Media

Jefferson -- Congressman Steve Scalise made the following statement today regarding news reports that Alabama Democratic Rep. Parker Griffith will switch to the Republican Party later today.

"I am proud to welcome Congressman Parker Griffith to the Republican party. With their proposed government takeover of health care, the cap and trade energy tax, and reckless borrowing and spending plans, Speaker Pelosi and her liberal lieutenants are pushing such a radical agenda that there is no room left in their party for moderate Democrats."

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Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise and other members of Congress have been pressuring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to strip the proposal to increase the national debt ceiling from the Defense Appropriations bill. Scalise held a press conference last week calling on Speaker Pelosi to let the defense bill stand on its own, saying the bid to attach the debt limit increase to troop funding shameless. This week the debt increase was pulled from the defense bill and the amount was cut.

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise congratulated Malia Cali of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Hammond for being awarded the prestigious 2009 Ladies High School Heisman for her excellence in athletics and academics. Cali was the sole female winner out of more than 55,000 applicants nationwide.

“This is a great honor for Malia Cali, and a proud moment for Louisiana,” Scalise said. “Cali’s achievements in the classroom, on the field, and throughout the community show what a role model she is for our state.”

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise today introduced H.R. 4262, the Control America’s Purse-strings to Deliver a Better Tomorrow (CAP the DEBT) Act. Scalise’s bill would require a two-thirds majority in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in order to increase the national debt ceiling. His bill also repeals the Gephardt rule which currently allows lawmakers to increase the federal debt ceiling as an attachment to other budget resolutions.

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise applauded the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) for awarding a $3 million grant to the University of New Orleans (UNO) Robert E. Nims Center for Entertainment Arts, a film and creative media facility which assists Louisiana’s very successful film industry.

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA) today made the following statement after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that they have declared carbon dioxide (CO2) along with five other gases as dangerous pollutants.

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise visited with the last surviving World War I veteran, Frank Buckles this week in Washington, D.C. Buckles is 108 years old.

“Frank Buckles is a truly inspiring hero who honorably served our country and has a positive outlook on life,” Scalise said. “It was an honor to meet with our nation’s last living World War I veteran, to thank him for his service to our country and to hear some of his stories.”

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise successfully worked to pass legislation today that encourages banks and mortgage servicers to work with families affected by toxic Chinese drywall to allow temporary leniency without penalty on payments on their home mortgages. Scalise is a co-sponsor of H.Con.Res. 197 which passed by a vote of 419 – 1.