{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-discusses-infrastructure-and-energy-in-capital-region/", "Cassidy Discusses Infrastructure and Energy in Capital Region", "2024-10-30", "2024", "2024-10", "Republican", "Senate", "LA", "Bill Cassidy", "C001075", "www.cassidy.senate.gov", "cassidy", "https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list", "scraper", "BATON ROUGE \u2013Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) hosted his final rural community funding summit of 2024, to connect elected leaders in the Capital Region with opportunities in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to improve roads, fix sewage and water problems, and reduce their risk of flooding.\n\n\u201cWe have a partnership with mayors and other leaders in the Capital Region to use the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to meet the needs of this growing community,\u201d said Dr. Cassidy. \u201cAlready we\u2019re replacing gas lines in Donaldsonville and East Feliciana and reducing flood risk across the Baton Rouge area. This region is moving forward.\u201d\n\nCassidy also discussed the IIJA before the West Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce. Communities in the Capital Region have been major beneficiaries of the law. Just last week, Iberville Parish was awarded over $2.54 million and the village of Morganza over $1.87 million to upgrade their natural gas pipe systems. Additionally, Cassidy announced last October that the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development received $88.3 million for Phase One of the LA 415 Interconnector Project, which would help fund the construction of highways and bridges and reduce traffic congestion in the Baton Rouge area, including in West Baton Rouge Parish.\n\nOther major grant announcements for communities around Baton Rouge include over $10.4 million from the drinking water state revolving fund for the Livingston Ward 2 Water District and West Feliciana Parish, $30 million in 2023 and 2024 to replace aging gas pipes in the City of Donaldsonville, over $33 million for dredging and surveys along the Atchafalaya River and in Bayous Chene, Boeuf and Black, over $39 million for improvements to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and $100 million to launch a manufacturing plant in St. Gabriel that will produce lithium hexafluorophosphate, which is necessary for batteries. Major highway projects are also being funded throughout the region.\n\nAt the rural community funding summit and the West Baton Rouge Chamber, Cassidy was welcomed by community leaders and thanked for his service.\n\n\u201cI appreciate Senator Cassidy coming to Gonzales to make sure that communities in Ascension Parish and throughout the region know how we can take advantage of his infrastructure bill,\u201d said Mayor Ryland Percy, of Gonzales, Louisiana. \u201cI also appreciate his work to protect the energy industry that keeps people here and throughout the parish. That\u2019s the kind of leadership we need in Washington.\u201d\n\n\u201cThanks to Senator Cassidy, the people in West Baton Rouge Parish employed by our manufacturers and energy companies will be able to stay employed and make a life in this community,\u201d said Ms. Anna Johnson, Executive Director of the West Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce. \u201cAnd his infrastructure bill will make it easier for them to get to work, to their kids\u2019 school, and back home in the evening. We appreciate Senator Cassidy for making life easier and better for our neighbors.\u201d\n\nLater, Cassidy toured Turner Industries\u2019 modular fabrication facility in Port Allen, from which they also transport modules. They build major modules (or components) for industrial facilities such as refineries and petrochemical plants, and then ship them to worksites for more efficient installation. Their facility is also being used to build modules for LNG plants that will process liquefied natural gas, to be delivered to the rest of the world while supporting jobs in Louisiana.\n\n\u201cTurner is building modules for the Venture Global plant,\u201d said Dr. Cassidy. \u201cThey\u2019re part of a job creating process that starts at the wellhead and ends at the LNG terminal, but along the way produces thousands of great paying Louisiana jobs.\u201d\n\nTurner\u2019s Port Allen facility features a 415 Yard, which spans 35 acres, has a 24,000-square-foot module assembly building, and sits along 1,100 feet of intracoastal waterway in order to more easily ship modules. The 415 Yard is one of three similar facilities that Turner owns. As part of their module construction, they provide welding, blasting and painting, steel and pipe support fabrication, and specialty alloy work. Additionally, Turner has a pipe fabrication facility nearby, which is capable of producing more than 6,500 spools per month. Turner Industries provides its array of services in over 400 facilities across the nation.\n\nCassidy has also worked to protect Louisiana\u2019s energy industry. On October 16, Cassidy convened the Louisiana Energy Security Summit in Baton Rouge, which brought together senior officials from previous Republican administrations and leaders in Louisiana\u2019s energy industry and research community to discuss how to bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States by developing the state\u2019s energy resources. Cassidy also introduced the Foreign Pollution Fee Act, which would improve U.S. trade policy to help Louisiana\u2019s manufacturers counter the unfair competition they face from foreign adversaries like China.\n\nThere are over 400 employees at Turner\u2019s Port Allen facility. In total, Turner has over 19,000 employees. Cassidy was thanked in advance for his work in a statement by Mr. Stephen Toups, CEO of Turner Industries.\n\n\u201cOn behalf of the Turner team, we thank Senator Cassidy for visiting us in Port Allen today,\u201d said Mr. Toups. \u201cI am so glad that he got to meet the men and women who are constructing the modules for the Liquefied Natural Gas projects here in the state. Our state has supported so many energy projects for our country and for the world. Thanks to our employees, we are supporting the Senators vision to keep America energy independent, and to use that energy to produce jobs here at home. We look forward to working with the Senator as he writes laws that continue to make our work possible.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:55:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-discusses-infrastructure-and-energy-in-capital-region/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8432231843471527, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}