Congressman Boustany Claims Victory For Veterans

Congressman Charles Boustany joined 'Mornings With Ken and Bernie' today touted a victory in the House for veterans, explained the importance of the recent passage of the budget, flood insurance costs and coastal restoration projects.

We asked Congressman Boustany how construction of new VA clinics could be approved after the passage of HB 3521 and he replied,

After doing a lot of research in my office we came up with a solution where we found that exceptions have been made in the past by the House Republican leadership to fund certain veterans programs.  So I wrote a bill that would authorize these two clinics, Lafayette and Lake Charles clinics as well as 25 clinics across the country, waving the budget rule for these particular clinics and I got the leadership to agree to it....So last week I had a huge victory on the House floor...All but one House member voted in favor of the bill.

Recently the House of Representatives passed a two year budget agreement and Congressman Boustany explained the importance of that vote.

First of all it's the best we could get under the circumstances in divided government.  You have to keep a couple of points in mind.  Number one, the Senate has never been able to get a budget since I've been in Congress, effectively.  What this did is, it actually protected the largest deficit reduction package we've ever put in place since the Korean War without raising taxes, the 2011 deal.  It forced the Senate to agree to a number lower than they wanted.

Escalating flood insurance rates have many concerned and according to Boustany,

One of the big disputes is how FEMA interprets these flood maps.  They don't take into account local structures that play a major role.  We need some serious reforms to get back to reality to understand what the real risk of flooding is, not some some theoretical risk that FEMA dreams up.

To hear all of Congressman Boustany's comments click on the link below: