MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $4,287,667 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana disaster aid.

“Hurricanes Laura and Ida devastated important infrastructure across south Louisiana. This $4.3 million will help communities like Jefferson and St. John the Baptist Parishes restore education and sewerage facilities, and aid Lake Charles with Hurricane Laura repairs,” said Kennedy.

The FEMA aid will fund the following:

• $1,681,034 to the city of Lake Charles, La. for repairs to communications towers resulting from Hurricane Laura damage.

• $1,598,591 to the Jefferson Parish School System for repairs to the Thomas Jefferson High School for Advanced Studies campus due to Hurricane Ida damage.

• $1,008,042 to St. John the Baptist Parish for repairs to sewer lift stations due to Hurricane Ida damage.

MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $8,091,480 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana disaster aid.

“Storms like Laura and Ida ravaged key education and transportation infrastructure in Louisiana. This $8.1 million will help Calcasieu Parish cover the cost of repairing school facilities and aid the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport with Hurricane Ida repairs,” said Kennedy.

The FEMA aid will fund the following:

• $7,071,039 to the Calcasieu Parish School Board for repairs to Barbe High School facilities resulting from Hurricane Laura damage.

• $1,020,441 to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to repair Hurricane Ida damage.

WASHINGTON – Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) today reintroduced the Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-Risk Animal Trafficking (FIGHT) Act to enhance national animal fighting laws by providing more tools to law enforcement and citizens to curtail cockfighting and dogfighting.

“Those engaging in dog and cock fights are abusive, organized and dangerous—and their heinous behavior must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. It’s illegal to abuse God’s creatures for sport, and this bill would give law enforcement crucial tools to end this cruel practice,” said Kennedy.

"Animal fighting is cruel, illegal, and unacceptable. It’s time we take stronger action to stop these heinous abuses against animals and protect them from being exploited for entertainment and profit. This bill will tighten enforcement to put a stop to illegal animal fighting,” said Booker.

Despite being criminalized, cockfighting and dogfighting are still common across the country. Cockfights can become hubs of violence because of the illegal activity that often accompanies them. 

Cockfighting may also pose a danger to public health during the ongoing avian influenza outbreak, as people who handle bloodied birds risk becoming infected by them.

The FIGHT Act would amend Section 26 of the Animal Welfare Act to strengthen and enhance enforcement against animal fighting. This bill would:

• Ban simulcasting and gambling on animal fights in the U.S., no matter where the broadcast signals for dogfights and cockfights originate.

• Halt shipments of mature roosters (chickens only) shipped through U.S. mail. This legislation does not address shipments of baby chicks, which are used in accepted agricultural operations. Shipping dogs through the mail is already illegal.

• Creates a citizen suit provision allowing private right of action against illegal animal fighters and ease the resource burden on federal agencies.

• Enhances forfeiture provisions to include real property used in the commission of an animal fighting crime.

The full bill text of the FIGHT Act is available here.

Watch Kennedy’s comments here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) argued that the federal government should stop subsidizing public media programming in Louisiana and elsewhere throughout the country in a speech on the U.S. Senate floor.

Key excerpts of the speech are below:

“Now, look, you don’t have to be a Latin scholar to see that these articles are biased—every single one of them—at the federal level and at the state and local level in Louisiana. And you know what, that’s the right of these state and local television stations. They have the right to say this stuff, but they don’t have the right to say it with your money.” 

. . .

“These folks have the right to publish that, but they do not have the right to publish it with taxpayer money—$500 million a year. And I think you know how I feel. We know how President Trump feels, but I hope the U.S. Congress, in our reconciliation package, abolishes the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and no longer gives them or any media organization in this country a single solitary dime of taxpayer money.

“That’s not the role of the federal government, and—given these kinds of articles—to do so incites the anger of at least half of our country, and that is not right.”

Watch Kennedy’s speech here.