Charlie Melançon
Charles Joseph Melançon is an American politician and former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
From 2005 to 2011, he was the U.S. representative for. He earlier served as a state representative, from 1987 to 1993. In 2010, he was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by the Republican David Vitter.
Early life, education and career
Melançon was born in Napoleonville, Louisiana, the son of Nicee L. "Brownie" and Joe Melançon. The grandson and great-grandson of sugar cane farmers, Melançon has spent most of his life in Napoleonville, 50 miles south of Baton Rouge. He owned and operated several small businesses, including two Baskin-Robbins outlets. He also served as head of the American Sugar Cane League.Louisiana House of Representatives
U.S. House of Representatives
Melançon ran in 2004 for the House of Representatives seat in Louisiana's 3rd congressional district and won.Committee assignments
- Committee on Energy and Commerce
- *Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet
- *Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Just a few months after Melancon took office, Hurricane Katrina slammed into south Louisiana, causing massive levee failures and devastating flooding in the eastern part of his district. A second major storm, Hurricane Rita, struck the Gulf Coast three weeks later. Melancon worked with the rest of the Louisiana delegation in Congress to bring billions of recovery dollars to south Louisiana. He fought for federal funding for hurricane protection projects such as Morganza-to-the-Gulf and the levee systems in lower Plaquemines Parish and south Lafourche Parish.Melancon has continuously urged other members of the United States Congress to visit south Louisiana for as long as Louisiana still has recovery or hurricane protection needs. He has brought Congressional delegations to the Gulf Coast to see firsthand the destruction from the storms as well as the ongoing need for hurricane protection and coastal restoration. Since the storms, Melancon has sponsored a number of reform bills to try to fix the flaws in the government's disaster response and relief system. As the representative for much of south Louisiana, Melançon has been an advocate in the United States Congress for hurricane recovery.
Supporting small businesses and economic development
Melancon supported the Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act, a bill that provided funding for more small business development centers. These small business incubators provide office space, support, and technology to help new companies get off the ground. He also supported tax relief for small businesses, voting for the Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2007. The bill provided tax credits and incentives for expanding and purchasing new equipment. Melançon joined other members from energy-producing states, as well as the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, to keep new taxes on the oil and gas industry out of the President's 2010 budget.Climate change
Melancon voted against the American Clean Energy and Security Act twice, once in the Energy and Commerce Committee and again in the full the United States House of Representatives. The bill is also known as the "Waxman-Markey Energy Bill" or the "cap-and-trade" bill. Melançon said in a release that he opposed the bill because he believed it would hurt his "district and the people I represent … The oil and gas industry is the engine driving south Louisiana's economy, providing good-paying jobs to hundreds of thousands of our workers for generations."Melancon was successful in including an amendment in the bill that would protect Louisiana's share of wetlands restoration funding from cuts indirectly caused by hurricane disaster assistance.
America's Affordable Health Choices Act
On July 31, 2009, Melançon voted against the America's Affordable Health Choices Act in the Energy and Commerce Committee. Melançon explained in a statement that he voted against the bill for reasons including its potential effects on small businesses, the possibility of taxpayer-funded abortions, and increases in taxes.Melançon said he was concerned that "the public option, as designed, would unfairly undercut anything the private sector could offer." He noted that the bill does not do enough to address the need for more providers in rural communities.
Melancon also voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March 2010, because it "doesn’t work for Louisiana." However, he had not signed the discharge petition circulated by Iowa Republican Steve King calling for a complete repeal of the law.