Congressman Garret Graves is a Republican Member of Congress representing Louisiana’s Sixth Congressional District. He sits on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, of which he is a member of the Subcommittees on Highways and Transit, Water Resources and the Environment (Vice Chairman), and Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. Garret is also a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, where he is assigned to the Subcommittees on Energy and Mineral Resources, and Public Lands and Environmental Regulation.
A Baton Rouge native, Garret grew up in a family of entrepreneurs and small business owners – an environment that held individual responsibility, innovation and a strong work ethic in the highest regard, all which shaped his passion for public service.
Garret’s career in public service began in the Louisiana congressional delegation with Louisiana’s coastal region Congressman Billy Tauzin who chaired the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Garret later worked for Louisiana Senator David Vitter and served on U.S. House and Senate committees focused on civil works, infrastructure, and maritime policies.
Prior to his election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Garret had served six years on Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s cabinet as Chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). Concurrently, he worked as a senior policy advisor to the governor on energy, environment, fisheries, and disasters.
During Garret’s tenure, he led one of the state’s most successful government streamlining efforts while guiding the state through three major hurricanes, record flooding on the Mississippi River system and the nation’s worst oil spill, all while managing for the state one of America’s largest civil works projects in history.
Garret restructured the state’s coastal programs (hurricane protection, coastal restoration and community resilience) and consolidated functions that had previously been administered across multiple agencies. This new organization was responsible for an estimated $18 billion in funded projects designed to improve the economic, environmental and community resilience of the state. Under Garret’s leadership, the CPRA developed a national model for an integrated coastal Master Plan designed to integrate infrastructure, environmental and economic needs of the state. The 50-year, $50 billion plan was lauded by industry, environmental, maritime and local leaders. The Louisiana Legislature unanimously approved it.
Famliy
Congressman Graves is a lifelong resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He and his wife, Carissa, have three children and attend church at the Chapel on the Campus.
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