a step, mr bayou says, is in the right direction. so you obviously love the bayou...what would you like to see it become? >> before i die i would like to see it restore back to its normal state... it protection for everybody but everybody do not know that until they started taking all these surveys and stuff... >> but it is from the last 10 years of studying what went wrong during katrina that a multi- pronged plan has been put in place... it's been a long, costly process that can't completely protect southern louisiana from every storm but will hopefully dramatically reduce the damage from them. >> after seeing all this, there's one thing that's so clear to me which is that new orleans was at risk... is at risk... and probably always will be at risk and obviously lives are the priority but when you stand here in a historic district you also realize that there is a lot of history at stake as well. >> yeah and it doesn't get more iconic than jackson square and there's no question new orleans is an american gem. and virtually everyone w

mr. duncan: so if we've got to build all of these facilities, why do we go out to louisiana and build on the high ground of the bayou? there are thousands and thousands of undeveloped acres. why are we talking about fort leavenworth or charleston? it is interesting when you bring that closer to home, i do believe. mr. thompson: guantanamo bay, away from harming citizens. that is one of the biggest concerns that we have, bringing them to united states soil. talking about charleston where there are communities of veterans living there, that is going to cause concern,e threat economic impact social impact, all of these things just by moving here. gentleman's time has now expired and the gentleman now recognizes the ranking member. mr. richmond: i just wanted to let you know that there is no higher ground in the bayou. i just wanted to tell you that. [laughter] chairman: the chair thanks the members for their very valuable testimony today and the chair thanks them for their questions. some additional questions from the witnesses and we ask you to respond to these in writing pursuant to the committee rule 7e. the subcomm

mr. duncan: if we have to build all these new facilities. why don't we go to louisiana and got into the high ground in the bayou and build a brand new facility? or fort a.p. hill right down the road here, thousands upon thousands of undeveloped acres and drop a prison facility there. why are we talking about fort leavenworth or charleston if we are talking about this? it's interesting when you bring that closer to home, do i believe. mr. thompson: i would say that if they were -- guantanamo bay, they are away from harming any other citizens. that's one of the most serious concerns that we have about bringing them to the united states soil. and to bring them into a community such as governor haley's, charleston, or something like fort leavenworth where they are communities of veterans as well as just citizens like myself living there, that's going to cause them undue threat, concern, economic impact social impact, psych local impact. all these things.

mr. speaker, louisiana is known as a sportsman's pair dice. we don't have snow ski, we don't have rock climbing and we don't have white water kayaking. but we have our bayous, alligators and oysters. we're the top wintering habitat for water foul and one of the top fishing destinations in the nation. for decades, joe ap loo is a has been writing and spilling the beans on our secret fishing holes and hunting hot spots. he's been translating what's known again as america's foreign country to visitors and residents alike. he's received national awards for coverage of legendary grambling university coach eddie robinson. mr. graves: he received awards for his coverage of fishery devastation following hurricane andrew in 1992. he received lifetime achievement awards from the coastal conservation association and louisiana wildlife federation and was recently inducted into the sports hall of fame. mr. speaker, i'm not a good hunter and i'm not a good fisherman but with joe mac, he made it easy, because he was always spilling the beans, and he's going to be sorely missed. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expire. the chair lays before