Social Solutions to Poverty Weekly

Email Secretary Mabus: “One Gulf, Resilient Gulf"

2010-08-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

Friends,

The Gulf Coast still needs your support.

Five years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall and the New Orleans levees failed, the city is on the rise thanks to the fierce determination and spirit of its residents. Yet there is so much work to be done, and so many who still want to return home. Now, the BP oil disaster is devastating communities and the livelihoods of countless more Gulf Coast residents, many of whom are still rebuilding after hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ike and Gustav.

As you might know, President Obama has appointed Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to develop a Gulf Coast Recovery plan. This week, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, along with its partners Oxfam America, Trouble the Water, the Gulf Coast Fund, Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, and over 100 other groups at the forefront of Gulf Coast recovery, have released a blueprint for the long-term recovery that calls on community-based, democratic, equitable and green solutions to the ongoing crises in the region.

Act Now.

Please send an email asking Secretary Mabus (restoreourgulf@gmail.com) to include the recommendations of “One Gulf, Resilient Gulf" into the Obama Administration's plan for Gulf Coast recovery.

You can also send an email through Trouble the Water's website at http://www.troublethewaterfilm.com/page/speakout/onegulf

thanks, scott

* The report can be accessed at http://www.oxfamamerica.org/onegulf.
Please feel free to post the attached file or link.

Broken Promises of a Just Recovery in the Gulf Coast Five Years After Katrina/Rita

2010-08-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

**INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES & KEY FACTS**

"[W]e have to have a president who understands the reality that people in New Orleans were being neglected prior to the hurricane. And there are potential Katrinas all across the country that have been left unattended."

--Sen. Barack Obama (PBS Televised Presidential Debate, July 28, 2007)

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As the fifth anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita approaches, Gulf Coast residents are still trying to rebuild their lives after years of broken promises and government neglect.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act, the bill intended to fund reconstruction efforts that would have provided hundreds of thousands of jobs for displaced residents, languishes in Congress. Affordable housing eludes both survivors in New Orleans and those displaced by the storm. After the devastating oil spill that has wreaked havoc on the local economy, the Obama administration has failed to take substantive action against British Petroleum on behalf of Gulf Coast residents and small businesses. British Petroleum's real liability goes far beyond the $75 million cap imposed by the cowardly Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Why shouldn't they be held fully responsible for their criminal negligence? It's not for Congress and the administration to negotiate a number that works for BP, erasing the real cost of this disaster in the process.

Unfortunately, the only thing that is abundantly clear is that our government failed in protecting the residents of the Gulf Coast during the storm and it has failed them yet again by breaking the promise of a just recovery.

Without a doubt, coverage of the anniversary of the storm will generate plenty of discussion regarding individual stories of survival and triumph, of which there are many. But for far too long, the story of a rights-based recovery has been neglected. Residents of the Gulf Coast region have long called for real solutions to address the disparities exacerbated by the storm, including: an adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement(1) and a demand that no more federal tax dollars be used to fund post-Katrina development projects that result in racial disparities in housing, healthcare, education, employment and environmental protection.

What is most frightening is the reality that Gulf Coast residents still have little to no federal policy in place to ensure sustainable change and recovery. The vast majority of funds and temporary practices connected to Katrina/Rita recovery are discretionary -- not permanent. Washington is playing a political game with the livelihoods of Gulf Coast residents. It's not fair and it's time for decision makers to take real action.

The fifth anniversary of this disaster provides our country with the opportunity to investigate the policies at work in preventing a just recovery. The solutions that would enable such a turnaround in the Gulf are clear. It's now our turn to look toward implementing them so that Gulf Coast residents might have a chance to take back control of the future of the region.

The Katrina Information Network (KIN) is a collaboration of groups in the Gulf and across the country to build power for change. For the next 30 days, we will feature a dozen actions that anyone, anywhere can do to support Katrina recovery work. For more information about the 30 days of solidarity and our current campaigns for just recovery, please visit our website: http://www.katrinaaction.org

KATRINA INFORMATION NETWORK

INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE

KIN has compiled a list of expert residents who are actively working for a just recovery. From community organizers to environmental attorneys, the people listed below are working on tirelessly to not only rebuild New Orleans, but to create a community that cares about all its residents. To schedule interviews, please contact Mervyn Marcano at 917-553-1001 or Mervyn@ThePraxisProject.org.

Monique Harden (Advocates for Environmental Human Rights): Co-founder and Attorney of AEHR, a public interest law firm dedicated to upholding the human right to live in healthy environments. Has worked with dozens of local community organizations on Katrina-related environmental issues.

Stephanie Mingo (Survivors Village): Lived in public housing. Her building was demolished, but not by Katrina, by the city of New Orleans. She fights actively for the right of residents to return home.

Adren O. Wilson (Equity and Inclusion Campaign): A nonpartisan coalition of local, regional and national organizations and community members confronting persistent poverty and inequity across the three Gulf Coast states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Norris Henderson (Voice Of The Ex-Offender - VOTE): New Orleans native working to address the stark rise in police abuse, criminalization of residents and criminal justice spending post Katrina.

Upenda Glover (Katrina Commemoration Foundation): Organizers of annual march to commemorate lives lost. National hip-hop artists, legislators, and advocates will attend commemoration events all weekend.

KATRINA INFORMATION NETWORK

FAILED RECOVERY FACTS

Overall population: Five years after Katrina, the most liberal estimates are that 141,000 fewer people live in the metro New Orleans area.

Displaced People: Louisiana residents are located in more than 5,500 cities across the nation.

