[StBernard] Governor Blanco praises Congressional delegation on OCS passage

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Sun Dec 10 09:50:52 EST 2006


GOVERNOR BLANCO PRAISES CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION ON PASSAGE OF OCS


BATON ROUGE - December 9, 2006 - "This is an historic day for Louisiana For the first time, the Federal government will share a portion of the royalties from Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas production with our state, its number one partner.


"I congratulate our Congressional delegation for their tireless work and commend Senator Landrieu, the bill's author, for keeping the pressure on Congress since she began leading this issue in Washington years ago. Our House and Senate Members each played key roles in getting this measure passed and, on behalf of the citizens of Louisiana, I thank you.


"This bill is the critical first step we've been waiting for as we go forward with our long-term coastal protection and restoration efforts. This dedicated revenue stream will provide the foundation of financial support we need to ultimately complete what will be the largest public works project in our nation's history.


"The voters of Louisiana overwhelmingly approved a Constitutional Amendment that ensures these funds will be used for the sole purpose of protecting and restoring our coastal communities and wetlands and the state is hard at work developing a comprehensive coastal restoration plan to protect our citizens and our unique coastal environment. However, we must be ready to start as quickly as possible and as Governor, I will do everything I can to make sure Louisiana moves quickly with the work needed to protect and restore our coast.


"I will work to clear any legal obstacles in leveraging new OCS revenues through a variety of long term financing mechanisms. Making these dollars go as far as they can in the near term can ensure that we put projects and programs to work as soon as possible.

"Again, I congratulate our Congressional delegation on this landmark legislation that gives us confidence that we can protect our communities and restore the unique coastal landscape that defines Louisiana and gives so much to the rest of America."

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The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation
Louisiana's Fund for Louisiana's People
www.louisianahelp.org




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