Watch Kennedy’s statement here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-La.) support for the 2022 Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) has helped to secure Congressional authorization of at least $6.6 billion for water resource projects that help Louisiana.
“We’ve secured Congressional approval for at least $6.6 billion for water resource projects that help Louisiana restore, protect and serve our communities. One of the most significant wins in this bill is that it approves full federal funding to restore the wetlands that the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet destroyed. In addition, we need to shore up our levees and restore our wetlands to protect vulnerable areas of our state, and that’s what this bill does,” said Kennedy.
The estimated cost of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) restoration was $3 billion in 2012. The 2022 WRDA authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to restore, at full federal expense, the wetlands and marshes that Louisiana lost because of the MRGO. More damage has occurred since 2012, so the $3 billion estimate likely falls below the current cost to restore the area.
WASHINGTON – Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator, Anne Milgram, urging the DEA to apply its authorities to prevent and limit the pharmaceutical industry’s excessively high opioid production levels.
Today’s letter comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that fatal drug overdoses increased in 2021 to the highest ever level. The opioid epidemic stems from the overproduction of prescription opioids as well as extremely high levels of illegal opioids, including fentanyl, flowing across the U.S.-Mexico border.
On the domestic front, the DEA is responsible for establishing annual quotas determining the exact amount of each opioid drug that is permitted to be produced in the U.S. each year. Between 1993 and 2015, the DEA allowed aggregate production quotas for oxycodone to increase 39-fold, hydrocodone to increase 12-fold, hydromorphone to increase 23-fold and fentanyl to increase 25-fold. As a result, tens of billions of painkillers flooded the market in every corner of the nation, which ignited the current opioid epidemic.
In 2018, Durbin and Kennedy authored legislation that enhanced DEA’s opioid quota-setting authority by improving transparency and enabling DEA to adjust quotas to prevent opioid diversion and abuse while ensuring an adequate supply for legitimate medical needs.
“Section 3282 of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (P.L. 115-271) strengthened DEA’s statutory quota-setting authority by enhancing transparency and requiring opioid quotas to be adjusted to reflect diversion, overdose deaths, and public health. As the bipartisan authors of that section, we strongly encourage you to continue using this authority to rein in the pharmaceutical industry’s incessant demand for excessive levels of opioid production,” the senators wrote.
The senators also noted in their letter that they have previously expressed concerns that DEA was not properly following their law’s requirements to consult with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary and to consider reliable information on overdose rates, abuse and overall public health impact in order to estimate the amount of diversion and make appropriate quota reductions.
“Given that one of the most common sources of prescription drug misuse is through access from friends and family, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, we believe DEA must refine its methodologies for approximating diversion through legitimate channels. While we appreciate the challenges in directly linking patient misuse and overdose to a specific controlled substance, DEA should consult with states, HHS, and other public health experts to estimate or create proxies—based upon survey and research data—on the volume of dispensed opioids contributing to addiction and abuse,” continued the senators.
“As DEA implements the schedule II opioid production quotas for 2023 and beyond, we urge you to apply DEA’s statutory authorities to prevent and limit opioid diversion due to excessively high production levels,” they concluded.
After two decades of dramatic increases to the volume of opioids allowed to come to the market, the DEA has heeded Durbin and Kennedy’s call over the past six years to help prevent opioid addiction by responsibly reducing nearly all opioid quotas.
Unfortunately, the leading killer of Americans ages 18-45 is the fentanyl crossing the border illegally. Kennedy introduced the Ending the Fentanyl Crisis Act to address the epidemic on this front and has repeatedly called on the president to secure the border.
Last year, President Biden also signed Kennedy’s DUMP Opioids Act into law, which will help local communities get unused prescription opioids off of their streets via secure drop boxes at Veterans Affairs sites.
The full letter is available here.
Watch Kennedy’s effort to pass the Protecting Medicare Patients and Physicians Act here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today attempted to pass his Protecting Medicare Patients and Physicians Act through the Senate by unanimous consent. The bill would protect patients and health care providers from a total of 8.5 percent in planned Medicare cuts to physician reimbursements, but Democrats immediately blocked the bill.