Lost Housing: More than 1 in 4 residential addresses in New Orleans is vacant or blighted-- by far the highest rate in the U.S. More than 5000 families are on the waiting list for traditional public housing and another 28,960 families are on the waiting list for housing vouchers -- more than double what it was before Katrina.

Rebuilding: At least 19,746 applications for rebuilding homes that are eligible for funding have not received any money from the Road Home Program grant program.

Economic Health: The metro area has 95,000 fewer jobs than before Katrina, down about 16 percent. Black and Latino households earn incomes that are $26,000 (44 percent) and $15,000 (25 percent) lower than whites. New Orleans has a poverty rate of 23 percent more than double the national average of 11 percent.

Public and Private Education: The number of students in public schools in New Orleans, which are over 90 percent African American, has declined by 43 percent since Katrina. New Orleans now has more charter schools than any other public school system in the country. Of the 89 public schools in New Orleans, 48, more than half, are charter schools.

People Receiving Public Assistance: Over one-third of Social Security recipients who lived in New Orleans have not returned. Medicaid recipients have declined by 31 percent. Supplemental Security Income recipients are down from pre-Katrina 26,654 to 16,514 -- a 38 percent decline.

Public Transportation: Total ridership declined down 65.7 percent. From more than 33 million in 2004 to about 13 million projected for 2010.

Oil Damage: There have been at least 348 intentional fires set in the Gulf of Mexico, controlled burns they call them, since spill. About 1.8 million gallons of chemical dispersant have been dumped into the Gulf, more than a million on the surface and about 750,000 gallons sub-sea.

(1)The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement apply the basic human rights to life, health, freedom from racial and gender discrimination, adequate housing, and other rights to protect people who are forced to flee their communities in times of disaster. Furthermore, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement establish the duties of national governments to ensure recovery and the rights of people displaced by a disaster to recover with dignity and justice.

SOURCE: The Praxis Project/Katrina Information Network

RELATED LINKS http://www.katrinaaction.org/

Regional Task Force Calls for Executive Order to Establish Gulf Coast Civic Works Program

2010-06-22T00:35:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: David Gauthe, (985) 438-1609, mybisco@yahoo.com.

Regional Task Force Calls for Executive Order to Establish Gulf Coast Civic Works Program

Houma, LA – June 17 – A Regional Task Force of Gulf Coast advocates is calling on President Obama to establish a new civic works program to bring jobs to the Gulf Coast, through an executive order. Over 200 regional and national organizations, as well as 50 leading religious officials and faith-based organizations, support the creation of a Gulf Coast Civic Works program.

Over the past six weeks, BP has failed to deal adequately with the economic, environmental, and health crisis that they have caused. The Gulf Coast Civic Works program would help restore the economic and environmental health of the region by creating thousands of jobs to rebuild essential infrastructure and protect the environment. Under the proposed Executive Order, the federal government would also take control of training and hiring workers to respond to the Oil Disaster.
Civic Works jobs and training include:

Restoring wetlands, coastal areas, fisheries, estuaries, and barrier islands;
Creating a Civic Conservation Corps for youth to safely help with the clean up, repair and maintain state parks, plant trees, and conduct urban greenery projects;
Completing the backlog of shovel-ready county projects (i.e., repair and maintenance of the roads, trees, etc.);
Implementing green jobs (e.g., weatherization, solar panels).

The Task Force also calls for increased community input on all aspects of the clean up through Local Advisory Boards. It is vital for the federal government to partner and hear from the true experts on the needs of the Gulf Coast – the community-based organizations that have led recovery efforts since the 2005 and 2008 hurricanes.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works program follows in the proud American history of using public works to alleviate poverty and create economic growth during the toughest times. In the 1930s, when the nation faced an unemployment crisis, more than 800,000 public workers were hired in two weeks and 4 million were hired in two months. Just as civic works projects helped to alleviate the sweeping unemployment crisis during the Great Depression, so too can the Gulf Coast Civic Works program help solve the economic and environmental crisis facing the Gulf Coast today.

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If you are a part of any other networks, please feel free to forward this email along to them, as well as your media contacts.

Social Innovators Speaker Series, San Jose, CA

2010-04-13T02:36:00.000-07:00

Scott Myers-Lipton's address to the Social Innovators Series.

I would like to thank Working Partnerships for hosting this event, and PG&E for sponsoring it. I also want to thank the co-sponsors: Assembly Member Jim Beall, Catholic Charities, CET, PACT, Sacred Heart Community Services, and Somos Mayfair.

Today, I am going to address 4 issues: First, I will address the economic and infrastructure CRISES facing the United States. Second, I will discuss how Civic Works is a SOLUTION to both of these crises. Third, I will explore how the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act is pilot project for a public works initiative. And fourth, and finally, I will discuss what LESSONS the New Deal and GCCW has for an American Civic Works Project.

First, the Current Economic Crisis: Today, there is growing consensus among social scientists and policy experts that the deregulated market is at the center of our economic crisis. Even the architects of the conservative philosophy that guided our nation these past 30 years have admitted that this aspect of free-market ideology was flawed.

At a congressional hearing in October 2008, Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve stated, “I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such as that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms.”

This “flaw” in Greenspan’s thinking and conservative ideology about markets, regulation, and the limited role of government has led to the almost collapse of our economy, with the working people of the U.S. paying heavily for this mistake. To date, this “flaw” has cost the American tax payer $3 trillion dollars to bailout the banks and insurance companies, while at the same time, it has led directly to the loss of 8 million jobs, leaving our unemployment rate at 9.7% overall, and at 12.6% for Latinos ad 16.5% for African Americans.

