[StBernard] Sen. Vitter says he is working on passing congressional clear de-authorization ...

[Westley Annis]

Sen. Vitter says he is working on passing congressional clear
de-authorization legislation for MR-GO he hopes to see approved in 2007;
Parish President Rodriguez told audience at Nunez College that closure of
ship channel wouldn't happen until Congress acts
 
U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La, said at a community meeting in Chalmette on
Saturday he is 
working on passing in Congress  "clear de-authorization'' legislation of the
Mississippi River - 
Gulf Outlet, which he hopes to see approved in 2007.
 
Vitter, invited by state Rep. Nita Rusich Hutter to speak Saturday at Nunez
Community 
College in a collaborative community meeting with the parish Chamber of
Commerce, initially 
told an audience overflowing the college's auditorium that Congress has
already told the 
Corps of Engineers to start working on closure of the MR-GO.
 
But St. Bernard Parish President Henry "Junior'' Rodriguez told the crowd
the Corps will not 
close the ship channel - which many people believe caused the extensive
flooding of  Hurricane 
Katrina in St. Bernard - until Congress specifically de-authorizes its use
in clear language.
It could be closed in months after Congress passes de-authorization
legislation, Rodriguez said.
Vitter responded that, "Junior is right. We need to pass a clear
de-authorization and that's 
what I'm working on.'' Vitter said after the meeting he hopes to see it
passed in 2007.
 
Numerous St. Bernard Parish elected officials attended the meeting,
including Parish Council 
members. Council member Judy Hoffmeister said the Council Office now has
forms for individuals
 who want to become part of a lawsuit against the Corps of Engineers over
Katrina flooding. 
A federal judge on Friday rejected arguments by the federal government that
the Corps was 
immune to the lawsuit filed by numerous individuals, including St. Bernard
Parish residents 
seeking damages over failure of the federal levee system.
 
Vitter during the meeting said he would like to put a structure in the MR-GO
to block storm 
surges and combine it with projects to stop salt water intrusion.
 
Responding to a question from the audience, the senator said filling in the
ship channel, perhaps 
with sand or other fill, probably isn't the best route because it would be a
"huge engineering 
project'' that would take years.
 
Vitter criticized the Corps of Engineers, saying it needed to be reformed
because "it's a 
broken bureaucracy.'' It needs more outside experts involved in its
decision-making process to 
avoid engineering mistakes that have been made, he said.
 
Vitter also criticized the mechanics of the state's Road Home program,
saying federal money 
to help residents rebuild "is essentially stuck in Baton Rouge'' the state
program.
"The way government has structured the (Road Home) program has been
complicated'' 
and, in his opinion, unnecessarily depends on pre-Katrina assessment of home
value, Vitter said.
 
The program needs to be streamlined and simplified to make it less
bureaucratic, enabling money 
to get to people faster, Vitter said.
 
Hutter said her office is compiling a list of people having problems with
the Road Home program 
and invited residents to call her office at (504) 361-6684 or email her at 

larep104 at legis.state.la.us <mailto:larep104 at legis.state.la.us>  and she will
contact state authorities to try to intercede on 
behalf of residents.