WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $2,390,437 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana flood mitigation.
“Floods have brought untold pain and suffering to the people of Louisiana, and our communities are working hard to avert future flooding. This $2.4 million will help Jefferson and Bossier Parishes floodproof their communities and prevent costly damage in the years ahead,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $1,202,160 to Jefferson Parish for the elevation of four flood-prone structures.
- $1,128,189 for Bossier Parish to reduce flooding in the Lucky Estates subdivision by improving drainage with new culverts, storm drainpipes and barriers, along with road work, excavation and landscaping.
- $60,088 to Jefferson Parish for management costs associated with structure elevation.
Kennedy announces $18.9 million in Hurricanes Laura, Ida, wildfire aid and generator funding for Louisiana
Jun 06 2025
MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $18,901,177 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana.
“In the face of hurricanes and wildfires, Louisiana communities prove time and time again that they are the toughest and hardest working out there. This $18.9 million will help our state with the heavy costs of emergency response, mitigation efforts and crucial repairs and replacements,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $4,478,132 to the Office of Risk Management for the installation of five permanent generators.
- $3,486,987 to the St. Nicholas Center for Children in Lake Charles, La. to replace its main building due to Hurricane Laura damage.
- $3,436,062 to the city of Sulphur, La. to repair its wastewater treatment plant generator system and transfer switch due to Hurricane Laura damage.
- $2,712,733 to the South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association to replace its Houma, La. office building due to severe Hurricane Ida damage.
- $1,323,641 to the South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association for the digitization of Hurricane Ida-damaged documents and additional costs.
- $1,129,735 to the New Providence Baptist Church for repairs to its main building due to Hurricane Laura damage.
- $1,068,910 to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety for fire suppression operations taken during the Tiger Island Fire.
- $1,041,070 to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport for repairs to its east terminal facilities, concourse B and its east terminal-adjacent rental car center due to Hurricane Ida damage.
- $223,907 to the Office of Risk Management for management costs associated with generator installation.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced a $6,764,854 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant for the Terrebonne Parish School Board.
“Hurricane Ida hit Houma hard, but the community has worked tirelessly to rebuild. This $6.8 million grant will help cover the costs of demolishing, relocating and renovating school facilities due to severe damage from the storm,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $6,764,854 to the Terrebonne Parish School Board to relocate the Hurricane Ida-damaged Louis Miller Vo-Tech campus to its Fletcher Building in Houma, La., and demolish its Ida-damaged School for Exceptional Children facility and renovate its existing Elysian Fields campus.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and 25 colleagues in introducing a resolution to designate the month of June as “Life Month.”
The resolution commemorates the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in the June 2022 landmark decision Dobbs v. Jackson and affirms that every human life is precious.
“With too many extreme politicians supporting abortion up until the moment of birth, it’s more important than ever that Americans declare their support for God’s greatest gift, life. I’m proud to help introduce this resolution to designate June as ‘Life Month’ and support the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision—a win for both the Constitution and the unborn,” said Kennedy.
“Every human life is worthy of protection, and it is especially incumbent upon Americans and lawmakers to protect the most vulnerable among us. Designating June as Life Month is a recommitment to the American principle that every life has dignity. I call on my colleagues in the Senate to swiftly pass this resolution,” said Cruz.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) introduced the resolution in the House of Representatives.
“For decades abortion advocates have gone to extraordinary lengths to ignore, trivialize, and cover up the battered baby victim, fostering a culture of denial, disrespect, and bias against the unborn. This resolution designating June as Life Month highlights our moral imperative to protect innocent children’s lives from extermination. It calls our nation to reject willful blindness to the realities of abortion—brutally dismembering helpless babies with sharp knife-like curettes or poisoning babies with pills that literally starve them to death and often result in their bodies being flushed down a toilet. This resolution affirms that the cruel injustice of abortion need not be forever: instead we must defend the unborn and show love and compassion to both mother and child through meaningful assistance and support,” said Smith.
Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) also cosponsored the resolution.
Alliance Defending Freedom, Heritage Action, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, National Right to Life, Human Coalition, Heartbeat International, Family Research Council, Students for Life, Americans United for Life, Family Policy Alliance, Concerned Women for America, Catholic Vote, March for Life, 40 Days for Life, National Pro-Life Alliance, NIFLA, Citizens for Life, Christian Broadcasting Network, Focus on the Family, Liberty Counsel Action and Eagle Forum support the resolution.
The full resolution is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today reintroduced the Improving Mental Health Access for Students Act, which would require colleges and universities to provide the contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Crisis Text Line and a campus mental health center on student identification (ID) cards. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is the lead Senate cosponsor of the bill.
