[StBernard] Need Seafood Safety Plan NOW

[Westley Annis]

Dear Friends - 

For months now we have been asking BP to support a comprehensive seafood
safety plan that will send the signal to our nation and the world that not
only is Louisiana seafood safe, but that it continues to be the best in the
world. This plan will test 400 samples of seafood from our waters each month
for five years and include a certification that the seafood is safe, along
with possible three-year renewable intervals. Unfortunately, we still don't
have a commitment from BP to support this plan - even months after first
proposing it. I met with former Senator Bob Graham - co-chair of the
national oil spill Commission - earlier this week and stressed that getting
BP to support this plan is one of the most immediate needs facing our state
today as we continue to revitalize Louisiana following the catastrophic BP
oil spill. 

Furthermore, we discussed with Senator Graham the issue of the ongoing
deepwater drilling moratorium that jeopardizes our people's livelihoods. We
know that up to 20,000 Louisiana jobs are threatened by this moratorium.  In
short, we need the federal government to do their jobs to make sure drilling
is done safely, instead of forcing thousands of our people to lose their
jobs. 

 
<http://images.publicaster.com/ImageLibrary/account848/images/2010-08-30-Jin
dalLSUGroundbreaking3.jpg> Yesterday we had the privilege of breaking ground
on LSU's new chemistry building in Baton Rouge, which will provide even more
tools for our flagship university to use toward training our future
scientists and innovators.  This $33.9 million dollar investment will
increase LSU's capacity to perform as a leader in education, and give our
state greater leverage in retaining the brainpower we need in a competitive
economy. Working with the Legislature, we have committed an incredible total
of $537 million - over half a billion dollars - to higher education
investments since taking office in 2008.

This week, I continued to honor veterans with the Louisiana Veterans Honor
Medal at an event in Leesville. As I told the Baton Rouge Advocate
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c101%7c9390&digest
=nK9YwmXTw8dO5lNWMbMdlA&sysid=1> , the heroes we honor are men and women who
represent the rare trait of courage.  It is with great admiration and
respect that I've had the opportunity to distribute roughly 13,000 medals to
some of our state's finest individuals who served our nation in defense of
freedom.

We will continue moving Louisiana forward, and I am confident that our state
will be even better than ever before, thanks to the perseverance of our
people even in the face of many challenges. 

Sincerely,
Governor Bobby Jindal