Importantly, our economic crisis is connected to our infrastructure crisis, since it was the same conservative philosophy that deregulated the markets that also limited social spending on public projects. Because of this conservative belief in the limited role of government, US spending on infrastructure has declined by 50% since 1960 as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product.

Today, the US spends about 2% of its GDP on infrastructure, in comparison to Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, which spends about 5% of their annual GDP on infrastructure, and India and China, which spend 8% and 9% respectively on infrastructure.

Our crumbling infrastructure can be seen in our structurally deficient bridges, weak levees, poorly maintained dams, and dilapidated schools.

Let me give a few examples: Today, 157,000 bridges are deemed structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Not surprisingly, the I-35W bridge, which is on the cover of my book, was rated structurally deficient by the federal government.

Another example of our crumbling infrastructure is with our levee and dams. Today, almost 150 levees are in serious risk of failing. Remember, it was the levees which caused the drowning of the Big Easy, as the levees broke in 53 places. In addition to our weak levees, 4,095 dams have been deemed deficient, with 1,819 dams considered to be of high hazard of failing, with 687 of these high hazard dams in California.

At the same time, our transmission grid system is in need of modernization, so as to avoid “bottlenecks” and blackouts, like the one experienced in the Northeast in 2003, where 3,700 square miles lost power affecting 55 million people. And as many in this room know, our K-12 schools are in desperate need of new construction, additions, and renovations.

Each year, the American Society of Engineers releases a “report card” rating American infrastructure, and in 2009, it gave the U.S. an overall rating of a “D”, and they estimated it would cost $2.2 trillion during a 5-year period to repair our public infrastructure.

Surely, most Americans can agree that the U.S., the richest country in the world, should have a public infrastructure that is worthy of a great power. Our nation’s economy depends on having good roads, efficient airports, an effective power grid, and well-maintained schools. And our nation’s health and well-being depend on clean water and good public parks. It is time to Rebuild America!

The solution I am suggesting to do this is Public Works, or what I am calling, Civic Works. First, let me say that public works is an American solution that has been used for over 100 years to deal with economic crisis. It was used in the 1880s by city governments to alleviate unemployment, and of course, it was used by the federal government to alleviate unemployment during the Great Depression.

In the 1930s, the US created such public works programs as the CWA, PWA, WPA, and CCC. This alphabet soup of programs injected $336 billion in 2008 dollars into the economy and hired over 10 million people.

In combination with other New Deal initiatives, unemployment was cut from 24% in 1933 to 14.6% by 1940, and if the unemployment statistics included public works jobs, the unemployment rate would have been 10%. This decrease in the unemployment rate was one of the greatest decreases in American history.

In addition to reducing unemployment, New Deal public works built or repaired over:
• 2,500 hospitals

• 9,000 parks

• 43,000 schools

• 125,000 bridges

• 1 million miles of roads

• they stocked 1 billion fish into our rivers

• and they planted 3 billion trees

Public works literally built the infrastructure we utilize today.

Fast forward to 2006: A year after Hurricane Katrina, a group of students and I watched Spike Lee’s film, When the Levees Broke. We saw how 1,830 people died, 250,000 houses and 320 million trees destroyed, and 500,000 people displaced as a result of Katrina and the broken levees. And we saw the failed response by the government and the lackluster recovery efforts that followed.

After seeing Spike Lee’s video and studying the positive impact of public works, my students and I humbly proposed a modern-day “civic works” project to rebuild the Gulf Coast. We renamed public works “civic works,” since the body politic didn’t seem to be working for the people of Louisiana and Mississippi. And with the leadership of Congress member Zoe Lofgren, the GCCW Act was introduced in 2007 and again in 2009.

Today, 43 Congress members and over 250 regional and national organizations are advocating for the GCCW Act. House Resolution 2269 would create 100,000 green and prevailing-wage jobs and training opportunities for Gulf Coast residents and displaced citizens to rebuild public infrastructure damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and restore the wetlands.

The principles guiding GCCW are: democracy, equity, green jobs:

1st: Democracy: The GCCW Act allows for citizen participation in Local Advisory Boards so that residents are involved in the decisions about what gets built in their community.

2nd: Equity: HR 2269 supports equitable economic development by providing first source hiring, 20% apprenticeable jobs, and the protection of people of color, women, and immigrant.

3rd: Green Jobs: HR 2269 would rebuild infrastructure in an environmentally sustainable manner utilizing green building technologies.

Importantly, we see HR 2269 as a model for the rest of the nation about how to rebuild infrastructure and create jobs by using a bottom-up model of community development.

This idea of Civic Works is catching on. Recently, Assembly Member Jim Beall introduced the “California Civic Works Act,” or AB 2004, into the Assembly. AB 2004 is a great first step. As with HR 2269, it calls on counties to support pre-apprentice and apprentice programs, and it encourages them to create civic works jobs. Assembly member Beall will address the specifics of this bill after my remarks.

So Where Do We Go From Here?: The economic and infrastructure crises we now face are bigger than just the Gulf Coast and California. It is nation-wide. Therefore, I see the next step as the development of a large-scale “jobs creation” bill….an American Civic Works Act.

But I am not naïve enough to think that this policy proposal has a chance of moving forward without a movement of working people pushing hard for it. As I see it, the only way an American Civic Works Act has a chance to be enacted is that there is overwhelming pressure on Congress and the President to act.
As I was preparing my remarks for this talk, I read this past Monday the following headline: “White House Braces Unemployed for Slow Job Rebound”.

