[Marxism] Institute for Southern Studies on House Katrina Package

["Michael Hoover" <hooverm@xxxxxxxxxx>]

March 17, 2006

HOUSE KATRINA PACKAGE: Much Too Little; Much Too Late
By Chris Kromm
Institute for Southern Studies/Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch

Yesterday, by a vote of 348-71, the House passed a bill to provide $19.1 
billion for cleanup and rebuilding of the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricanes 
Katrina and Rita. H.R. 4939, “The Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for 
Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery,” passed six and a 
half months after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, despite the efforts of key 
Republicans to remove Katrina funding from the bill entirely.

The House bill includes welcome, if belated, funding for housing, debris 
removal, and other important needs. But the package falls woefully short in 
providing the resources needed to address critical barriers to Gulf rebuilding, 
and comes way too late to help most survivors. What’s more, the House 
Republicans voted along party lines to kill key amendments that would have 
boosted money for stronger levees and rebuilding homes.

NO MONEY TO MAKE LEVEES SAFE: With the 2006 hurricane season just 76 days away, 
House Republicans killed an amendment to the bill that would have provided $430 
million to fortify levees in New Orleans to withstand a hurricane as strong as 
Katrina (Category 3). The Army Corps of Engineers is now only authorized to 
rebuild the city’s levees to Category 2 * even though some experts predict the 
chance of a “major” (Category 3 or higher) hurricane hitting in 2006 has 
increased by 18% over last year. [SOURCES: Baton Rouge Advocate, 3/17/06; St. 
Petersburg Times, 3/16/06]

WAY TOO LATE: The House bill, passed over half a year after the hurricanes, 
comes too late to help many Gulf survivors. For example, the measure includes 
$4.2 billion in Community Development Block Grants to address housing needs, 
including $1 billion for rebuilding affordable rental housing * important 
because renters make up the bulk of storm survivors. But New Orleans tenants 
have been facing evictions since October 2005, and the House rejected an 
amendment that would have barred FEMA from evicting residents from temporary 
housing until suitable alternatives are available. What’s more, the Senate 
isn’t planning a vote on its version of the package until May * 9 months after 
Katrina hit. [SOURCES: Thomas, 3/17/06; NY Times, 3/17/06; Times-Picayune, 
3/17/06]

PITS GULF STATES AGAINST EACH OTHER: The White House had targeted all of the 
$4.2 billion in housing assistance for Louisiana, which bore the brunt of the 
2005 storms. Yet Republican leaders insisted the money be split with 
Mississippi and Texas. Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-LA) amendment to add $2 
billion to meet Texas housing needs without short-changing Louisiana almost 
passed, until Republican lawmakers twisted arms to defeat it. “This has put us 
in a competition for the pittance, the few dollars,” said Rep. Charlie 
Melancon. (D-LA). [SOURCES: NY Times, 3/17/06; Times-Picayune, 3/17/06]

IGNORES MAJOR BARRIERS TO GULF REBUILDING: The measure does nothing to address 
many of the most urgent problems that have stalled rebuilding in New Orleans 
and the Gulf. For example, Congress has yet to allocate money for reviving the 
Gulf’s devastated health care system. Out of 22 hospitals in New Orleans 
pre-Katrina, only 7 are open now. There are no plans to re-open Charity 
Hospital, the only facility aimed at serving poor residents and where 2/3 of 
uninsured New Orleans patients received their health care. The bill also 
includes little or no money for re- opening schools, cleaning up soil and water 
toxins, and stimulating job creation * obstacles that all need to be tackled if 
New Orleans and the Gulf are to come back. [SOURCE: Gulf Coast Reconstruction 
Watch/Institute for Southern Studies, 2/28/06]

FAILS TO PROTECT VOTING RIGHTS: The House also voted down an amendment to 
provide $50 million to help New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities 
organize elections. New Orleans will be holding elections April 22, yet only 
45% of residents have been able to return thanks to lack of housing and jobs. 
75% of the displaced are African-American. Today, the U.S. Department of 
Justice approved the April elections, despite a call from civil rights groups 
urging the state to provide satellite voting centers and other measures to 
reach displaced voters. [SOURCES: Times-Picayune, 3/17/06; Greater New Orleans 
Community Data Center, Feb. 2006; Washington Post, 3/17/06]

Gulf Coast officials were clearly dismayed by this latest example of 
Washington’s response to the 2005 storms, which they have viewed as slow and 
inadequate. Rep. Melancon (D-LA) expressed his frustration about his colleagues 
this way: "They're hoping we disappear off the radar screen. People who wear 
Christ on their sleeves and vote against helping people are the biggest 
hypocrites."

Chris Kromm is Executive Director of the Institute for Southern Studies, a 
non-profit research center based in Durham, N.C., and co-author of “The Mardi 
Gras Index: The State of New Orleans Six Months After Katrina.”

Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch, a project of the Institute, was launched in 
November 2005 to investigative and document the rebuilding process in the 
post-hurricane Southern Gulf.

For more information:
Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch: www.reconstructionwatch.org
Institute for Southern Studies: www.southernstudies.org

Chris Kromm
chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Copyright 2006 Institute for Southern Studies


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