INSIDE WASHINGTON/Please send money
Gulf Coast government leaders are calling for a major federal investment to help rebuild communities ravaged by two devastating hurricanes. The back-to-back storms, Katrina and Rita, not only flooded New Orleans and wiped out small towns along the coast from Alabama to Texas, but also have overburdened the social services infrastructure of neighboring communities where evacuees took refuge. “We remain severely impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” says Baton Rouge, La., Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden. He says his community has grown by 250,000, which has strained everything from the schools to traffic.
Congress and the White House are examining different funding plans. Louisiana has asked for $250 billion, and the National Association of Counties in Washington suggests “no less than $300 billion should be allocated to restore the [Gulf Coast’s] infrastructure.” It is highly unlikely Congress will agree to either proposal and probably will settle on a spending package in the $200 billion range.
As of late September, nearly $71 billion already had been allocated for the relief effort through emergency spending measures and targeted tax cuts. Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans are searching for expendable programs to offset the new spending. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has instructed Senate committee chairmen to review funding programs that could be cut. “We will help rebuild and restore the Gulf Coast communities, and we must do so in a fiscally responsible way to ensure not only that the communities and families needing assistance receive that assistance, but also to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, promptly, efficiently and effectively,” Frist says.
The hurricanes also have prompted Congress to focus on disaster-related legislation, such as a bill to accelerate disaster aid to state and local governments and a measure that would allocate $400 million to buy communications equipment for first responders. Local, state and federal responders were unable to communicate with one another during the rescue operations.
While local leaders look to Washington for financial help, Congress and the White House are examining the failed emergency response following Katrina. President Bush’s homeland security adviser is heading the White House investigation into the matter, and several Congressional committees also are examining the inadequate emergency response.
But politics are preventing Democrats and Republicans from working together on what is supposed to be a bipartisan, bicameral special investigative panel. With few exceptions, most Democrats refuse to participate saying that Republicans will not give them any power. Republicans have rebuffed Democratic calls for an independent panel to investigate the response.
While much of the finger pointing has been directed at the failure of the federal government to respond quickly, a belief is growing that some local leaders should share the blame. “Government at all levels failed in its response to Hurricane Katrina,” says Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “The American people need and deserve answers.”
The author is Washington correspondent for American City & County.