Cassidy Meets Student Veterans, Tours Shell Training Center Facility in Tangipahoa Parish

BATON ROUGE - This morning, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) met veterans attending Southeastern Louisiana University, where he thanked them for their service to our country and pledged to ensure they receive the health care benefits they earned.

"There are issues specific to veterans in terms of benefits from the VA, as well as directly related to their services," said Dr. Cassidy. "These veterans were transparent on behalf of themselves and for their brothers and sisters in arms. I will take their issues and address them as much as I can to honor their service to our country."

Cassidy has worked to expand educational and job opportunities for veterans and their spouses. In March, he introduced legislation to allow veterans to use their VA benefits to access trucking apprenticeship programs. Additionally in February, he introduced legislation to expand access to job counseling services for spouses of those who died on active duty in the military. Finally, he urged the U.S. Department of Labor last October to make more veterans eligible for career service programs funded by Jobs for Veterans State Grants.

On health care and disability benefits, Cassidy passed into law the Solid Start Act, which codifies into law the Trump-era policy that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contact every veteran three times by phone within their first year of separation from the military, to connect them with mental health and other resources available at the VA. Last September, he also grilled the VA Executive Director for Suicide Prevention after an Office of Inspector General report found that a 2021 veteran suicide was improperly handled.

Cassidy learned from the student veterans how Congress can improve the educational and health care benefits they receive, and the timeframe on which they receive them. He was joined by Mr. Charlton Meginley, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Veterans' Affairs, and Dr. Will Wainwright, President of Southeastern Louisiana University. He was introduced to the students by Ms. Emily Anthony, M.Ed., Director of Military and Veteran Success at Southeastern Louisiana University.

"We are so honored to have had the opportunity to have our student veterans' voices be heard by some of the most influential leaders in our state, who are working to improve veteran services in Louisiana," said Ms. Anthony. "We are so hopeful that positive change may come from their feedback and look forward to future opportunities to collaborate with Senator Cassidy and Secretary Meginley in the future."

Earlier, he visited the Shell Training and Conference Center in Robert. In operation for over 40 years, it teaches basic and advanced skills to those who work on the front lines of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere. The courses include training on safety, equipment operation, and maintenance.

"Shell gave a camera tour of one of their Gulf oil platforms and also demonstrated how they train off-shore workers to keep themselves safe," said Dr. Cassidy. "The amount of effort put into making everything environmentally safe for workers is more than you can imagine. U.S. oil and gas development is the best in the world."

Last month, Cassidy took to the Senate floor to criticize the Biden-Harris administration's liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permitting freeze, which threatens to halt job creation in Louisiana and undermines our allies. That freeze was suspended by U.S. District Judge James Cain last July, a ruling that Cassidy praised. Also last month, Cassidy grilled the President's nominee for Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, on why Interior is being sluggish in approving offshore oil and gas lease sales.

Finally, Cassidy inserted numerous provisions in the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 to hold lease sales and require that LNG export permits be reviewed in a timely manner. That legislation was approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee overwhelmingly.

Cassidy was given a tour of the facility and learned how Shell conducts its classes. He met both with trainees and executives at the facility. He was welcomed by Mr. Carmen Berry, Manager of Deepwater Learning and the Robert Training Center.

"Shell was happy to host Senator Cassidy and other local officials at our Robert Training Center, where we provide highly specialized training to prepare our offshore workforce to safely operate our Deepwater assets," said Mr. Berry.

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