_082506.jpg> On
Wednesday, I was honored to be able to visit a health care clinic in
Kentwood that is taking some innovative steps to improve literacy in our
state, and encouraging children to read. I visited Tangipahoa Parish as part
of the Reach Out and Read national program, which hands out new books to
kids who are visiting local health care clinics.

As the father of three young children, I understand firsthand the importance
of reading aloud to young kids. Providing children with books and
encouragement is a great way to instill in kids a lifetime love of learning,
and I will continue to support education and literacy initiatives.

Getting our message out

Election Day is only three months away, and my re-election campaign is
working hard to organize the support we need to win re-election and continue
to work on behalf of Louisiana, and we need your help!

You may have started to notice bumper stickers and yard signs for my
re-election campaign in your neighborhoods. If you would like to help rally
support for our campaign by displaying a yard sign in the First District or
a bumper sticker, please email my office at info at bobbyjindal.com
<mailto:info at bobbyjindal.com> and we will get it to you as soon as
possible!

So many of you have written to congratulate me on the new addition to our
family, and I wanted to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers. My
wife and new son are doing great, and we are slowly but surely adjusting
back to life with a newborn!

As always, please feel free to contact my offices if we can be of assistance
to you.

Sincerely,
Bobby Jindal






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