So I guess the question for us is: should we be doing this? Is this the right strategy for working families? To brace ourselves for a slow job recovery….or in another words a job less recovery? I say no! I say, we create a movement to pass an American Civic Works jobs bill that gets people back to work REBUILDING AMERICA.

Now as you know….the devils in the details. From my research on the New Deal and my work in the Gulf Coast, I would suggest these details for a jobs bill: First, include in the bill the principles of the GCCW Act, which are democracy, equity, and green jobs.

Second, create both a contract model of public works, where private businesses can bid on contracts, but also develop a “public option” hiring model. If we look back at the history, the government hiring model was much more successful at hiring large numbers or workers. For example, during the New Deal, the contract model (PWA) averaged about 221,000 workers a year, while the government hiring model hired on average close to 3 million a year.

Third, the jobs bill needs to be large enough to match the unemployment and infrastructure crisis. Remember, the need is over $2.2 trillion dollars and over 15 million jobs. Of course, people will ask where will we get the money? But this money will come back several-fold as workers use their pay checks to buy goods and services, and pay taxes.

Fourth, expand the notion of civic works to include such areas as child care and elderly care.
In conclusion, the US can do better than just “brace” for a jobless recovery. Why is it that when the banks and insurance firms need a bailout, it is given within days, but when the working people need a bailout, we are told to “brace for a slow recovery.”

Seventy-five years ago, when we were faced with another unemployment crisis President Roosevelt created through Executive Order, three of the four major public works projects of the New Deal. In 2 weeks of signing an Executive Order, 800,000 Americans were hired. In just 2 months, 4 million were hired….and they did this without computers!

Why not ask President Obama to be so visionary?

With a movement encouraging President Obama and Congress to create an American Civic Works Jobs Bill, we could once again hire millions within weeks….and begin the process of Rebuilding America.

Thank you very much!

Students, Faith, & Community Groups to Hold Rally at Rep. Miller's Office

2010-03-02T22:41:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Ysenia Sepulveda, GCCWP student organizer,
(510) 828-5503, isyjsepulveda@att.net
Eric Acedo, GCCWP student organizer,
(408) 710-7092, cireodecamah@aol.com

Students, Faith, & Community Groups to Hold Rally at Rep. Miller's Office, Groups Call for Action on Human Rights Crisis in the Gulf Coast Friday, March 19th at noon

SAN JOSE, CA – FEBRUARY 19 – The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, the national student movement to pass the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (HR 2269), along with the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP, the Bay Area Katrina Solidarity Network, and faith-based groups from the East Bay, will hold a rally in front of Rep. George Miller's office (1333 Willow Pass Road, Suite 203, Concord) on Friday, March 19th at noon.

The goal will be to highlight the continuing human rights crisis in the Gulf Coast. As a response to the crisis, 43 Congress members and 250+ organizations are calling on the passage of HR 2269, which is a federal bill to create 100,000 jobs for local and displaced residents to rebuild infrastructure and restore their environment.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act was first introduced into Congress two years and four months ago, where it was sent to the Education and Labor Committee, currently chaired by Rep. George Miller. Since then, its supporters have waited patiently for a hearing on the bill. However, almost 2 and 1/2 years later, no action has been taken on the HR 2269.

As HR 2269 languishes in Committee, the human rights crisis in the Gulf Coast continues, as housing, schools, and hospitals have been slow to return, thus making it very difficult for residents to return to their homes. For example, in New Orleans, 69,727 residential addresses are unoccupied, 71% of the schools are still closed, 57% of child care centers are closed, and 44% of the hospitals are closed. In Mississippi, there is a lack of affordable housing to absorb the 1,000s of households in FEMA temporary housing programs. The good news is that there is $19 billion of federal money not obligated and unspent that could be used for GCCW projects.

What we are asking from Rep. Miller is this: (1) to include HR 2269 in the upcoming Congressional jobs bill or (2) commit to hold a hearing for HR 2269 in the spring/summer.

Support continues to grow for the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. Most recently, the Biloxi City Council, passed a resolution in support of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. This action by the Biloxi City Council follows the decision by New Orleans, Lafouche, and Terrebonne Parishes, three Louisiana parishes that have passed similar resolutions in support of HR 2269.

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GCCW Campaign Letter to Sen. Landrieu, Feb. 24, 2010

2010-02-24T23:24:00.000-08:00

The Honorable Mary Landrieu
328 Hart Senate Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Landrieu:

Four years and a half after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck, the slow pace of recovery, persistent poverty, coastal land loss, and climate change have created a crisis across America’s Gulf Coast that demands a powerful response from our elected officials. Our federal response has yet to properly protect the well-being of America’s most vulnerable people and places through recovery policies which rebuild lives, restore the environment, mitigate future hazards, and respect human rights. Since 2005, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana have witnessed four major regional disasters- Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike- which have caused over $150 billion worth of damage, destroyed over 300,000 homes, killed more than 2,000 Americans and left tens of thousands of families still displaced and unable to return to their communities.

As we look across America’s Gulf Coast today, we see:

Millions of residents vulnerable to internal displacement or mass relocation due to future deadly storms, coastal land loss, and climate change;
Homeowners insurance costs sky-rocketing in coastal communities;
Homelessness and rental housing costs rising as affordable housing projects grinding to a halt with the crash of financial markets and thousands of blighted and storm-damaged properties remaining unrepaired; and
Too many families unable to access proper training and living wage work to pay for life’s necessities and find pathways out of poverty.

