111th Congress

"While this bill is not perfect, I strongly believe that it is critically important that this Congress prevent a massive tax increase of $3.8 trillion on American families and businesses. With unemployment hovering around 10% and the nation still experiencing sluggish economic growth, it would have been irresponsible for us to not act. Passage of this legislation is a fundamental first step to avert sliding back into a recession."

"American families and businesses have had uncertainty hanging over their heads for months and we've known about the date of the expiration of these tax provisions. It's time for this Congress to act. It's way past due."

"This ruling clearly demonstrates one of the most significant problems with the legislation, which I will continue to aggressively fight in the upcoming Congress. It is wrong for the federal government to mandate that Americans purchase more expensive Washington-approved coverage. This court decision is a step in the right direction towards repealing Obamacare and replacing it with commonsense, affordable solutions."

"This decision not only damages the trust of energy producers across the country, but it comes at a time when we desperately need new jobs to help our economy recover."

"American energy producers remain committed to safety, but have still not received clear guidelines on the new regulations. Additionally, regional and local administration officials and inspectors are still unable to get answers from Secretary Salazar or Director Bromwich on these rules."

"While the lifting of this moratorium is long overdue, the real proof will be how quickly drilling is allowed to resume."

"This report is a step toward restoring the Gulf Coast in the wake of the oil spill, but much work remains," Boustany said. "I have been working with Secretary Ray Mabus for several months, and look forward to continuing our discussions on how our state and the region can be revitalized."

"While today's re-opening of the federal fishery area off the Southwest Louisiana coast is welcome, this Administration needs to do more to help the people of the Gulf Coast," said Boustany. "The Administration's continued delay, whether with resources, re-opening federal waters to fishing or lifting the job-killing moratorium, threatens our way of life. Louisiana remains a ‘Sportsman's Paradise' with diverse habitats, and I will continue to work to ensure we maintain this important legacy."

"Today's rally shows how important energy jobs are to Louisiana, and I hope the President will listen to the message of those who attended," said Boustany. "The moratorium impacts thousands of jobs and families throughout the Gulf. The people of Louisiana remain committed to cleaning up the coast, but they also want to return to work producing the energy that powers America forward."

"The U.S. Court of Appeals decision shows the Obama Administration and Secretary Salazar acted irrationally," said Boustany. "I urge the Administration to begin reviewing offshore permit applications and after a thorough vetting process to approve those applications that qualify. Unfairly slowing the review process is a de-facto moratorium, which will make America more dependent on foreign energy and cost Louisiana thousands of jobs."

"Sec. Salazar's decision to re-impose the moratorium shows shortsightedness following the federal judge's ruling and the advice of the scientists and engineers that Interior requested," said Boustany. "Thousands of jobs throughout Southwest Louisiana depend on offshore energy production, and America relies on the energy we produce. Sec. Salazar's moratorium makes the U.S. more dependent on foreign energy sources. The moratorium is the wrong way to make offshore energy production safer."

"Today's ruling shows the knee-jerk reaction the Administration decided to take instead of a thoughtful approach," said Boustany. "Thousands of jobs throughout Southwest Louisiana depend on offshore energy production, and America relies on the energy we produce. This moratorium made our country more dependent on foreign sources of oil and gas while threatening thousands of jobs. As the Administration moves forward, they must act responsibly to balance our energy, economic and environmental needs. Today's ruling is only a start to restoring offshore production, but it is an important start."

"As the moratorium continues, thousands of Louisiana workers remain out of work, and they face great uncertainty about their futures," said Boustany. "America needs energy produced from the Gulf Coast region. This moratorium makes us more reliant on foreign sources of energy, which costs us jobs and directly impacts our national security. The President should listen to members of the Louisiana delegation to understand how his policies affect our area."

"As the people of Louisiana struggle to clean up our coast, many families face the loss of income and their jobs because of the deep water drilling moratorium," said Boustany. "Responsible energy production is essential to keep America moving forward and to the economy of the Gulf Coast region. In the days following the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, safety efforts were expanded on the existing rigs to prevent another disaster. The Administration needs to lift the moratorium and allow Louisiana workers to return to their jobs to produce the energy America needs."

"Shallow water oil and gas production differs greatly from deep water production," said Boustany. "Secretary Salazar must not cripple the 5,000-plus jobs that rely on shallow water production, which would happen if the permitting process halts those in shallow water."