“Louisianians are already struggling under Pres. Biden’s failed economic policies. Prices have skyrocketed more than 13 percent since this president took office, and Medicare cuts would put more people at risk. I offered a plan to protect the people who rely on Medicare and the doctors who take care of them—without taking another dime from taxpayers. It’s unbelievable that Democrats killed this commonsense, responsible solution,”Kennedy said.
Kennedy’s bill would help more doctors keep their doors open to Medicare patients, giving patients more options for accessing quality care.
The bill would put unused Covid money from the Provider Relief Fund that has been returned to the Department of Health and Human Services to use, so Kennedy’s bill would require no new federal spending. The American Rescue Plan originally allocated money to the Provider Relief Fund to help hospitals struggling as a result of the pandemic. Using those leftover funds to help patients and doctors who are suffering under the Biden administration’s historic levels of inflation represents a fiscally responsible solution to help vulnerable Americans.
The bill text is available here.
MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $4,113,641 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana disaster aid.
“Hurricane Laura hit Lake Charles hard, so I’m glad to see this $4.1 million supporting recovery efforts for the community,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $4,113,641 to the city of Lake Charles for repairs to their Police Department Annex building that was damaged during Hurricane Laura.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $12,907,968 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants in disaster aid for Louisiana.
“I’m thankful this $12.9 million will help our friends in Lake Charles recover from Hurricane Laura’s damage, which they have been suffering through,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $4,827,560 to the Calcasieu Parish School Board for repairs to the Oak Park Middle School campus related to Hurricane Laura.
- $3,064,864 to the Calcasieu Parish School Board for repairs to the Assessment Building campus related to Hurricane Laura.
- $1,996,791 to the Lake Charles Charter Academy Foundation, Inc. for permanent repairs related to Hurricane Laura.
- $1,559,988 to the city of Lake Charles for permanent restoration to the damaged Wastewater Plant B-C related to Hurricane Laura.
- $1,458,765 to the city of Lake Charles for damages to the Police Department Training Center related to Hurricane Laura.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) celebrates the International Trade Commission’s decision to maintain restrictions on imports of a Chinese chemical sanitizing agent that kills bacteria and keeps water clean. The decision follows Kennedy’s work in support of American and Louisianian chemical industries, which face Chinese dumping schemes that unfairly undercut American producers.
“I am glad to see the Trade Commission move to defend American-made products against illegal Chinese dumping. Louisiana’s chemical workers and job creators are already taking a beating thanks to the Biden administration’s tax on our state’s industry, and there’s no reason to make it easy for the Chinese Communist regime to rob American producers of their market share,” said Kennedy.
Background:
- In 2020, Hurricane Laura sparked a fire that destroyed KIK’s Bio-Lab facility in Lake Charles, La., which produces a chemical sanitizing agent known as chlorinated isocyanurates. Due to this, KIK temporarily imported the chemical from outside suppliers while it worked to restore domestic production.
- “Louisianians, Bio-Lab’s business, other producers, and America’s water sanitizing customers cannot afford to weather a government-imposed storm caused by an incomplete decision that advantages China,” Kennedy wrote to the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission this September.
- After rebuilding the facility, the Bio-Lab plant is now fully operational and has 30% more production capacity.
- Kennedy joined Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) in sending this letter.
Kennedy, Warren, Marshall call on Silvergate to release all records on improper FTX transfer
Dec 06 2022
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), ranking member of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) wrote to Silvergate, the bank that reportedly facilitated the transfer of FTX customer funds to Alameda Research, seeking answers about the bank’s role in the loss of billions of customer dollars.
“Your bank’s involvement in the transfer of FTX customer funds to Alameda reveals what appears to be an egregious failure of your bank’s responsibility to monitor for and report suspicious financial activity carried out by its clients. The public is owed a full accounting of the financial activities that may have led to the loss of billions in customer assets, and any role that Silvergate may have played in these losses,” wrote the senators.
Silvergate caters to digital asset clients—as of September 30, 90% of its overall deposit base came from crypto firms operating in a highly volatile market. The senators note that Silvergate’s average deposits quarter-to-date are down more than $2 billion since the end of September. In the past month, two of Silvergate’s digital assets clients—FTX and its affiliates and BlockFi—have declared bankruptcy.
