WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Extension Act of 2021 to extend the program for one year, to Sept. 30, 2022. Without that extension, the NFIP will expire at the end of this month.

Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) are original cosponsors of the legislation.

“Louisiana families need the NFIP to rebuild their homes and businesses after destructive floods. The wreckage from Hurricane Ida is a powerful reminder of just how much Louisianians, and families throughout the country, desperately depend on flood insurance to protect their greatest investments. It’s vital that we extend this program by another year as Tropical Storm Nicholas is expected to bring significant flooding on the heels of Hurricane Ida,” said Kennedy.

More than 5 million families and businesses depend on the NFIP, including roughly 500,000 in Louisiana.

Text of the NFIP Extension Act of 2021 is available here.

MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) traveled to Houma, Thibodaux and LaPlace to visit with and deliver supplies to victims of Hurricane Ida. Kennedy also met with local officials and church leaders to discuss what help Louisianians need after the hurricane. 

“The destruction in south Louisiana is devastating. Churches and neighbors are helping meet immediate needs on the ground, but people are going to need housing in the long term. The role of government isn’t to run our lives—it’s to protect people and property, and that’s what we need help doing right now in Louisiana. The men and women I talked with here are tough, but I’ve never seen the kind of damage Hurricane Ida caused. I’ll keep hounding Washington to make sure communities like Houma, Thibodaux and LaPlace get the aid they need to get Louisianians back on their feet,” said Kennedy.

Kennedy delivered supplies and spent time hearing from Hurricane Ida victims in Houma, Thibodaux and LaPlace on Tuesday.

Kennedy recently conducted a helicopter tour of south Louisiana to see Hurricane Ida’s damage firsthand. 

Kennedy also wrote to President Biden to alert him to the need for urgent disaster relief for Louisiana and met with the president in person to discuss ways to help Louisiana recover.

Background on Kennedy’s response to historic hurricanes:

• On August 2, Kennedy offered an amendment to the Senate’s infrastructure bill providing $1.1 billion in disaster relief to Louisianians recovering from Hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta. The Senate blocked the amendment. 

• On July 21, Kennedy joined Louisiana’s congressional delegation in urging the Office of Management and Budget to prioritize Louisiana’s request for supplemental disaster relief.

• On July 15, Kennedy introduced and asked the Senate to pass the Gulf Coast Hurricane Aid Act of 2021. The bill would provide $1.1 billion in disaster relief to Louisianians recovering from historic storms. The Senate blocked the bill’s passage.

• On May 20, Kennedy spoke directly with Housing and Urban Development Secretary (HUD) Marcia Fudge about supplemental disaster relief for Louisiana. 

• On May 19, Kennedy pressed HUD for answers about why the White House has been silent on providing disaster relief to southwest Louisiana.

• On May 18, Kennedy again urged President Biden to provide supplemental disaster relief for southwest Louisiana.

• On May 13, Kennedy helped introduce the Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act, which would allow rural homeowners, renters and small businesses to access disaster relief more easily in the wake of a natural disaster.

• In September 2020, Kennedy wrote to Senate leadership, Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), to request that the Senate consider emergency supplemental aid to help Louisiana residents recover from Hurricane Laura.

MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, today urged U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to stop the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) from flowing to the Taliban terrorist group.

The Biden administration has been a proponent of the $650 billion allocation of special drawing rights (SDRs), which would send more than $400 million to Afghanistan. The IMF allocation is set for Aug. 23.

“During our meeting last May, I urged you to halt your pursuit of approving Special Drawing Rights under the guise that an allocation would provide foreign aid during the COVID-19 pandemic. As I noted, the bulk of the funds from an SDR allocation would wrongly benefit G20 countries—the wealthiest economies in the world—while millions would go to our adversaries, state sponsors of terrorists, and countries that have perpetrated genocide. It is my understanding that Afghanistan, under the approved allocation, is expected to receive $450 million in SDRs, a portion of which is scheduled to arrive in Afghanistan by next week,” wrote Kennedy. 

