I needed to explain that Louisiana's coast accepts the drainage from two-thirds of the United States and, while the necessary levees constructed upstream have prevented floods, they have also contributed to problems downstream.

I object to you using words like squander and pork. What is pork in one part of the country is an essential project in another part.

Well, Judy, I would hope in the new year, we could start thinking about politics not like it was the Super Bowl, where you always have to have one team that wins and the other team has to be a loser.

I put myself and all the members of Congress in the same boat of things that could have been done better.

And the issues I think are important in Louisiana right now happen to be health care and education. And those are two areas that the federal government can play a very important role. And I think I can be effective in trying to help our state from the Washington scene.

There is nothing wrong where we reach a point where maybe everybody could claim a victory. I think it would be good for the American people, which should be our first priority.

Congress should not be like the Super Bowl where you have to have one team that's going to win and another team that's going to be a loser.

Our struggle is to identify the sources of revenue and the means to obtain the funds.Without funds, all the planning and research studies can't help us.