“Young Americans are dealing with historic mental health challenges and often aren’t sure where they can turn for help. My Improving Mental Health Access for Students Act would add important hotline numbers to their student ID cards, making sure our young people always have the resources they need at their fingertips,” said Kennedy.
“As someone who worked at a peer counseling center in college, I saw firsthand how many students suffer from feelings of hopelessness and depression. This bill will make mental health resources more accessible by placing critical support lines directly into students’ hands. We must ensure that young people have the resources they need to know they’re not alone and where to get help if they need it,” said Booker.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously in the 117th and 116th Congresses.
Reps. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) introduced the bill in the House of Representatives.
“Too many of our young people are taking their own lives, and we’ve got to push forward to address this worsening mental health crisis. Adding crucial suicide prevention information to Student IDs and college websites will ensure that at-risk students have options. I’m grateful to my colleagues for stepping up, joining together, and working across the aisle to address this growing youth suicide epidemic—to give every young person a shot at the future they deserve,” said Correa.
“Our college students are facing unprecedented mental health challenges, and we need to ensure they have immediate access to life-saving resources. By requiring universities to include crisis hotline information on student ID cards, we're taking a straightforward but critical step to protect our young people and show them they're never alone during difficult times,” said Bacon.
The Improving Mental Health Access for Students Act would:
- Require colleges and universities to provide the contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 988, Crisis Text Line (Text HOME to 741741), and a campus mental health center, if applicable, on student ID cards.
- Require colleges and universities to list the information on their websites if the school does not offer physical ID cards to students.
Background:
- The National Institute of Mental Health deems suicide a major public health concern.
- Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide among people aged 15 to 29 years.
- In the U.S., suicide is the second leading cause of death in the 10- to 24-year-old age group.
- Suicide rates for this age group increased 52.2% between 2000 and 2021.
- In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that four in 10 students had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and two in 10 seriously considered attempting suicide.
Active Minds, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Crisis Text Line, Mental Health America and the National Alliance on Mental Illness support the bill.
“Active Minds is thrilled to see the reintroduction of the Improving Mental Health Access for Students Act by Senators Kennedy and Booker and Representatives Correa and Bacon. This bipartisan legislation represents the power of student voices driving real policy change. For over a decade, Active Minds chapters across the country have been advocating for exactly this solution—putting life-saving mental health resources directly into students' hands through their ID cards. This bill embodies Active Minds' core belief that young people are not just the beneficiaries of mental health policy, but the architects of solutions that work. What started as grassroots advocacy from our student leaders has passed the Senate twice by unanimous consent—it is up to Congress now to pass it into law,” said Alison Malmon, Founder and Executive Director at Active Minds.
“As suicide continues to be a leading cause of death among young people, far too many college students are struggling with their mental health in silence. The Improving Mental Health Access for Students Act is a simple yet powerful step toward connecting students with lifesaving resources like the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. By ensuring this critical information is visible on student ID cards and school websites, we can reduce stigma, promote help-seeking, and make it easier for students to access support when they need it most. AFSP is proud to support this bipartisan legislation and urges Congress to act swiftly to pass it,” said Laurel Stine, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
“Young people today are navigating a mental health crisis that can deeply affect their well-being, education, and sense of safety. We’re proud to support the Improving Mental Health Access for Students Act because every student deserves to know that help is always within reach. Adding the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, Crisis Text Line, and campus mental health resources on the back of new student ID cards is a simple, compassionate step that can make a life-changing difference in a moment of need,” said Courtney Hunter, Vice President of Public Policy at Crisis Text Line.
“Mental Health America (MHA) applauds Representatives Correa and Bacon for their leadership in introducing the Improving Mental Health Access for Students Act, which is an important step forward in addressing the growing mental health needs of college students. Roughly one in five people taking an online mental health screen on MHA’s website are college-aged, and they have expressed a need for resources and tools to manage their mental health. This bill ensures that students have quick access to potentially life-saving information for crisis and suicide help,” said Mary Giliberti, Chief Public Policy Officer at Mental Health America.
Full text of the Improving Mental Health Access for Students Act is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, today reintroduced the CFPB Pay Fairness Act, which would increase accountability at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by requiring the agency to pay its employees according to the same standards that apply to other federal employees.
“The CFPB’s convoluted funding scheme gives them an unfair pay advantage over other agencies. That’s a waste of taxpayer money, and it needs to stop. My bill would put CFPB salaries on equal footing with the rest of the government and end the accounting trick that let them avoid the standard federal pay scale,” said Kennedy.
