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Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise today announced that the U.S. Department of Labor recently approved a National Emergency Grant of up to $7.5 million for the Louisiana Workforce Commission to assist workers affected by company closures and mass layoffs due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise today announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is awarding a $119,700 grant to the Hammond Fire Department.

“This funding will help Hammond obtain the necessary resources to protect our communities,” Scalise said. “Our fire fighters are always on call and it is important that they are always properly equipped for an emergency.”

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise today announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has declared St. Tammany Parish and Tangipahoa Parishes eligible for Individual Assistance for Hurricane Ike related damage. St. Tammany was also included in FEMA’s amended Public Assistance declaration.

What took an act of God to destroy took an act of Congress to replace.

Peter Gomez was a mere 20 years old when he was wounded in France during World War II in 1944.

“I was carrying my lieutenant when a tank at point-blank rage fired on us,” he said.

Shrapnel from the blast ripped open Gomez’ shoulder.

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise made the following comment today regarding the National Rifle Association (NRA) and New Orleans agreement to settle a lawsuit over the seizure of firearms by police officers following Hurricane Katrina.

In the 2006 regular session of the Louisiana Legislature, Scalise passed the law (H.B. 760), backed by the NRA that prohibits the seizure and confiscation of firearms during an emergency or disaster.

We* believe that policymakers must act decisively and correctly.
We* believe that we can help Wall Street “workout” of this crisis, not force the taxpayers into a “bailout.”
We* believe that voluntary private capital, not involuntary taxpayer capital, will help the system recover.

H.R. 7223

A Work-Out—Not a Bail-Out

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise issued the following statement following today’s vote on the financial sector bailout. The bill failed in the U.S. House of Representatives by a 228 - 205 margin. Congressman Scalise voted ‘no.’

“While we are experiencing a serious capital shortage in the banking world, the bill that we defeated today was not the right approach to solving this problem. Instead of increasing our nation’s debt, which is already too high, we should pursue a market-based approach that does not put taxpayer money at risk.

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise issued the following statement today after House Democrats dropped their effort to extend the current moratorium on energy leasing on most of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).