WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $6,227,200 in National Telecommunications and Information Administration funds to expand broadband internet access and to hire and train information technology personnel at Southern University and A&M College.

“Broadband expansion is key to providing Louisiana students with the tools they need to succeed after college. I’m grateful to see that this $6.2 million will help improve internet access and support information technology personnel at Southern University and A&M College,” said Kennedy.

Watch Kennedy’s full remarks here. ­

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), on the Senate Floor, urged the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to explain how it is implementing its new pricing algorithm for calculating flood insurance premiums, known as Risk Rating 2.0. FEMA’s new algorithm has sent the rates of many National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in Louisiana skyrocketing. Despite repeated questions from Kennedy, FEMA has yet to clarify how it determines new rates.

“It doesn’t do any good to offer flood insurance if people can’t afford it, and that’s what FEMA’s doing right now,” said Kennedy.

“We, in Louisiana, have the highest participation rate in the country, bar none. And despite what some people may think, my people who are buying flood insurance, they’re not multimillionaires. They’re working people,” he explained.

“There is no transparency with Risk Rating 2.0. People have absolutely no idea—members of the United States Congress have no idea—how this algorithm works and how they come up with a specific price for every home in America. But I'll tell you what we do know: All the prices have gone up.

“A lot of those levees in Louisiana are paid for by Louisiana citizens. We have asked, ‘How does this algorithm, in raising these prices, take into effect or take into account the levees? Are we getting credit for our levees?’ And they say, ‘Sure.’ And I say, ‘Can you show me?’ And they say, ‘If I showed you, I’d have to kill you. This is a secret algorithm.’ No transparency, none!” Kennedy continued.

“FEMA says it’s going to make everything fairer. I know this much: It’ll make everything more expensive. According to FEMA’s estimates, 80% of the people who have flood insurance and have to have flood insurance in Louisiana . . . are going to see their rates go up. The likely average full-risk premium for a home in Louisiana under this new secret sauce is $1,700. Under the old system, it was $766. That’s a 122 percent increase because of this algorithm, the secret sauce, which FEMA will not let us see. My people can’t afford this, Mr. President, and the reality is people are already dropping flood insurance,” he said.

“In eight of my parishes or counties, the number of policies has dropped from 290,000 in October of ‘21 to 267,000 in November of ‘22. So that’s 22,000 people­—almost 23,000 people—out of only eight parishes or counties who’ve had to give up their flood insurance,” explained Kennedy.

Speaking of the Flood Insurance Pricing Transparency Act, which he has cosponsored, Kennedy said, “ It’s a bipartisan bill. All we’re asking that FEMA do is talk to us and tell us how they’re coming up with these rate increases. The American people pay the salary of the people of FEMA, and my people . . . deserve to know how their policies are being priced.”

View Kennedy’s full remarks here.

 Watch Kennedy’s statement here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-La.) support for the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has helped to secure Congressional authorization of $1.9 billion for military projects that are significant for Louisiana.

“This year’s national defense bill contains important wins for Louisiana and America. As regimes in China and Russia grow more aggressive, Republicans have made sure that the U.S. will upgrade our ships and planes while giving our troops a much-deserved pay raise. We are also ending the Covid vaccine mandate for service members and reinforcing parents’ ability to review curriculum at DOD schools,” said Kennedy.

The NDAA authorizes $858 billion for national defense spending, which includes a 4.6% pay increase for service members. The bill also saves $11 billion through reforms made at the Department of Defense.

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.