Local group lobbies Congress with a smile

As we prepared to complete an annual pilgrimage to Washington, D.C., last week, it occurred to the group of chamber members and government officials present that something was different this year.

Most of us had previously been to our nation’s Capitol and were accustomed to seeing various community and business groups traversing the halls of Congress.

However, this year, it seemed as though our group was the only one smiling.

Why were we smiling?

While we lobbied members of Congress and the Army Corps of Engineers to stop studying hurricane protection for our area and start building it, the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District was proceeding without the Corps. The first phase of the Morganza-to-the-Gulf levee system is under construction in Terrebonne Parish with state and local funds.

Although we left the hurricane-protection lobbying meetings frustrated, the local effort kept us smiling.

There were other meetings on various topics that left us equally frustrated, but still smiling.

We unsuccessfully tried to convince Congressman Charlie Melancon and Sen. Mary Landrieu to oppose the pro-union “card-check” bill. However, as word began to spread that key senators changed positions on the bill and it was likely to fail, we kept our smile.

Members of our group discussed stimulus funding while in Washington, D.C., with hopes that the Tri-parish area would receive its share.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the February unemployment numbers showing the Houma/Thibodaux metro area with 3.5 percent unemployment – the lowest among the 372 metro areas surveyed.

It seemed as though our economy was already stimulated, and the numbers released last week kept smiles on our faces.

Although our trip to the nation’s Capitol was mired with cancelled flights and flooding concerns back home, we persisted.

The feeling from the group is that we made a difference in Washington, D.C., if only for the fact that we brought something congressional staff members haven’t seen much of lately … smiles.