To begin to address these challenges, we urge the President to request and Congress to grant the reallocation of $2.8 billion in existing budgetary federal authority towards competitive grants partnering with local governments, non-profits, and faith-based organizations on projects creating green jobs building more resilient coastal communities. The U.S. Congress has appropriated billions of dollars in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita which have yet to reach the ground. As of June 30, 2009, almost one third of the total funds granted by the U.S. Congress to federal agencies ($39.4 billion) has yet to be spent. Of this, $19.4 billion has not even been obligated to specific projects. The attached memo outlines how a portion of these unused funds could be repurposed to allow the federal government to begin to partner with local stakeholders to meet this incredible national challenge.

Gulf Coast residents have expressed frustrations in the federal governments’ inability to address the long-term needs of people impacted, particularly among vulnerable populations, including residents with disabilities, elderly, low income, women, immigrant, and minority communities. Recent studies show America’s Gulf Coast to be home to some of the most vulnerable communities in the country to the threat of climate change and natural disasters. The roots of this vulnerability include a combination of economic, social and environmental challenges, each of which have been inadequately addressed by federal recovery policy to date. Additionally, national economic interests along the Gulf Coast, including energy, shipping, and commercial fishing, also remain under threat without significant action to thwart coastal land loss and protect Gulf Coast ecosystems.

Faced with these inter-related challenges residents, volunteers, and social innovators from non-profit and faith-based organizations have led some of the most successful efforts for promoting recovery and resiliency. Despite developing cutting-edge models for rebuilding safer, more energy efficient homes, protecting wetlands, training workers and revitalizing communities, their efforts have often lacked in scale due to limited funding. By reallocating federal funds towards partnerships with community leaders, we could begin to address priorities including:

Creating jobs restoring natural flood protection, including wetlands and barrier islands;
Retrofitting homes to withstand flooding and winds and promoting energy efficiency to bring down energy and homeowners insurance costs for low income families;
Helping families immediately threatened by coastal flooding to relocate voluntarily;
Promoting community economic development and affordable housing, including repairing or rebuilding blighted, storm-damaged properties;
Creating supportive housing for the chronically homeless and residents with disabilities;
Training local workers for high demand, high wage skilled trades work, including cutting edge green building, coastal restoration and disaster mitigation technologies;
Promoting local business development in cutting-edge green industries; and
Helping local small businesses obtain Surety Bonds to compete for federal contracts.

We urge you to support attaching a request to reallocate these funds in either the Jobs Bill now being debated in Congress, other upcoming supplemental appropriations legislation, or the FY 11 Appropriations Process. Such a plan would allow the Administration and the U.S. Congress to fulfill their campaign promises of building stronger, safer and more equitable communities across America’s Gulf Coast without increasing the national deficit. Together, we can work to put in place policies to ensure that we rebuild more resilient and equitable neighborhoods, restore the environment, and empower our brothers and sisters to lift themselves from poverty and overcome devastation.

Sincerely,

Roberta Avila
Executive Director, Steps Coalition

Julia Beatty
Program Officer, The Twenty-First Century Foundation

Eugene Ben
Director, Benroe Housing Initiatives

Peg Case
Director, TRAC

Mona Gobert-Cravins
Assistant Administrator, 232-HELP/Louisiana 211

Mary Fontenot
Executive Director, All Congregations Together (ACT)

Sharon Gauthe
Executive Director, Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing (BISCO)

Mary Joseph
Director, Louisiana Office
Children’s Defense Fund

Rev. Ken Booker Langston
Director, Disciples Justice Action Network (Disciples of Christ)

Lan Le
Executive Director, National Alliances of Vietnamese American Service

Scott Myers-Lipton, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, Gulf Coast Civic Works Project

Eva Paterson
President, Equal Justice Society

Glenda Perryman
Executive Director, Immaculate Heart Community Development Corp

Marcia Peterson
Director, Desire Street Ministries/CDC 58:12 Inc.

Marie Thompson
Executive Director, Dando la Mano

Lisa Richardson, PhD
Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies (IWES)

Sandy Sorensen
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
Washington Office

Bill Stallworth
Executive Director, Hope CDA: Hope Community Development Agency

Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed,
National Director
Office for Interfaith & Community Alliances
Islamic Society of North America

Rev. Romal J. Tune
CEO, Clergy Strategic Alliances, LLC

Jay A. Wittmeyer
Executive Director, Global Mission Partnerships
Church of the Brethren

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.,
National Chair, National Congress of Black Women, Inc.

John Zippert
Director, Rural Training and Research Center
Federation of Southern Cooperatives

4th Annual "Poverty Under the Stars" 11/12/09 7PM at SJSU

2009-11-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

Lofgren, Community Leaders to Address the Great Recession Green, Living Wage Jobs Called for through Civic Works

San Jose, CA – November 11: This Thursday, Rep. Lofgren, Assembly member Beall, and many of Silicon Valley's civic leaders will gather to discuss the effect of the Great Recession on our nation and community.

This year's 4th Annual "Poverty Under the Stars" event, which is sponsored by the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project and the Cesar Chavez Community Action Center, will take place at the Tommie Smith and John Carlos Statue Garden on the campus of San José State University.

On November 12th, at noon, community organizations (e.g., Step Up Silicon Valley, Community Homeless Alliance Ministry, etc.) and campus organizations will set up tents around the Smith/Carlos statues that will be decorated with placards and pictures of the Great Recession.

