Scalise, Louisiana Delegation Call on President Biden to Support Disaster Relief Funding

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and the Louisiana Congressional Delegation wrote a letter to President Biden alerting him of the need for Congress to provide supplemental disaster relief funding in the aftermath of the destruction caused by Hurricane Ida as well as the devastating storms that ravaged Louisiana last year.

"I've traveled extensively across Southeast Louisiana this week to see Hurricane Ida's devastating impacts firsthand, and it's clear that this storm caused widespread destruction across our state. We know that a supplemental appropriations bill is going to be necessary to ensure that communities in South Louisiana have the resources they need to recover, which is why I joined with our entire Congressional delegation in asking the President to prioritize a supplemental appropriations request, similar to what President Bush and Congress worked together on after Hurricane Katrina," said Whip Scalise.

"The full extent of Louisiana's damages have not yet been determined and will likely not be fully known until after immediate matters of public safety are addressed. Further, Hurricane Ida is not the only disaster to strike Louisiana in the past year. In fact, a record breaking five named storms—Cristóbal, Marco, Laura, Delta, and Zeta—hammered Louisiana within the past year resulting in dozens of lives lost and billions of dollars in damages,"the delegation wrote.

"As such, we are writing you now to alert you to the need for Congress to provide emergency supplemental appropriations to address Hurricane Ida and the storms from last year, as was done following Hurricane Katrina. Without substantial and robust emergency appropriations from Congress to critical unmet needs accounts like the CDBG-DR program, Louisiana families will continue to languish as a result of these devastating storms."

Click here for a PDF of the full letter.