“As the Taliban has seized power in Afghanistan, just two weeks before the U.S.’s troop withdrawal, it is clear these SDRs will fall into their hands. Not only that, but since the U.S.’s withdrawal in Afghanistan, many adversarial governments are poised to extend economic and diplomatic influence over Afghanistan. This is evident as both China and Russia have indicated they would formally recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government,” Kennedy continued.

“The Biden Administration must not allow the Taliban to gain legitimacy in economic or diplomatic dealings with the U.S. or abroad.  The Taliban never intended to abide by the terms of the peace deal, and this administration should not bend to the false promises of the Taliban,” he explained.

“With this in mind, I urge you to block the nearly half a billion dollars that is headed to Afghanistan under the Taliban’s rule. Furthermore, I ask the Treasury Department and the IMF to end the use of SDRs as a means of foreign aid to countries like China, Iran, and Russia, who continue to support this terrorist regime,” Kennedy concluded.

Text of the letter is available here.

In March, Kennedy questioned Yellen on why the Biden administration is circumventing Congress to burden American taxpayers with SDRs that would go to regimes that oppress their citizens and actively oppose American interests, such as China and Russia.

In June, Kennedy  introduced the No Dollars for Dictators Act. The legislation would prohibit allocations of special drawing rights at the IMF from going to perpetrators of genocide and state sponsors of terrorism unless Congress authorizes the allocation.

Background

The IMF distributes special drawing rights according to each country’s economic standing in the global economy. That means the world’s wealthiest countries receive the most special drawing rights of all IMF members. 

The president’s justification for supporting the proposed allocation is to allow low-income countries to exchange their special drawing rights for currency to fund efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Under the proposed allocation, however, the countries with the 19 largest economies in the world would receive $426 billion—the bulk of the special drawing rights. The 24 poorest countries would receive only three percent of the allocation, or $21 billion. 

China alone would receive $22 billion in special drawing rights, which is more than the total that all of the poor countries combined would receive. Russia would receive $18 billion. In addition to sending billions of dollars to Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, the allocation would send billions in aid to Hassan Rouhani, Bashar al-Assad and Nicolas Maduro.

State sponsors of terrorism would also receive aid from the allocation President Biden has approved. Iran would receive $3.5 billion, and Syria would receive $900 million.

While some have claimed that special drawing rights offer the U.S. a no-cost way to assist poor countries, this is demonstrably false. This IMF allocation would require the U.S. to issue debt in order to cover the loans issued through special drawing rights. The U.S. would have to pay interest on that debt, and that interest would exceed any interest that the U.S. may receive on the loans it issues.

There is no requirement that countries that receive loans from the U.S. through special drawing rights ever repay the principal. As a result, the financial burden of these loans will fall on the U.S. taxpayer.

MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and 22 other Republican senators today urged President Biden to reverse his decision to call upon the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to increase oil production in response to rising gas prices.

“We are surprised by your recent actions in calling on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to increase oil production in response to rising gasoline prices. Since your first day in office, your Administration has pursued policies that have restricted and threatened American oil and gas development, which has had devastating consequences for American workers and consumers. It is astonishing that your Administration is now seeking assistance from an international oil cartel when America has sufficient domestic supply and reserves to increase output which would reduce gasoline prices,” the senators wrote.

“Last month, gasoline prices reached a seven year high and are forty-percent higher than they were on January 1, 2021. It is no surprise how we got here. Your Administration’s domestic oil and gas development policies are hurting American consumers and workers, are contrary to an ‘America First’ energy agenda, and reinforce a reliance on foreign oil,” they continued.

“We agree with your intent to reduce the cost of gas for hardworking Americans, but your domestic policy agenda has proven to have the opposite effect and continues to threaten American jobs and family budgets. We urge your Administration to revise its regulatory agenda and legislative priorities as it relates to domestic oil and gas development. The best and most effective way to reduce the cost of gasoline at the pump is to unleash clean, affordable and reliable American energy,” concluded the senators.

Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) also signed the letter.

The letter is available here.