Moore, CBC observes Katrina anniversary; call for Bush plan to restore Gulf region
Congresswoman Gwen Moore Compiled by MCJ Staff "For a year, Americans have been asking where the plan is for the devastated Gulf region? Where is the help? Where is the money?" said Moore in a press statement regarding the anniversary of the storm. "Billions of dollars have been approved and appropriated to clean-up and rebuild, and to aid those Americans who lost everything. A year later, $2 billion of it has been squandered due to fraud, waste and mismanagement, and little of it has reached those who are in desperate need." Moore added that every day that the Bush Administration and Republicans in Congress don’t get the rebuilding effort on track is another 24 hours that Katrina victims continue to live the aftermath nightmare. "Over 7,500 families are still waiting for their FEMA trailers. Eighty percent of the $10 billion in disaster loans allocated for small businesses have not been disbursed," Moore said. "Sixty percent of New Orleans is without electricity--and much of the city is without potable running water," the congresswoman said. Also noting the problems of housing, health care and unemployment that still plague residents of the Gulf Coast region, the CBC also called on President Bush to present a plan to restore the region and make survivors whole. "In the aftermath of the disaster, President Bush and congressional Republicans made many promises to the desperate residents of the region, but most of those promises have been broken," said U.S. Representative Melvin L. Watt of North Carolina and the chairman of the CBC. Watts said that on the one-year anniversary much of the region remains obliterated and thousands of Katrina evacuees are still displaced, which is the result of the federal government’s failed response to the storm. U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, whose district was hit by the storms, said despite the lack of assistance from many federal and state leaders, communities are working together to rebuild. "It will take time, but I absolutely believe that the Gulf Coast will once again thrive and flourish." Respective members of the CBC have introduced legislation to provide recovery funds for the Gulf Coast region as it relates to such things as housing, healthcare, education, small business, voting rights, unemployment and the environment. CBC members have tried--in vain--to meet with President Bush and House Speaker Dennis Hastern and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to discuss how to work together to achieve the objectives outlined in H.R. 4197. To date, only Pelosi has met with Caucus members. Earlier this month, the CBC introduced a Congressional resolution, H. Con. Res 466, in observance of the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The resolution acknowledges the significant deficiencies that still exist in the ability of the Gulf Coast region to provide necessary social services to their residents and to attract the return of many displaced residents. It also reaffirms the commitment of Congress to assist in rebuilding the Gulf Coast, improving the quality of life for all its residents and ending poverty in America. "The nation’s Republican leadership has taken America in the wrong direction. Not only have they failed over the past year to follow through on their promises to help Katrina victims and to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf region, but they have failed to prepare us for the next national disaster--either man-made or natural," Moore said. "America needs to head in a new direction with new leadership that will be prepared when disaster strikes, and will make it a priority to meet the basic human needs of its citizens by providing them with security, housing and healthcare swiftly and efficiently."
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