Background:
- The CFPB’s funding mechanism operates outside the regular congressional oversight process.
- As a result, many CFPB employees receive salaries comparable with those of members of Congress and cabinet secretaries.
- The CFPB Pay Fairness Act would give the CFPB 90 days to bring its employee salaries in line with the General Schedule pay scale for federal employees.
Full text of the CFPB Pay Fairness Act is available here.
MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $9,623,017 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for the Jefferson Parish Public School System, the Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
“It’s impossible to keep Louisianians down, and our people’s response to storms like Hurricane Ida and deadly wildfires proves that. This $9.6 million will help cover Louisiana’s response to the Tiger Island and Highway 113 fires, and help with school restoration costs in Jefferson Parish,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $3,589,728 to the Jefferson Parish Public School System for repairs to the J.D. Meisler Middle School campus due to Hurricane Ida damage.
- $3,156,954 to the Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness for emergency management costs sustained due to the Tiger Island Fire.
- $2,876,335 to the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry for emergency response costs sustained due to the Highway 113 Fire.
Kennedy, Cornyn, Cruz, colleagues introduce resolution honoring Border Patrol’s 101st anniversary
May 22 2025
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and 15 colleagues in introducing a resolution honoring the brave men and women of the U.S. Border Control for their service to our country ahead of the agency’s 101st anniversary.
“We owe the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol a debt of gratitude for all they do to secure our border and keep Americans safe. I’m proud to join my colleagues in honoring these brave and effective officials on their 101st anniversary,” said Kennedy.
The senators’ resolution:
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Recognizes the 101st anniversary of the U.S. Border Patrol on May 28, 2025.
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Remembers the 163 agents and pilots who lost their lives in the performance of their duties.
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Applauds the Border Patrol’s achievements and commends the men and women who have served in their ranks, as well as their family members.
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Supports policies that improve Border Patrol agents’ working conditions, including increasing access to key technology and equipment needed to secure the border, and better the agency’s ability to recruit, hire and retain agents.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) also cosponsored the resolution.
The full resolution is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) penned this op-ed in the Washington Examiner to explain why Congress should pass the EDUCATE Act to prevent medical schools from prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) over merit.
Key excerpts of the op-ed are below:
“When patients lie on the operating table, they don’t care what their doctors look like or which political parties they support. They just want a safe and successful operation.
“Many medical schools, however, apparently believe that patients have the wrong priority. These universities place diversity, equity, and inclusion above all else, even if it means worse outcomes for patients. This obsession with racial quotas is destroying some of America’s best medical schools.”
. . .
“The U.S. is home to the most gifted and innovative doctors on Earth, and it’s not by happenstance. We sought them out by making medical school one of the most impressive, merit-based institutions in our country.
“It’s wrong for universities, which are supported by American taxpayers, to prioritize the DEI agenda over merit in any academic program, but it’s lethal to do this in medical schools. It needs to stop. There is no reward for being stupid.
“Congress should not stand by as this dangerous foolishness drives more medical schools into the ground.”
Read Kennedy and Murphy’s full op-ed here.
Text of the EDUCATE Act is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today joined Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Reps. Clay Higgins (R-La.) and Julia Letlow (R-La.) in sending a letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) chairman Mark Christie in support of the Commonwealth liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Cameron Parish, La.
The lawmakers urged FERC to quickly consider the project at the commission’s June 2025 meeting.
“We write in support of the Commonwealth LNG project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, and urge swift consideration of Commonwealth’s application before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Specifically, we ask you to add this matter to the June 2025 docket so that this project can move forward as soon as possible,” the Louisiana Republicans began.
“Commonwealth LNG’s terminal is an important project that will contribute to American energy dominance due to its capacity to process up to 9.5 million tonnes per year of LNG upon project completion. Furthermore, the Commonwealth project represents a direct investment of $4.5 billion in Louisiana, and construction of the terminal will generate 2,000 jobs during peak construction and maintain 200 jobs during regular operations,” they continued.
“Current predictions estimate global LNG demand to increase 60% by 2040, and Commonwealth LNG will support global energy security by supplying American-produced LNG to meet that increasing demand. Meeting global energy demands will reduce global reliance on LNG produced by our adversaries. Upholding Commonwealth LNG’s authorization for the Cameron Parish project is crucial to broaden American presence in the global LNG market and ensure national security,” the lawmakers added.
“For these reasons, we urge you to move forward as quickly as possible to uphold the project’s authorization during FERC’s June 2025 Commission Meeting,” they concluded.
Read the full letter here.
