Craig Romero’s Plan for Coastal Restoration and Full Hurricane Protection.
Chalmette, LA) - In an effort to let the voters of south Louisiana know where he stands on critical issues, Craig Romero started unveiling today "A Better Plan for South Louisiana's Future" with his release of his Hurricane Recovery and Coastal Protection plans.
In a news conference held in the parking lot of what used to be a Taco Bell restaurant before it was destroyed in Chalmette, Romero outlined his guiding principles as he works to become Louisiana's next Congressman from the 3rd Congressional District.
"Although there is still much work to be done, I believe that our best days are ahead not behind us here in south Louisiana," Romero said, "Our current Congressman has left us quite a mess to still clean up but, having served as Iberia Parish President when our Parish fully recovered from Hurricane Andrew, I am confident that I can go to work and help get the job done."
"I believe we need to work together with federal agencies to complete our recovery. I believe we need to actually fully fund our coastal protection needs so we can protect the lives and jobs along our coast. I am proud to have the support in this campaign of Senator David Vitter and Congressman Bobby Jindal. They work in Washington, they know what is happening there. And they have endorsed me in this campaign because they know I will work with them, day by day to fully recover from the storms and to restore our coast. So today, I release the first two sections of my Better Plan for South Louisiana’s Future," Romero said.
Craig Romero is the only candidate to release detailed plans on these issues. His plans note that Louisiana's coastal restoration needs have not been met and the recovery has not been completed.
*** INCLUDED BELOW ARE THE FIRST TWO SECTIONS OF ROMERO'S PLAN ***
- Craig Romero’s A Better Plan for South Louisiana
Coastal Restoration and Protection
Nearly one football field every half-hour…that’s the rate Louisiana loses coastline every day. And as we learned last year, coastal erosion threatens not just our land, economy and way of life, but our very safety when a hurricane strikes. We all know the problems -- what we need are aggressive and even creative solutions.
The Third District once again needs a Congressman who will lead the charge in Washington, and not sit on the sidelines, talking about the dangers of coastal erosion. Coastal erosion doesn’t discriminate or let up as it destroys our land and our livelihood, and our congressman must have the same attitude to defeat it.
We need a Congressman who will take action to protect our coast.
In Washington, Craig will:
• Fight for increased federal funding for levees and Army Corps projects, and then help make sure that it’s properly spent. Failures and misspent funds contributed to our flood problems – this absolutely must change.
• Both Near-Term and Long-Term plans for saving our coast should be implemented, and this fact is finally being recognized by the federal government. Each plan needs funding, aggressive implementation, and feedback on its successes and failures. Plans should not delay our progress; they should instead feed into immediate action to protect our coast.
• Stand by all members of the Louisiana delegation, rather than be begged to help, when they fight for funds and legislation to protect our coast.
• Regularly talk to colleagues about South Louisiana’s coast to important industries like energy, seafood and tourism. Raising awareness as a congressman was once an important part of the work done by our U.S. Representative.
• Strongly support offshore energy exploration proposals that share funds with the state. Bills in the House and Senate need unity to pass, and our congressman was asleep at the switch.
In Louisiana, Craig will:
• Connect our best education and research institutions across the state with federal agencies to find the most effective, creative and efficient ways to fix our shrinking coast. We need every oar in the water to protect our future.
• Invite Congressional Leadership to tour South Louisiana, not just to New Orleans for fundraisers like Charlie Melancon has done, to examine the remaining damage and rebuilding efforts. They can see firsthand what the effects of coastal erosion are on our citizens and industries.
• Work to unify elected officials in state and local government on a real restoration plan. No more studies, no more delay, we need action.
• Meet with local Army Corps officials to assess the progress of current projects. Oversight is critical to keep projects on pace.
Craig’s Record
Craig can hit the ground running on coastal erosion day one. And his Louisiana colleagues will be able to count on his strong support for their efforts to rebuild our coast from day one. He’s got the experience in the state to make an impact for Louisiana. No more discussions and studies, now is the time for solutions. We know Craig is going to be our best chance for coastal restoration, because Craig has:
• Helped get the “Christmas Tree Project” off the ground to improve coastal restoration efforts with a creative and citizen-driven project.
• Supported legislation to create the Coastal Passes Stabilization and Restoration Program Fund in the Senate.
• Served on the Senate Select Committee on Coastal Restoration and Flood Control. He’ll hit the ground running as the only candidate with that experience
- Craig Romero’s A Better Plan for South Louisiana
A FULL Hurricane Recovery
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita changed our way of life in South Louisiana in ways we haven’t seen in a generation. And while the rebuilding continues, we go on knowing that our coastal communities still lie in harms’ way. Craig Romero wants to improve our response from the federal level down to the state and local level.
Frankly, hurricanes don’t strike just Democrats or Republicans. So why did we have to endure the countless rounds of finger pointing and attacks from our Congressman while citizens still needed help?
Craig Romero will be interested in solutions, not the blame game.
In Washington, Craig will:
• Fight hard to see the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reformed, despite the partisan bickering and Congressional jurisdiction fights. Our towns and citizens deserve a better, more efficient response.
• Work with Senator David Vitter and Congressman Bobby Jindal on efforts to ensure Louisiana fully recovers from the storms.
• Work with congressional colleagues like Representative Richard Baker to reform the federal flood insurance program so that it better helps Louisiana residents.
• Strongly support incentives like Gulf Coast Opportunity Zones, which give tax breaks to companies to locate, rebuild and rehire in storm-damaged areas. He will actively participate in reconstruction discussions by offering solutions, not just stating problems.
• Fight for federal funds to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure, like hospitals, roads and schools. Even small grants can help rebuild a school’s computer lab, get a cancer center functional, or reestablish commercial infrastructure.
• Support funding for federal agencies, like NOAA, to establish better warning and measurement technology and communication.
In Louisiana, Craig will:
• Work locally to ensure that each reconstruction dollar spent is helping restore hope, jobs, and opportunity to families. The dollars are too precious to waste.
• Regularly visit our coastal communities, ports, and storm damaged areas to keep a constant flow of information on our efforts. Rebuilding will take time; Craig is in this fight for the long haul – he will not just hold press conferences like the current Congressman.
• Work to establish a real-time hurricane and evacuation system that assists citizens, similar to the AMBER alert system used for missing children.
• Promote hurricane preparation for both individual homes and communities. Each family should have access to the information and resources they need to keep themselves safe.
• Meet with local energy, offshore, seafood and other affected industries to take their hardship to Washington and seek federal relief and assistance.
Craig’s Record:
Unlike others, Craig won’t tell local officials to “take the money and run” when it comes to hurricane reconstruction like Congressman Melancon did in a speech on the House floor. And he won’t spend time trying to lay blame when important emergency work needs to be done. Craig already has:
• Worked since 1993 to reform Louisiana property insurance following storms, including field hearings in New Iberia. All knowledge does not reside in either Baton Rouge or Washington DC.
• Worked tirelessly for weeks to help the local citizens with the emergency help they needed when Katrina and Rita hit South Louisiana. He personally was on the scene, doing whatever was necessary.
• Helped Iberia Parish rebuild as Parish President following severe storm damage in the past.
