WASHINGTON -- The United States Senate today passed the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill by a vote of 80 to 14. The bill includes a provision authored by Sen. Landrieu that would waive the ten percent local match requirement for hurricane recovery projects. The bill now goes to the White House, where the President today signaled his intention to sign the legislation into law despite vetoing a previous version.

"I am very proud that the work of this Congress has held true to its promise to keep the Katrina/Rita money in this Emergency Supplemental Package," said Sen. Landrieu, who as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee was also a member of the conference committee negotiating the final package, said. "There was attempt after attempt to take it out. But we fought for it, and it is in there -- every penny of it -- and it is now going to the President's desk."

As discussions between Democratic leaders and the White House intensified over the past week, significant portions of the hurricane recovery package stood in jeopardy. Negotiating into the late evenings this week, however, Sen. Landrieu successfully secured the package's inclusion with the support of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey, D-Wisc., and House Democratic Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C.

Principal among the bill's hurricane recovery provisions is language secured by Sen. Landrieu that would waive for Katrina- and Rita-affected communities provisions of the Robert T. Stafford Act that require localities to match 10 percent of the cost for disaster recovery projects before the remaining 90 percent is filled by the federal government. This provision has been waived 32 times since 1985 when per capita rebuilding costs have been excessive.

"This was a landmark vote for south Louisiana's continued recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the flooding that followed," Sen. Landrieu said. "The local match requirement costs our communities millions of dollars while drowning them in thousands of forms and regulations. Louisiana needs more money and less paper. The insurmountable red tape slows recovery to a crawl, and this bill is a key step to cutting through it."

Sen. Landrieu also secured more than $3 billion in key funding and reforms for hurricane recovery and other projects in Louisiana:

Sen. Landrieu secured additional language in the bill that would make Katrina- and Rita-affected Gulf Coast states eligible for the same Community Disaster Loan forgiveness option made available to all other disaster-stricken communities. The Stafford Act has historically required forgiveness of such loans when independent audits determine the fiscal recovery of affected local communities is insufficient to repay the loans after a three-year grace period.

"Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit our coast, the Federal Government has held Louisiana and other Gulf Coast communities to a different standard during our recovery," Sen. Landrieu said. "This bill will fix a major mistake made after the hurricanes by making disaster loans forgivable, removing a significant roadblock to our recovery."

Shortly after the hurricanes, Sen. Landrieu proposed making $1 billion in unspent FEMA funds available for Community Disaster Loans under the same terms as had been afforded to other communities. But the version that was passed in October 2005, sponsored by Senators David Vitter, R-La., and Bill Frist, R-Tenn., specifically prohibited the federal government from ever forgiving the loans if communities were unable to pay them back.

Sen. Landrieu secured $1.3 billion for east and west bank levee projects in the New Orleans area. When cost overruns created a $1.3 billion shortfall in the projects, originally authorized by the 3rd Supplemental bill passed last year, the Bush Administration sought to shuffle the money away from other levee projects authorized in the 4th Supplemental bill. The funds secured by Sen. Landrieu would address the shortfall with direct funding, rather than simply borrowing funds and creating a shortfall in another set of levee projects instead.

"We must never let what happened after Hurricane Katrina happen again," Sen. Landrieu said. "Southeast Louisiana flooded because of the failure of the federal levee system. As we build the levees that protect our state, we must dedicate the necessary funding for levees on both sides of the Mississippi River. But the Administration wants to simply move money from one levee project to another, leaving levees vulnerable. Our communities cannot wait while levee projects remain unfunded."

Sen. Landrieu also secured $25.3 million for the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project (SELA), which provides for engineering, design and construction of projects for flood control and improvements to rainfall drainage systems in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany Parishes.

In the conference report, Sen. Landrieu secured language that would seek a technical review of flood control pumps in the New Orleans area that are reportedly untested or ineffective. The Government Accountability Office is also investigating the process by which the pumps were installed.

"Our recovery depends on confidence in our flood-control system," Sen. Landrieu said. "Reports that the Corps of Engineers installed faulty and untested pumps are gravely troubling. The supplemental spending bill will allow a technical review that will demonstrate what needs to be fixed so that we can make sure our communities are safe from flooding during future disasters."

Sen. Landrieu ensured that provisions to fund teacher recruitment in south Louisiana stayed in the bill. The bill allocates $60 million to recruit teachers and principals to K-12 schools in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and would assist colleges and universities recovering from the storms.

"The 2005 hurricanes left many of our schools without the teachers and principals they need to operate," Sen. Landrieu said. "This provision will fund necessary teacher and principal recruitments so that our schools can provide students with the quality education that every child deserves. Without these leaders, our education system will suffer."

Sen. Landrieu secured $50 million to curb crime along the Gulf Coast. The funding is intended to go to several projects, including the New Orleans Common Good program, a plan proposed by a coalition of local civic and business groups, which will give the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) funding it needs to fight crime as New Orleans continues to recover from Hurricane Katrina. The funding allows the NOPD to hire more officers and give Orleans Parish the ability to hire eight additional prosecutors.

"Without safe neighborhoods, south Louisianians will be hesitant to return and tourism will continue to stagnate," Sen. Landrieu said. "This bill will help give our justice system the resources it needs to keep our streets safe from crime."

The New Orleans anti-crime package will also develop an Orleans Parish Information Sharing and Integrated Systems project. The system will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of criminal justice operations by increasing information sharing across agencies, streamlining business processes and promoting transparency and accountability.

The money would assist the Cameron, Calcasieu, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and Orleans Parish Sheriff's Offices and the NOPD through the Byrne Grant program at the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Sen. Landrieu also secured funding in the bill for the following projects:

• Extension of the deadline to use $150 million in Social Services Block Grants from September 2007 to Sept. 30, 2008;
• $10 million for additional historic preservation grants in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita;
• $10 million to allow local governments to use FEMA funds for utility expenses associated with shelter evacuees for 24 months;
• $25 million for Small Business Administration (SBA) economic injury loans; Extension of Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) status to Hurricane Katrina- and Rita-affected parishes for two years, which can be extended to three years at the SBA's discretion;
• $30 million in additional funding to help defray expenses incurred by higher education institutions that were forced to close, relocate or curtail their activities as a result of the 2005 hurricanes. This provision also allows the money to be used for grants to students;
• $35 million for Federal Transit grants for operating and capital costs for transit services impacted for Katrina and Rita, which included the LA Swift bus from Baton Rouge to New Orleans and also waived the local cost share; and
• Gulf Coast Public Housing Agencies in areas that received emergency assistance after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will receive allocations based on their 2006 funding.