Southeastern Louisiana University

Rep. Steve Scalise to address Southeastern graduates May 16

Contact: Rene Abadie

4/30/09

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     HAMMOND – U.S. Congressman Steve Scalise, representative of Louisiana’s First Congressional District, will address graduates at Southeastern Louisiana University’s spring commencement at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 16.

     The approximately 1,100 degrees conferred at the ceremony in the University Center will include Southeastern’s first three doctoral degrees in educational leadership.

     Scalise has served in Congress since 2008 when he was elected to fill the unexpired term of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. A member of the Republican Party, he serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee, emerging as a strong proponent for a national energy policy that increases the supply of American oil. An advocate for fiscal discipline, he has also made hurricane recovery and flood protection top priorities.

     He served in the Louisiana Legislature in both the House of Representatives and the Senate for more than 12 years. As a state senator, he served as chairman of the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee.

     Scalise is recognized for his role in 2002 in helping to create tax incentives for Louisiana’s film industry, which has made the state one of the most popular places to produce films in the nation. The tax incentives generated more than $700 million in film activity and created more than 6,000 jobs in Louisiana in 2007.

     A graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in computer science and a minor in political science, he has also worked as a systems engineer for area technology companies.