[StBernard] Reflecting on Recent Great Town Hall Meetings

[Westley Annis]

Dear Friend, 

As you know, I enjoy hosting town hall meetings.  In fact, I've been hosting
regular town hall meetings all over the state since I was first elected to
the U.S. Senate in 2004. 

Last week, while Congress was home for its district work period, I hosted
six town hall meetings in Webster, Natchitoches, Avoyelles, Jefferson Davis,
Iberia and Lafourche Parishes.  And although I visited different parishes in
different regions of Louisiana, three issues dominated the discussions:
spending, debt and rising gas prices
<http://www.jenningsdailynews.net/news.php?id=6539> . 

If Washington stays on this reckless path, it will kill our economy. Every
man, woman and child in this country right now has $45,000 worth of debt on
the federal level. We need a spending straitjacket for Congress.  That's why
I'm coauthoring a bill to require Congress to present a balanced budget each
year. 

At the town hall meetings, I also discussed how I'm using every tool I have
to fight this Obama de facto moratorium on domestic energy production in the
Gulf - including my decision to block
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressRelease
s&ContentRecord_id=2a9c4a3e-0428-1d2f-a9d6-ac158c62ebad&Region_id=&Issue_id=

>  President Barack Obama's Interior Department nominee, Dan Ashe, until the

administration issues at least 15 deepwater drilling permits. 

With the unrest in the Middle East and the Obama administration's
determination to halt all production of traditional energy, I fear we are
very close to $4.00
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=IssueStatements.View&I
ssue_id=11643a0f-abc8-ec91-6609-6362cd1e56f2>  a gallon gas in the near
future. Louisianians are incredibly frustrated by this because we can
prevent that by harnessing our own vast natural resources.  

I'm working on bill that will do just that and will continue to fight the
wrongheaded energy and spending policies in Washington. 

Sincerely, 

David Vitter 
United States Senator 

P.s. Please visit my website to sign up for E-updates
<http://vitter.senate.gov/?module=contact/eupdate>  and receive regular
email updates from me on the issues important to Louisiana families.