The Parking Lot
We had lived in our home in the Delmas Estates neighborhood of Pascagoula since 1999, which is when I graduated law school, passed the bar and began working as a bright-eyed, inexperienced lawyer with Colingo, Williams, Heidelberg, Steinberger & McElhaney, P.A. Heather, after graduating from Millsaps Business School with an M.B.A. had begun that same year with John J. McMullen, now Alion Science, an Ingalls Shipbuilding subcontractor. Delmas Estates was a typical middle class neighborhood with teachers, lawyers, professionals, etc. It was also a mile from the Gulf of Mexico. Resurrection Elementary Catholic School sat as the cornerstone of the neighborhood. Many of the families' children went there and my mother taught there, since then serving as its librarian. The parking lot sat in front of the school, a statue of Mary, Mother of Jesus, in the center. This is where I found myself, in 100 degree heat, under a blue sky as far as the eye could see. A complete contrast from two weeks earlier when Mother Nature littered the sky with rain, wind, debris and, sadly, death, like we had never seen. Why was I in the parking lot? To search, for my family's sake, and as I came to realize, mine as well.
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| Landon and Grace after Hurricane Katrina in our temporary house |
The Day
August 29, 2005. Nine years ago this past week. You may have seen the remembrances. Before that day, I envisioned my wife Heather and me we would be shopping at Babies R Us, cleaning spittle from our clothes and quintessentially raising our growing family. Landon, our son, was three and Grace, our daughter, had been born six weeks earlier. Instead, I found myself in a much different place. Hurricane Katrina roared ashore, destroying everything in its path. Pascagoula, seventy miles from the eye's center, was flooded. No need to rehash the destruction; that has been done. Suffice it to say my house suffered like everyone else, four feet of water and the downstairs destroyed. We moved into a temporary house in Gautier with my parents. Major to a man with two children under four; minor compared to many, including my parents. So, after many days of no power, hot sun and pulling everything, including the kitchen refrigerator to the curb, I found myself in the parking lot. Through the generosity of people from far away, an eighteen wheeler full of survival supplies parked near Mary, Mother of Jesus. I, along with others, rummaged through for what we could find. I found formula and diapers. That's what I knew I could use. No stores were in operation. Gasoline was scarce. Money didn't have its place.
The Decision
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| Me in our temporary house that we shared with my parents after Hurricane Katrina |
My experience, I am sure, is similar to that of everyone who lived along the Mississippi Gulf Coast nine years ago. Yet, each "Katrina story" has its personal stamp. I would be lying if I said I had not entertained the idea of entering politics before Katrina. Yet, until Katrina, it did not seem that . . . urgent. Standing in a parking lot pulling diapers from a trailer is not where I ever saw myself. Realization set in. No matter how much you plan or how much you work or how much you concoct, reality is something different. AND, it can change in a second. AND, family is above all the most important. Although many people and families understandably moved from Mississippi, I knew then and there that I was going to raise my family in Mississippi. However, if I was going to raise Landon and Grace as Mississippians, I was not going to allow the status quo to rise in the wake of Katrina. Being a lifelong Mississippian and someone who defended the state's honor in the face of national criticism, much of it justified, I felt my children, like all of Mississippi's children, deserved better. At that moment, I didn't know when, but I knew I would enter politics.
The Result
Time has a way of making us forget, or at least lessen the pain. This is human and God's mechanism for us to survive. Yet, when you forget you can lose focus. That is why the remembrances, and particularly the pictures, of the ninth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina struck me. They brought back the "reason" that I had entered politics. Not that I had forgotten, it is always there, but they brought it back to the forefront. As I have found in my three years in the Mississippi Senate, it is easy to get caught up in the legislating, the politicking, the fundraising, . . . the attention. It's also easy to justify the ends no matter the means, as we recently have seen from the U.S. Senate election. Putting labels on voters may be preferred by some, but we as public servants represent the people, all the people. That is why when I return to the Senate in January and stand for re-election next year I will continue to work to improve Mississippi, to work to turn that criticism into praise, just as I have tried to do since being elected three and a half years ago. I appreciate the chance the voters of District 52 have given me. I will continue to work to represent every Mississippi with dignity, respect and honor.
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| Landon and Grace now |
Legislation
Authored by Brice and Signed into Law since being elected
2012 (SB2376) Created criminal act
of felony voyeurism when victim is minor child
2012 (SB2367) Strengthened crime
of vulnerable abuse of an adult
2013 (SB2395) Early Learning
Collaborative Act. This established Mississippi’s first every early education program. Praised by corporate leaders, educators, law
enforcement and clergy.
2013 (SB2377) Created second
degree murder statute. Hailed by
victims, prosecutors and attorneys for its necessity
2013 (HB1259) Lonnie Smith Act.
Authored Senate version which strengthened the criminal laws prohibiting child
abuse.
2013 (SB2781) Created section to
limit liability of pilots of offshore vessels.
2014 (HB585) Criminal Justice
Reform Act. This clarified and strengthened laws against violent offenders
while at the same time modernizing Mississippi Criminal Justice laws. It is
projected to save Mississippians $210 million in correction costs.
2014 (SB2430) Katie’s Law. Requires collection of DNA from defendants
upon arrest on violent offense(s).
Partnered with the national organization DNA Saves. Praised by prosecutors and victims’
advocates.
2014 (SB2579) Department of Marine
Resources Accountability and Transparency Act.
Passed in the wake of indictments of the agency’s top officials creating
annual audits of the
agency among other reforms.
Awards since being elected
Representative Bud Cramer Award.
The National Children’s Alliance. Washington, DC 2012
Champion of Children Award.
Children’s Justice Centers of Mississippi. 2013
Legislator of the Year from the Senate. Mississippi Law
Enforcement Association 2013
Outstanding Leadership
and Contributions as an Advocate for Victims’ Rights.
19th Judicial District D.A. Office. 2014
Defender of Liberty
Award. Mississippi Public Defenders Association. 2014