At 7-9 pm, there will be a forum at the Smith/Carlos statues that will feature Silicon Valley leaders, including:

Congress member Zoe Lofgren
Assembly member Jim Beall
Jeff Moore, NAACP Silicon Valley
Theresa Iacino, Step Up Silicon Valley
Todd Madigan, Sacred Heart Community Services
Sabuhi Siddique, Ahmadiya Muslim Community, Milpitas
Aaron Nankin, Jewish Federation, Young Adults Division
Sakura Kone', Community Activist, New Orleans
Sandra Huerta, SJSU GCCWP Student

As a part of the event, civic works will be discussed as a solution to the Great Recession.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, which was created at SJSU, helped to develop the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (House Resolution 2269). Rep. Lofgren introduced HR 2269 as a way to create 100,000 green jobs for hurricane survivors to rebuild affordable housing and infrastructure, restore wetlands, and promote energy efficiency.

And very soon, a California Civic Works Act based on HR 2269 may well be introduced in the Assembly to address the unemployment crisis here in the Golden State.

Finally, from 9PM - 7AM, students will sleep out to be in solidarity with the people who are being impacted by the Great Recession.

Here are some of the facts about the Great Recession that will be discussed at "Poverty Under the Stars":

UNEMPLOYMENT
15.7 million unemployed (10.2%) in U.S.
27 million (17.5%) unemployed, underemployed or stopped looking for work in U.S.
2.2 million unemployed (12.2%) in California
104,400 unemployed (11.8%) in Santa Clara County

HOUSING
623,852 homes lost to banks in 2009 (so far)
937,840 homes received a foreclosure letter in third quarter, 2009
69,727 unoccupied residential addresses in New Orleans
415 Santa Clara County homes foreclosed in September, 2009;
4,131 homes in process of foreclosure in Santa Clara County

POVERTY
40 million (14.6%) in poverty in U.S.19% of American kids in poverty, with 33% of black children in poverty; this latter figure expected to rise to 53% in coming years.

12 million American kids face hunger and food insecurityTwo poorest states in Union: Mississippi (22%) and Louisiana (19%);

California (13.3%) is ranked #20

In Santa Clara County, 25% of households do not earn enough to meet the minimum standard for self-sufficiency

EDUCATION
71% of New Orleans schools still closed compared to pre-Katrina levels
California reduced K-14 funding by $3.7 billion (6.3%) in 2009-10;
$584 million cuts to CSU; CSU student fees up 30% in '09
California ranks 47th in nation in K-12 per pupil spending

In 1980s, 17% of the California budget went to higher education and 3% went to prisons. Today, 9% goes to universities and 10% to prisons.

BANK BAIL OUT vs. INVESTMENT
$2 trillion in bailout funds given to banks & financial institutions
$2.2 trillion needed to rebuild the crumbling U.S. infrastructure

Infrastructure funded by American Investment Act: $150 billion
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase are set to hand out $48.9 billion in bonuses, which on average is more than $250,000 a person

New Orleans received the least amount of 2009-10 stimulus dollars of 435 congressional districts

30% of California’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, and 69 of our 1,247 dams are in need of rehabilitation

Contact: Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton, San José State, (510) 508-5382, smlipton@sjsu.edu

GCCW press release picked up by Politico.com and Washington Times

2009-10-16T23:26:00.000-07:00

President Obama: We will rebuild this region -

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28341_Page2.html

Obama makes first presidential New Orleans visit -

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/15/obama-makes-first-presidential-visit-new-orleans/?feat=home_headlines

Release: Interfaith Leaders urge President Obama: Make Poverty, Climate and Coastal Restoration Priorities in Gulf Coast Communities

2009-10-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOURCE: Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign
CONTACT: Mary Fontenot - ACT (504) 495-5338 act_nola@yahoo.com
David Gauthe - BISCO (985) 438-2148 mybisco@yahoo.com

Over 50 Christian, Jewish, Muslim Leaders Urge President Obama:
Make Poverty and Environment Priorities with Civic Works Jobs for Gulf Coast Communities

New Orleans, LA, October 15, 2009 – As President Barack Obama arrives in New Orleans for this first visit since his historic election, over 50 leading religious officials and faith-based organizations are urging the President for robust long-term hurricane recovery policy to tackle poverty, coastal erosion and climate change. The signers include Rabbi Steve Gutow, Jewish Council for Public Affairs; Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, National Council of Churches; Sayyid M. Syeed, Islamic Society of North America; Sister Simone Campbell, NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; Bishop Charles E. Blake, Church of God in Christ; Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, The Episcopal Church; Dr. Joel C. Hunter; Nancy Ratzan, National Council of Jewish Women; Rabbi David Saperstein, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; Rev. Jim Wallis, Sojourners; and Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins, Christian Church.

The letter explains, “Four years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck and the levees were breached, the slow pace of recovery, persistent poverty, climate change and coastal land loss have created a moral crisis across the region that demands a powerful response from people of faith and our elected officials.” Organized by Louisiana-based interfaith groups All Congregations Together (ACT) and Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing (BISCO), the letter urges President Obama to look to a bipartisan bill, HR 2269, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act, as a model for resident-led recovery policy to “ensure just and sustainable recovery for all Gulf Coast communities”. HR 2269 would create 100,000 green jobs for hurricane survivors rebuilding affordable housing and infrastructure, restoring wetlands and promoting energy efficiency and climate change resiliency.

The letter was written in coordination with “Fighting Poverty with Faith” (www.fightingpovertywithfaith.com), an interfaith week of action October 14th-21st, 2009 focused on urging elected officials to make poverty-reduction a key goal in the nation’s transition to a new green economy.

ACT and BISCO are co-founders of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign (http://gccwc.wordpress.com), a nonpartisan partnership of community, faith, environmental, student, and human rights organizations in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi and their national allies advocating for federal legislation based on HR 2269 the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act.

