ARABI, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) met with St. Bernard Parish president Guy McInnis, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff James Pohlmann and St. Bernard Parish Director of Homeland Security John Rahaim to receive updates on storm recovery efforts following devastating tornado destruction in the area.

“No one can describe the pain that having your home or livelihood destroyed causes, and southeast Louisianians have felt this pain time and time again from natural disasters over the last year and a half. Despite all of this, Arabi and nearby communities and their leaders are determined to rebuild alongside one another.

“Becky and I are praying for the Louisianians who are suffering in the aftermath of this week’s tornadoes,” said Kennedy.

MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) today urged Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell to waive monthly rent payments through Oct. 31, 2022 for survivors of Hurricanes Laura and Delta in southwest Louisiana.

“Southwest Louisiana was devastated by an unprecedented string of natural disasters in 2020 and 2021. Hurricanes Laura, Delta, a severe winter storm, and the May 2021 flood event caused extensive damage to the region and created major disruptions to the recovery process. These disasters were in addition to pandemic-related challenges, lumber shortages, and nationwide supply chain issues that have hamstrung construction and rebuilding efforts. These compounding issues have caused extensive delays for Southwest Louisiana families trying to return to permanent housing,” the lawmakers wrote.

“Nearly 19 months after Hurricane Laura’s landfall and six months after Congress appropriated funding, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has finally announced its allocation to the State of Louisiana through the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program. Louisiana’s share of CDBG-DR funding will largely be used to address unmet housing needs. While these long-term recovery resources will greatly help Louisiana’s recovery mission, the funding is still making its way through the bureaucratic process and is not able to be spent at this time. . . . A waiver on rent through October 31, 2022, will allow CDBG-DR money to flow into the community and address essential housing needs before rent payments begin,” they continued.

“Given these unique circumstances, we believe FEMA should take action to provide additional relief for hurricane survivors in Southwest Louisiana,” concluded the lawmakers.

The letter is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) in introducing the Protecting Medicaid Beneficiaries Act to expand existing safeguards for Medicaid.

“The Protecting Medicaid Beneficiaries Act would safeguard tax dollars by helping ensure Medicaid assistance goes to those who actually need it, and I’m proud to partner with Sen. Inhofe to protect Medicaid recipients,” said Kennedy.

“If you look at the numbers, it is clear that fraud is rampant within Medicaid, and billions of dollars are wasted every year as a result. Those who truly need Medicaid, should be able to get Medicaid, and our taxpayer dollars should be preserved to that end. For that to happen, we must ensure that individuals trying to game the system are discovered in the first place. That’s why I am glad to introduce the Protecting Medicaid Beneficiaries Act—a bill that will go a long way in ensuring those who need Medicaid, get Medicaid by rooting out misuse of taxpayer dollars within the system and promoting fiscal integrity,” said Inhofe.

The Protecting Medicaid Beneficiaries Act would expand the Asset Verification Services (AVS) program, which helps ensure that Medicaid beneficiaries are legally eligible to receive benefits, to all Medicaid applicants. AVS currently only applies to aged, blind and disabled Medicaid applicants. 

According to certain estimates as of 2012, waste and fraud accounted for the loss of 10 percent of Medicaid and Medicare spending.  As of 2018, the Louisiana Department of Health had sent Medicaid payments to many individuals who were ineligible for them, including people making more than $100,000 annually.

Text of the Protecting Medicaid Beneficiaries Act is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) penned this op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, which discusses President Biden’s decision to send Russia billions of dollars in special drawing rights.

“U.S. European Command warned a year ago that a crisis could be imminent in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin had set up more than 100,000 members of his military to breathe down Ukraine’s neck—the biggest mobilization since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. As Mr. Putin prepared to invade a sovereign democracy, the Biden administration continued pushing for more than $17 billion in International Monetary Fund allocations for Moscow.

“President Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ultimately got what they wanted in August, when the IMF doled out more money in one general allocation than ever before. The $650 billion outlay of IMF IOUs backed by the U.S. Treasury—called special drawing rights—sent money to Moscow while the world watched Mr. Biden abandon Bagram Air Base to the Taliban. Iran gained access to about $4.5 billion through the IMF deal, and China had a windfall of $40 billion.

“In this case, there were no sanctions to evade because the Biden administration simply handed Vladimir Putin, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Xi Jinping the money. The IMF special drawing rights function as subsidies, since countries awarded these tokens can exchange them for hard currency like dollars and euros on demand without having to repay the principal. Immediately after the White House finalized these subsidies, Russia’s foreign reserves hit a new high.

“To further put that $17 billion in perspective, Mr. Biden asked Congress for only $10 billion in Ukraine aid after Russia’s violent invasion began leading every newscast.

“The White House’s most egregious move may be yet to come. The Biden administration purposefully structured the 2021 allocation as a down payment on another flood of special drawing rights this year, totaling $350 billion. Some Democrats asked Ms. Yellen in November to back a tranche of about $2 trillion. In either case, Treasury would again lay tens of billions of dollars at the feet of dictators and terror states. But more free money won’t beget better behavior.

“As the new axis of evil grew richer last fall, it grew markedly more belligerent. Russia invaded Ukraine, Iran became more incorrigible in its nuclear-deal demands, and China signaled recently it believes its claim to Taiwan is even stronger than Russia thinks it has to Ukraine.

“Mr. Biden and Ms. Yellen can’t say they weren’t warned. I started imploring Ms. Yellen not to subsidize our enemies in the name of Covid relief last March, as did the Journal’s editorial board.

“The Biden administration also can’t claim it was forced into the deal by the IMF, given that the U.S. has the largest voting share in the fund. The allocation that lined the pockets of Messrs. Putin and Xi had to have U.S. approval because the world’s largest economy can veto major IMF decisions.

“Treasury can’t claim it had no other options. The IMF could have avoided spending the bulk of the $650 billion general allocation on dictators and countries that didn’t need the aid by making the special allocation for the poorest nations. Again, these pages pointed out that Mr. Biden’s objection to a tailored approach was that it would require him to submit to Congress—which he seems generally reluctant to do.

“The White House’s eyes were wide open, and its hands weren’t tied. Team Biden knew Mr. Putin was mobilizing against Ukraine and greenlit $17 billion for Russia anyway, while slowing military aid for Ukraine.

“China and Iran have been taking notes at every turn. Mr. Biden’s end-run around Congress left rogue leaders emboldened and enriched. His task now is to get America out of Iran-deal negotiations, force Russia out of Ukraine, and keep China out of Taiwan.

“He needs to demonstrate resolve. He can start by disavowing future IMF allocations that would pour money into Russia, China, Iran and their like. Let’s shut off the IMF spigot to communists and terrorists and make sure it stays shut.”

The op-ed is available here.