ALSO VISIT

BUSH PROMISES TO FULFILL MONETARY, AID PLEDGES TO REBUILD NEW ORLEANS
16 December 2005

Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans visited the White House yesterday, where Pres. Bush announced his intention to follow through on plans to rebuild the devastated city. The mayor has been vocal in calling for action from Washington, where he says political "constipation" is putting the future of his city at risk.

Nagin did not rule out in recent interviews filing suit against FEMA or the Army Corp of Engineers for damage related to inadequate levee defenses and poor or negligent responses to the disaster. Pressure has been growing for Washington to deliver the funds promised to the Gulf Coast, where though reports suggested several weeks ago that residents were "returning" to a newly "revived" New Orleans, 80% of evacuees have still been unable to return home and now face eviction from relief housing by FEMA.

The president pledged to find housing for those who still require it, and to work to making all of New Olreans habitable again, though the city remains under state of emergency. Residents of public housing complain there has been little to no effort to inspect and clear their properties for return, and that even properties unaffected by the flooding remain closed, months after the immediate dangers of disease and rioting have abated.

BACKGROUND:
CONGRESSIONAL HEARING ON RACE, CLASS IN KATRINA RELIEF DISASTER REVEALS EVIDENCE OF NEGLIGENCE, RACISM
10 December 2005

At the Hurricane Katrina Survivors' General Assembly, gathered in Jackson, Mississippi, evacuees from the Gulf Coast accuse the federal government of "criminal indifference", demanding reparations, investigations, and the "right to return" to their homes, even as New Orleans remains under a state of emergency. A Congressional hearing yesterday on race and class issues in the Katrina aftermath revealed intense suffering, brutal conditions and possible government negligence in handling relief. [Full Story]