[TEXT OF LETTER]

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We applaud your decision to travel to New Orleans to witness the state of recovery of the Gulf Coast. We also welcome the emphasis of this Administration on solving the bureaucratic struggles which hamper hurricane recovery funding from reaching the ground. Still, we are hopeful that after hearing from local leaders and hurricane survivors during your trip, you can return to Washington with a renewed understanding of the significant gaps that remain towards fulfilling the federal government’s promises of rebuilding stronger, safer and more equitable Gulf Coast communities. Four years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck and the levees were breached, the slow pace of recovery, persistent poverty, climate change and coastal land loss have created a moral crisis across the region that demands a powerful response from people of faith and our elected officials.

Our national response to these natural and man-made disasters has yet to protect the well-being of the Gulf Coast’s most vulnerable people and places through long-term recovery policies which restore the environment, rebuild lives and respect human rights.

As communities of faith, we are grounded in a shared tradition of justice and compassion and we are called upon to hold ourselves and our nation accountable to the moral standard of this tradition. As we look across America’s Gulf Coast, we see:

Ø Thousands living in toxic FEMA trailers as they struggle to rebuild their homes;
Ø Tens of thousands of displaced survivors unable to return home with dignity and safety;
Ø Homelessness and rental housing costs rising while affordable housing projects grind to a halt with the crash of financial markets;
Ø Insufficient access to health care facilities, particularly in the areas of mental health where needs for these facilities and services have grown substantially for survivors; and
Ø Many more unable to access proper training and living wage work to pay for life’s necessities and find pathways out of poverty.

At the same time, Gulf Coast communities see deadlier storms, rising sea levels from climate change, and a majority of our nation’s coastal erosion occurring each year along the Gulf of Mexico, further threatening the future of our communities.

This means that four years after our nation’s largest disaster the survivors of these storms remain vulnerable; leaving a spiritual wound open across the region, one felt in God’s creation and every community across this country. We must act now to target the challenges facing our most vulnerable communities; rebuilding more resilient and equitable neighborhoods, restoring God’s creation and empowering our brothers and sisters to overcome the devastation and lift themselves from poverty.

While you visit New Orleans, faith communities across the country are engaging in an interfaith week of action “Fighting Poverty with Faith,” October 14th-21st, 2009, in order to urge our elected officials to make poverty-reduction a key goal of the transition to a new green economy. Surely, no part of the country presents a greater need and opportunity for environmental restoration and economic revitalization than America’s Gulf Coast.

Members of diverse faith communions have already responded generously to these disasters, volunteering thousands of hours to rebuild lives across Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas and giving millions in charitable donations. Faith groups have formed powerful new partnerships with local community leaders, non-profits and other denominations, to lead some of the most successful efforts in the recovery.

We have learned that acts of faith and mercy alone, no matter how profound, cannot provide everything needed for a just recovery. Gulf Coast families deserve a federal government that recognizes their human rights and needs by partnering with them to rebuild and sustain their communities.

Billions in Congressionally appropriated funds remain un-obligated or unspent and could potentially be used to address unmet recovery needs in a pilot project for promoting innovative partnerships with local governments, faith-based and community organizations. A framework for accomplishing these goals already exists and continues to be embraced by a growing bi-partisan coalition of grassroots and elected leaders across the Gulf Coast. We urge your Administration and leaders in both parties of Congress to support policy based on the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (HR 2269) to:

Ø Provide targeted training and hiring of residents and hurricane survivors for jobs;
Ø Rebuild affordable housing and vital community infrastructure;
Ø Restore natural flood protection, including barrier islands and wetlands;
Ø Promote energy efficiency and resiliency to future disasters and climate change;
Ø Make contracting and subcontracting opportunities accessible to local businesses; and
Ø Work with community and faith-based non-profits and local governments to plan and implement recovery projects to target the needs and ensure the rights of vulnerable populations, especially women, residents with disabilities, low income, minority, and immigrant communities.

We look forward to working with your Administration to ensure just and sustainable recovery for all Gulf Coast communities.

Sincerely,

Mary Fontenot
Executive Director, All Congregations Together (ACT) of New Orleans

Sharon Gauthe
Executive Director, Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing (BISCO)

Rabbi Steve Gutow
Executive Director, The Jewish Council of Public Affairs

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon
General Secretary, National Council of Churches USA

Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed
National Director, Office for Interfaith & Community Alliances
Islamic Society of North America

The Most Rev. Charles E. Blake
Presiding Bishop, Church of God in Christ

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church

Simone Campbell, SSS
Executive Director, NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

Charlie Clements
President and CEO, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)

Ruth Flowers
Legislative Director, Friends Committee on National Legislation

Dr. Raymond B. Goldstein, International President; and
Rabbi Steven C. Wernick, Executive Vice President and CEO
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt
Co-Chair Special Commission on the Just Re-building of the Gulf Coast

National Council of Churches

Dr. Joel C. Hunter *
Senior Pastor, Northland – A Church Distributed

Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo
Executive Minister of Justice and Witness Ministries, United Church of Christ

Shelley Lindauer
Executive Director
Women of Reform Judaism

Rev. Michael E. Livingston
Co-Chair Special Commission on the Just Re-building of the Gulf Coast

National Council of Churches

Sr. Gayle Lwanga, RGS
National Coordinator, National Advocacy Center

Sisters of the Good Sheppard

Rev. LeDayne McLeese Polaski
Program Coordinator, Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America

Stanley J. Noffsinger
General Secretary, The Church of the Brethren

Nancy Ratzan
President, National Council of Jewish Women

Dr. Meg Riley
Director, Washington Office, Unitarian Universalist Association

Rabbi David Saperstein
Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Dr. H. Eric Schockman
President, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger

