Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Charles W. Boustany, Jr. today commemorated the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Rita in a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. The following is the text of Boustany’s remarks (As Prepared):
Mr. Speaker, this week Southwest Louisiana will pause to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Rita, the third most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history. Rita was as equally devastating as Hurricane Katrina, causing widespread destruction to our communities and our Nation’s critical energy infrastructure.
Since then, there is a palpable view among many of my constituents that their story has been forgotten and their needs unknown.
Throughout the past year, I have worked hard to ensure that Rita does not become “the forgotten storm” among the members of this body, and to date Congress has approved unprecedented federal funding for our recovery. For this, the people of Southwest Louisiana are grateful.
But not until you visit the coastal parishes of Southwest Louisiana – Vermilion Parish, Calcasieu Parish and Cameron Parish – can you understand the scope and magnitude of the destruction of Rita, and the long road we have to protect our coast, and our energy infrastructure, from future disaster.
In year since Rita, I have brought 19 House Members, including Speaker Hastert, to Southwest Louisiana to see these towns and communities, and to meet the great residents of my district who were able to ensure a safe and thorough evacuation that did not result in the loss of life we saw in New Orleans.
All of my colleagues who have joined me in visiting the communities hit hardest by Rita have come away with an increased awareness of the importance of Southwest Louisiana to the energy infrastructure of the United States, as well as the need to protect our coastal wetlands and provide a continuous funding stream to protect our communities.
The eye of Hurricane Rita made landfall in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, bringing with it a storm surge of over fifteen feet. In the coastal parishes of Vermilion, Cameron, and Calcasieu, the destruction was indescribable, but no lives were lost. Local officials in Southwest Louisiana were commended for managing an orderly evacuation of residents, and offering a detailed plan for recovery and rebuilding. In short, the people of Southwest Louisiana did, and are doing, everything right.
Amidst the ruin, the one constant was the spirit and determination of the people of Southwest Louisiana. The common question from local residents was not “Where do we go from here?” but rather “When can we rebuild our homes, our businesses, and our way of life?”
More than any other storm, Rita exposed the critical state of our coastal wetlands, and the role they play in supporting the energy industry of the United States. These wetlands serve as critical buffer against ocean storms, as well as protect industries and cities located further inland.
Before Rita, the projected land loss in Louisiana was approximately 24 square miles per year, the equivalent of nearly two football fields an hour. After Rita, our coast is even more vulnerable, and some worry a modest category one hurricane could deal an even more destructive blow to our coastal parishes and the energy facilities they support.
During Rita, oil platforms and drilling rigs in the storm’s path were forced to shut down and evacuate their workers. This led to the halting of 98% of oil and natural gas production in the Gulf and, when the nation’s 12th largest port in Lake Charles was forced to shut down, energy production and distribution were brought to a virtual standstill.
Protecting and strengthening our coast is not only a Louisiana problem, it is an American problem, and it is one that affects American families and businesses that rely on the energy we produce in Louisiana and transport throughout this country.
Thousands of oil and gas facilities are concentrated throughout the Gulf Coast and in Southwest Louisiana, meaning that any future storm could have a crippling effect on our nation’s domestic energy production. Over one-third of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is stockpiled in Cameron Parish, and soon over 25% of our Nation’s natural gas supply will run through the region.
Mr. Speaker, often in the past year I am stopped by my colleagues here in this body who ask: “How can I help?” My answer to them now is clear - Help us to protect ourselves.
This year, the House and Senate have already responded to this request by approving legislation that would give Louisiana its fair share of oil and gas revenues produced off our shores. This solution will provide our state with the necessary funding to protect our coastal wetlands and, in turn, the critical energy infrastructure that is so important to our U.S. economy.
The Louisiana Congressional Delegation is working to ensure a final compromise is presented to President Bush before the end of the year. Now, it is up to the leadership in this body, and in the Senate, to bring the bill to conference and get a compromise to President Bush. The sooner Congress acts, the sooner Southwest Louisiana can protect itself from the devastation we saw from Hurricane Rita a year ago.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, the people of Southwest Louisiana never asked for a federal handout, but rather a helping hand. For many Americans, last year’s hurricane season will be remembered by the images of chaos and confusion that came to define Hurricane Katrina. For those of us who were there to witness the devastation in Southwest Louisiana and the recovery of the people whose lives it forever changed, we come away with a much different story – one that will remind us of the hope, the resiliency, and the hard work that defined the people of Southwest Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Rita.
###