"As a doctor, I know Americans struggle with health costs, and Congress could act to help lower their premiums and overall costs," said Boustany. "Unfortunately, Congressional Democrats and the President decided to ram through a deeply-flawed overhaul that will cause premiums for families to rise even faster. The American people rejected the Democrats' bill and their heavy-handed approach. I will work to fix the unintended consequences as we move forward."

"Most Democrats, Independents and Republicans do agree on 80 percent of the solutions to bring down health care costs, but these bills focus where we disagree," said Boustany. "Rather, we should scrap these bills, like the American people want us to, and focus on bringing down health costs. As a doctor, I know people want to buy insurance across state lines, pool together to get a better price and limit frivolous lawsuits - all of these will lower costs, and they can be done in a simple way. Unfortunately, Democrats' 2,000+ page bills complicate health care instead of lowering costs when families struggle to make ends meet."

"As a doctor, I saw firsthand the difficulties patients face in our health care system, and I continue to work with my colleagues to address the most pressing problem, which is lowering health care costs for all Americans," said Boustany. "I am hopeful the President will listen to the bipartisan solutions we advocate. Health care is too important to simply rush through a glossy, 2,000 plus page bill. We need to scrap the current bills and start with commonsense solutions to lower health care costs."

"I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to put forth bipartisan solutions, but the President's State of the Union ignored what voters in Massachusetts expressed just one week ago. The American people want focused solutions to deal with the problems we face. We can get our economy going and create jobs again, and we can lower health care costs for families. The President's rhetoric and actions simply fail to put us on that path."

"Senators can stop this massive health care overhaul proposed by Sen. Reid by voting against the motion to proceed on this bad piece of legislation," Boustany said. "The bill Sen. Reid put out will raise health care costs for families and businesses in Louisiana, raise taxes on millions and cut health care for our seniors by almost half a trillion dollars. That's not commonsense reform, so why would anyone vote to proceed to debate? Instead, Senators Landrieu and Vitter should oppose this bill and work to achieve a bi-partisan, broadly supported bill to actually lower health care costs."

"H.R. 3962, House Democrats' government-run health care overhaul, will increase health care costs for millions of Americans, tax Americans struggling with a tough economy and cut health care benefits to millions of seniors," Boustany said.

"House Republicans believe we can lower health care costs for families and small businesses, and these solutions are a critical first step," Boustany said.

"Democratic leaders in the House propose a plan that would significantly increase health care costs for millions of Americans and prevent millions from keeping their current insurance if they like it," Boustany said.

"If Congress decides to extend the homebuyer tax credit, both Chairman Lewis and I believe Congress should consider reasonable proposals to reduce fraud and improve the IRS's ability to administer the credit," said Boustany. "In addition, given the worsening fiscal crisis our government faces, I believe any extension of the homebuyer credit should be paid for by reducing wasteful spending elsewhere in the budget, such as cancelling ineffective stimulus funding that hasn't yet been spent."

"Today's grant will help the Chennault Airport continue to grow, which is critical for job creation in Southwest Louisiana," Boustany said. "As we recover from hurricanes Rita, Gustav and Ike, we must rebuild and improve our infrastructure including the airport to help our businesses expand and hire new workers."

"This Congress can pass meaningful reform soon to reduce some of the fear and anxiety families are feeling in these very difficult times. Working together in a bipartisan way, we can truly lower the cost of health care while improving quality for the American people.

"Chennault provides the Lake Charles area a tremendous advantage for economic growth," Boustany said. "Creating new jobs in Southwest Louisiana is critical to helping our region keep our best and brightest young people. These leaders recognize the effort that is going to be required to achieve this goal."

"Thousands of families along the Gulf Coast depend on American energy production for their livelihood," Boustany said. "As the President is promising to cut energy emissions with a national energy tax hike, he's jeopardizing good-paying American energy jobs. Our economy depends on oil and gas, and the President's policies will only increase our demand for foreign sources of fuel."

"I would specifically like to know: How many current jobs do you anticipate will be eliminated or moved overseas by the President's tax increase on domestic energy producers," Boustany asked. "Has the Administration performed any specific analysis related to job loss? If not, why? If so, what analysis has been done of energy support jobs that would be lost?"

"This budget will cost Southwest Louisiana and the Gulf Coast jobs," Boustany said. "It's that plain and simple. Dramatically hiking taxes on America's energy producers will force jobs overseas and some companies to close. That's an irresponsible budget in the face of a slowing national economy and a coast that continues to recover. What's worse, the budget will allow Washington Democrats to implement changes in our healthcare system without any of the normal checks and balances. This is a tax hike on working families and terrible policy."