Cross-posted from Facing South, article by Bill Quigley
Eight young people, who the Fire Department said were "trying to stay warm," perished in a raging fire early Tuesday morning in New Orleans. The young people were squatting in an abandoned wood framed tin walled warehouse in a Ninth Ward neighborhood bordering a large train yard. The young people apparently had a barrel with wood burning in it for heat. Officials said this was the city's most deadly fire in 25 years.
The eight young people, estimated to be in their late teens and early twenties, remain unidentified. "We don't know their IDs," said the Fire Department, "they were so burned we cannot even tell their genders."
For the next two days, Obama Administration officials will be touring the Gulf Coast, and in particular, New Orleans. Secretary Napolitano, the head of Homeland Security, and Secretary Donovan, the head of HUD will be meeting with Governor Jindal and Mayor Nagin during this whirlwind tour:
NEW ORLEANS LISTENING TOUR
HIGHER EDUCATION WORKING LUNCH
NEW ORLEANS FIRST RESPONDERS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE MEETING
HELO TOUR OF NEW ORLEANS & LOOP
COMMUNITY ROUNDTABLE MEETING
MEETING WITH NEW ORLEANS MAYOR NAGIN
MEETING W/ FEMA EMPLOYEES
GULFPORT/BILOXI HELO TOUR
PRESS AVAIL W/ GOVERNOR BARBOUR
While they meet with folks, and tour the region, they will be assessing the region's needs and report back to President Obama with specific recommendations for improvement.
In other good news, FEMA has extended to May 1st its Disaster Housing Assistance Program to help victims of Katrina and Rita smoothly transition into better long-term housing solutions.
I just have one recommendation to the Secretaries: don't listen to a thing that Mayor Nagin has to say. The man has one objective over the next year ... line the pockets of his friends before he hightails it outta town.
§9(k) was created to award capital funds to public housing authorities affected by natural disasters. In the last several years, however, Congress has not allocated funds for disaster relief under § 9(k), which effectively bars Gulf Coast public housing authorities from accessing FEMA grant money when there is a pre-existing account at HUD.
Congressman Cazayoux stated:
"As we have seen too often, the biggest obstacle that Gulf Coast residents face is not the will to rebuild; it is red tape from the federal government. My bill provides a common-sense fix to HUD that improves FEMA's ability to directly assist public housing authorities trying to rebuild affordable and quality housing for those who need it. This measure is an important step in the long-term recovery of Louisiana and Mississippi."
Now before all y'all conservatives go crazy about a Democrat bashing the red tape of government ... this fits in quite well with the idea that most Democrats share that government ought to be efficient. It's not so much that it ought to be small, but efficient. For historical examples of this belief within the Democratic Party, I point y'all to then- Senator Harry Truman's "Truman Committee" during World War II, which saved American taxpayers some $15 billion in wasteful spending during the war.
Could you imagine the Bush Administration allowing a subcommittee of Congress to challenge the billing practices of KBR or Halliburton? If you can, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell ... please contact me.
And one more thing ... this is Congressman Cazayoux's first bill in the House, and it deals with helping people in a positive way. We elected another Congressman the same day to fill out the remainder of Governor PBJ's term - Congressman Scalise.
Pray tell, what was Congressman Scalise's first bill about? A resolution to express support for the designation of National D-Day Remembrance Day. That's all fine and dandy, but when you've got folks in your district struggling to rebuild their lives and their homes after Katrina, shouldn't your priority be to help make it easier for them to do so?
