NOLA City Council endorses HR 4048

NOLA City Council endorses HR 4048

On Thursday, November 20, 2008, the New Orleans City Council passed a resolution unanimously supporting the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. Council member Fielkow, who introduced the resolution along with Council member Midura, stated this in a Thanksgiving letter to his constituents:

"The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act is the product of a nonpartisan partnership of community, faith, student, labor and human rights organizations advocating for federal legislation that will establish a regional authority to fund resident-led recovery projects. The legislation creates 100,000 living wage jobs and training opportunities for local and displaced workers to rebuild infrastructure and restore the environment. The bill empowers residents to realize their right to return with dignity and safety, revitalizes the local workforce, and helps create more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable communities. I co-authored, along with Councilmember Shelley Midura, a Resolution supporting this critical federal legislation as it moves through Congress. I am proud to say the entire City Council supports the Resolution and the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act.

As we continue our rebuilding, a critical missing piece has been the engagement of local citizens in the rebuilding process. This legislation is community-based and driven, and provides critical job training in areas such as public infrastructure construction and wetland restoration. It allows community groups and officials to determine what projects are needed and strengthens our local workforce by providing both job training and jobs. Please urge your federal representatives to support the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act."

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Just last week I toured a patch of deteriorating wetlands in Louisiana. I heard first hand testimonial from a man who has lived his entire life in the bayou. While salt water intrudes inward the wetlands lose their ability to keep storms out, not only affecting the area environmentally but financially as well. While our country has lacked investment in critical infrastructure for many years, it has obviously lacked investment in maintaining these wetlands as well. While speculation has been made to Obama creating 2.5 million jobs to rebuild roads and infrastructure, I think wetlands restoration and revitalization must be included too.

Chris Hauck

75 Students from 26 campuses Gather in New Orleans

75 Students from 26 campuses Gather in New Orleans

This past weekend, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project and the Dillard U. Deep South Center for Environmental Justice brought together 75 students from 26 campuses and 16 states to New Orleans for a 3-day conference on HR 4048. On Friday, the students took a trip to the Bayou to see first-hand how the Louisiana wetlands are losing one football field every 36 minutes, and to discuss how the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act could be used to address this issue.



On Saturday and Sunday, students setup the frame work for the national campaign to pass HR 4048 in the first hundred days of the Obama Administration. Four Regional Coordinators were setup up. They are:

Northeast: Nathan Campbell: nathan.campbell@hws.edu
South: Megan Williams: mdwilliams785@gmail.com
West and Rocky Mt's: Chris Hauck,chrishauck@charter.net and
Roberto Garcia-Ceballos, rgarciaceballos@gmail.com
U.S. Law Students: Jonathan Rhodes: jrhodes@kentlaw.edu

Also, an action was chosen for November 19-20, which will be to have a "call-in' to Senator Landrieu's and Vitter's offices urging them to introduce a complementary bill into the next session of the Senate. The students also agreed to do monthly call-in campaigns, targeting a different official each month.



The students also discussed meeting again next spring in Washington, DC, possibly when the Education and Labor Committee, or sub-committee, holds a hearing on HR 4048.