HAI tells ANN that it has learned that sometime next week, the
Louisiana Congressional Delegation will introduce “Project
Pelican,” a comprehensive aid package to address education,
wetland restoration, agriculture and other needs of the
hurricane-battered Gulf Coast.
Senator David Vitter, (R-Louisiana) said, Thursday, in
Washington, D.C., that he and Senator Mary L. Landrieu,
D-Louisiana, plan to introduce their package as one bill. In the
U.S. House of Representatives, legislative bills will move
separately to capitalize on the expertise and committee assignments
of Louisiana’s House Members — who sit on the
Appropriations, Way and Means, Financial Services, Transportation
and Infrastructure, and Education and the Workforce panels.
Among the many items on the extensive wish list are $14 billion
for wetland restoration and $20 billion to accelerate the repair
and enhancement of levees. Lawmakers also will seek to increase the
Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) share of
disaster relief from 75 percent currently to 100 percent for three
years, retroactive to the date of the disaster declaration.
For several years now, HAI has been aggressively working with
the FAA and Members of Congress from Louisiana, Texas, and
Mississippi to obtain funding to support the development of a
weather and communications infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico to
support low altitude helicopter operations.
Timing on this issue is extremely critical. All HAI members in
Gulf Coast states, especially those employed by helicopter
operators working in support of the offshore oil industry are
strongly urged to contact their elected officials in Washington,
D.C. to ask for their support in having the needs of the helicopter
community included in this important legislative bill to support
Gulf Coast recovery.
Many constituent voices being heard
in Washington, D.C. will help make this longstanding, sorely needed
program become a reality to increase the safety and security of
helicopter operations in support of oil and natural gas production.
There are 650 helicopters operating each day, transporting over
35,000 workers to and from platforms, aiding in the important oil
production recovery efforts, and working to ensure that U.S.
production levels rise to where they were before Katrina hit.
HAI President Roy Resavage and his staff will continue to push
ahead on this important initiative as HAI members continue in the
Katrina recovery effort to rebuild important infrastructure and to
increase oil production in the United States.