In September, Silvergate asserted that its “relationship with FTX [and its related entities] is limited to deposits.” While Silvergate failed to explain what it meant by “related entities,” documents from FTX’s bankruptcy case confirmed that the bank had relationships with several firms controlled by FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, including Alameda, which is the crypto trading firm that Bankman-Fried claimed was a “wholly separate entity” from FTX.
“Mr. Bankman-Fried has, himself, admitted that FTX customer funds were improperly transferred to Alameda’s bank accounts. When asked how FTX customer deposits ended up in Alameda’s accounts, Mr. Bankman-Fried told Vox that the company did not originally have a bank account, and so it directed customers to wire money to Alameda’s account with Silvergate in exchange for assets on FTX. According to Mr. Bankman-Fried, executives at the company ‘forgot’ about this scheme until the company imploded,” explained the senators.
This arrangement between FTX and Alameda relied on Silvergate’s depository services, and Alameda’s depository account with Silvergate appears to be at the center of improper transfers of customer funds.
The senators note that Silvergate’s failure to take notice of and report this scheme could constitute violations of the law—including a failure to implement or maintain an effective anti-money laundering program as required under the Bank Secrecy Act and a failure to report suspicious transactions to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Given these concerns about Silvergate’s failure to apply extensive review processes to FTX and Alameda, and the possible role the bank may have played in the loss of billions of dollars of customer funds, the senators are asking Silvergate to answer a set of questions by Dec. 19, 2022. The questions will help provide the public with a full accounting of Silvergate’s relationship with FTX and Alameda and information about its safety and soundness.
The full letter is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today explained how inflation is crippling American families and urged his fellow lawmakers to reduce federal spending and U.S. debt accumulation.
“The inflation we're experiencing today is the highest since 1982, and it really is ravaging the American people . . . Every time they go to the grocery store, they feel like prices have gone up eight percent,” said Kennedy.
“If we don't slow the rate of growth in our spending—if we don't slow the accumulation of debt—that is going to cause the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates even higher to slow the economy, to raise the unemployment rate, to throw people out of work,” he explained.
“Congress can help, but it's going to require help from both sides. Both Democrats and Republicans are going to have to agree to spend less money . . . We've got to reduce the rate of growth in our spending, and we have got to reduce the rate of accumulation in our debt.”
“All you have to do is look at history, and the only way we conquered inflation the last time it was this bad, in the 1980s, was through the cooperation of the Federal Reserve doing its job on the monetary side but also this Congress doing its job on the fiscal side,” Kennedy concluded.
View Kennedy’s full remarks here.
Kennedy urges Senate leadership not to move on NDAA without vote to end Covid vaccine mandate for military
Dec 06 2022
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined 18 of his Republican colleagues in urging Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (Wyo.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) to oppose moving forward with the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act unless senators have an opportunity to vote on an amendment that ends the military’s Covid vaccine requirement and reinstates service members who have been separated from the service because of their vaccination status.
“The effects of the mandate are antithetical to readiness of our force, and the policy must be revoked,” the senators wrote.
“The United States simply cannot afford to discharge our brave men and women in uniform and lose the investments we have made into each and every one of them due to an inept bureaucratic policy,” they continued.
“We respectfully request that the Senate vote to remedy a policy that adversely affects our service members and our national security,” concluded the lawmakers.
Read the full letter here.
Kennedy, senators warn Chinese Communist Party not to meet peaceful protests with violence
Dec 02 2022
MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and more than 40 other senators in writing to China’s ambassador to the U.S., Qin Gang. The bipartisan group warned the Chinese Communist Party not to respond to peaceful Chinese protesters with a violent retribution.
“We are following the current peaceful protests in China over your government’s policies very carefully. We are also closely watching the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) reaction to them,” wrote the senators, noting that the Chinese Communist Party and People’s Liberation Army killed hundreds, if not thousands, of Chinese students who were peacefully protesting in 1989.
“We caution the CCP in the strongest possible terms not to once again undertake a violent crackdown on peaceful Chinese protesters who simply want more freedom. If that happens, we believe there will be grave consequences for the US-China relationship, causing extraordinary damage to it,” the lawmakers said.
The full letter is available here.
