[StBernard] LRA Chairman Francis's Statement on House's Vote to Approve Package Including Revenue Sha

[Westley Annis]

LRA Chairman Francis's Statement on House's Approval of Package Including Revenue Sharing

BATON ROUGE, La. (December 8, 2006) - LRA Chairman Norman C. Francis issued the following statement today on the U.S. House of Representatives' vote to approve a package including revenue sharing: 

"We applaud the House for approving this landmark legislation to provide Louisiana and other coastal states with our fair share of oil and gas revenue."

"This is a watershed - for the first time in American history, we will have revenue sharing to help us restore our vanishing coastline and protect us from future hurricanes."

"Louisiana voters have made sure these monies will be dedicated to coastal restoration and hurricane protection in constitutional amendments supported by the Louisiana Recovery Authority. We know from our conversations with Members of Congress that this responsible stewardship was important in their decision to help us."

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated South Louisiana, claiming 1,464 lives, destroying more than 200,000 homes and 18,000 businesses and inflicting about $25 billion in insured losses. The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) is the planning and coordinating body that was created in the aftermath of these storms by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to lead one of the most extensive rebuilding efforts in the world. The LRA is a 33-member body which is coordinating across jurisdictions, supporting community recovery and resurgence, ensuring integrity and effectiveness, and planning for the recovery and rebuildi! ng of Louisiana.

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