Landrieu Meets with White House Budget Director as Hurricane Funding Faces Potential Second Veto

Press Release

Landrieu Meets with White House Budget Director as Hurricane Funding Faces Potential Second Veto

As press accounts suggest a potential second presidential veto of an emergency appropriations bill that includes significant hurricane recovery measures, U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today commented on her meeting yesterday with White House budget director Rob Portman.

"Mr. Portman and I had a productive discussion of the immense challenges currently facing Louisiana and the Gulf Coast as we work to recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the devastating failure of the federal levee system," Sen. Landrieu said following the meeting in her Capitol Hill office.

"I specifically expressed to him the immense roadblocks to recovery created by the Administration's opposition to waiving the 10 percent local match that has been waived for numerous other communities. The resulting red tape alone, created by mismatched federal paperwork requirements, has tremendously slowed the pace of rebuilding.

"I urged him to reconsider the White House's position, as well as their insistence on borrowing $1.3 billion from one set of levee reconstruction projects to fund another. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not smart leadership, and each of the failed federal levees should have their rebuilding fully funded.

"Finally, we also discussed the importance of other key recovery measures in the vetoed supplemental appropriations bill, including funds for crime prevention, historic preservation and small business, education and other economic assistance.

"Mr. Portman and I will continue this dialogue over the coming days and weeks. While no commitments were made today, I am hopeful that with a greater understanding for the challenges Louisiana and the Gulf Coast face, he will take another look at what this Administration can do to relieve those burdens instead of cementing them."

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