HON. MAJOR R. OWENS

OF NEW YORK

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday September 8, 2005

THE NEW ORLEANS CRIME VICTIMS DESERVE COMPENSATION

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of those who demand a more detailed legislative effort. Official criminal neglect is the crime of New Orleans.  First response neglect is the immediate and short-term crime. Our government should've responded faster with more. Long-term crime caused by partisan politics, the greed of powerful selfish legislators who lack compassion, the looting of billions from the Federal treasury for the wrong reasons, the institutionalized prejudices against big cities; all of these evils have festered over the years to produce the highly visible, horrifying gangrene of the New Orleans disaster.

Congress and the President deserve high praise for the emergency appropriations. But this allotment is for the weeks and months ahead. On day one of this disaster the U.S. already had all of the resources necessary to achieve the safer, faster and more thorough rescue of the desperate population of New Orleans. Criminal incompetence and some contempt for the stranded population blocked the perceptions of how to speedily mobilize resources. In 1940 at Dunkirk, under heavy fire from German forces, more than 300,000 British troops were rescued and ferried back to England. Success was achieved because Winston Churchill immediately understood the gravity of the situation and called for the mobilization of every vehicle that could float. The crime and the pity is that all of the helicopter and naval craft marvels of our military were not immediately ordered to blanket the flooded neighborhoods of New Orleans.

Decades of debate and refusals to seriously address an obviously dangerous set of circumstances facing one of America's great cities is the  long-term crime at the heart of this involuntary manslaughter. For decades Washington refused to finance state of the art technology to lessen the dangers of flooding in New Orleans. In recent years the Bush administration has compounded the problem by cutting already inadequate budgets.

Since we refused to shield this crime victim from the life-threatening assault that has now been perpetrated, the bleeding New Orleans deserves maximum compensation. The Hurricane Katrina emergency appropriation is a promising beginning. To accomplish its purpose the provisions of the legislation must be expanded to include the following:

*  The establishment of a Right of Resettlement for all who want to return.

* The immediate establishment of an Emergency Free Communications Network with cell phones for all refugee families.

* The establishment of a Job Corps for able bodied refugees which mandates their priority hiring for jobs related to the cleanup and rebuilding.

* The establishment of Faith and Community Based Family Resettlement Projects to assist in the relocation of refugee families.

* The establishment of Family Resettlement Accounts for families who wish to relocate to some other part of the country.

* The establishment of an Emergency College Student Temporary Resettlement Program utilizing Colleges that volunteer to receive students, faculty and administrators.

* The provision of Impact School Aid for school districts where large numbers of refugee families are located.

* A mandatory review and revamping of the Corps of Army Engineers Master Plan for New Orleans.

*   A federally funded initiative to establish "Fail Safe" Committees in local communities.

In summary, Congress must act immediately to specify how the Hurricane Katrina appropriation will be spent. There is a clear and present danger that billions will be contracted out to Haliburton type corporations and refugees will receive only a very meager benefit. We members of Congress must remain vigilant to guarantee that no more official crimes will be perpetrated against New Orleans.

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