Dr. Ronald J. Sider
President, Evangelicals for Social Action

Dr. Ann E. Smith
President, Gamaliel Foundation

Rev. Jim Wallis
CEO and President, Sojourners

Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins
General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Jim Winkler
General Secretary, The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society

Bishop John F. White
Ecumenical and Urban Affairs Officer, African Methodist Episcopal Church

Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III
Executive Director, National Ministries
American Baptist Churches USA

Rabbi Shawn Zevit
Director of Outreach and Tikkun Olam, Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

Rt. Rev. Duncan Gray

Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi

Rt. Rev. Charles E. Jenkins
Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana

Rt. Rev. William W. Hutchinson
Bishop, Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church

Rt. Rev. Morgan Ward
Bishop, Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church

Roberta Avila
Executive Director, STEPS Coalition

Dianne Aid
President
Episcopal Network for Economic Justice

Dr. Abed Ayoub
CEO, Islamic Relief USA

Quo Vadis G. Breaux
Executive Director, Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal
New Orleans Rebirth Volunteer Center

Rev. Carol Burnett
Director, Mississippi Low Income Child Care Initiative
Director, Moore Community House

Rev. Al Carter
Chairman, Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing (BISCO)

Rev. Alan Coe
Minister for Disaster Recovery, S.C. Conference, United Church of Christ

Rev. Tyronne Edwards
Founder/Executive Director, Zion Travelers Cooperative Center, Inc. Phoenix, LA

Dr. Alice Graham
Executive Director, Mississippi Coast Interfaith Disaster Task Force

Sharon Hanshaw
Executive Director, Coastal Women for Change

Dr. Frederick Haynes, III
Senior Pastor
Friendship West Baptist Church

Rev. Jacob Jang
General Secretary, Korean Presbyterian Church in America

David C. Jehnsen
Founder, The Institute for Human Rights and Responsibilities

Dr. Matthew V. Johnson
National Director, Every Church a Peace Church

Trinh Le
Community Empowerment Coordinator, Hope Community Development Agency (Hope CDA)

Glenda Perryman
Executive Director, Immaculate Heart Community Development Corp., Inc.

Marcia Peterson
Director, Desire Street Ministries/CDC 58:12 Inc.

Rev. Gilbert Scie
Pastor, Greater Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church of New Orleans

Rev. Cory Sparks
Chair, Commission on Stewardship of the Environment,
Louisiana Interchurch Conference

Bill Stallworth
City Councilmember of Ward 2 Biloxi, Mississippi

Sister Mary Turgi
Director, Holy Cross International Justice Office

Rev. Jim VanderWeele
Senior Pastor, Community Church Unitarian Universalist of New Orleans

* Organization listed for purpose of identification

###

Assemblymember Beall calls Public Works to Solve Unemployment Crisis

2009-10-09T22:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Unemployment is hitting record levels in California, costing working families not only their income but their health coverage. We must get people back to work. One way is to get started fast on important public works projects that can generate hundreds of thousands of jobs - repairing our fragile levees and building the high-speed rail project. These bond-approved projects represent our state's own stimulus plan. Read more...

If you have a question or an issue with a state agency or department or need assistance, please contact my office by visiting my Assembly website.

Best regards,

Jim Beall, Jr.

Dr. Myers-Lipton's lecture at the Dean's Symposium, "Poverty: Problems and Solutions," San José State University, October 6, 2010

2009-10-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

How to Solve the Unemployment Crisis and End Poverty

Dean Hegstrom, distinguished colleagues, students.

It is an honor to speak at this symposium, and to address one of the pressing social issues facing our nation, which is our extremely high rate of poverty, and how it is possible to end this scourge.

Without much notice, our already high rate poverty has been inching up to record levels at the rate of 1 million people each year for the past decade, so today, we now have 39.8 million people living in poverty. What this means to our families is that 19% of our children are growing up in poverty, which to me, and I hope you, is a moral outrage.

In addition to this increase in poverty, inequality has also increased to record levels, as the gap between rich and poor has increased.

And more recently, unemployment has increased to 15.1 million people. There are more people unemployed today than during the Great Depression. Clearly, America is in crisis.

We don’t have time today to discuss the reasons for this poverty and inequality crisis….suffice it to say that it has a great deal to do with:

globalization and the outsourcing of jobs;
a dual economy that produces both high-end jobs, as well as low-end jobs;
a conservative philosophy that has dominated U.S. politics for the past 30 years, with its goal of keeping minimum wage low and limiting social programs;

and a relentless attack on labor unions.

Now, we are living in a unique time, as the nation recently suffered through Hurricane Katrina, one of the great disasters of our history—killing 1,874 people—the majority of which were over 65, destroying 250,000 homes and 320 million trees. In addition to the destruction that Hurricane Katrina brought, it exposed to nation and world our poverty crisis.

For a brief moment in time, all the world had a chance to see that the USA was not paved in gold, but rather, it showed how America is in fact the leader in industrialized world when it comes to poverty rates.

Yet, poverty has NOT just plagued this generation, but rather has been a defining issue, from the founding right up to today. Unquestionably, we pay a price for our high rate of poverty, as it damages the individual and the larger society.

Our poverty has led to:

high rates of infant mortality, crime, violence, divorce, and lead poisoning,
it has also led to lower test scores in school and lower life expectancy.

So what to do about reducing, or even ending poverty?? I would like to highlight two of the ideas that have been the most successful in our nation’s history. Both of them are based in work. The first idea creates living wage jobs, while the 2nd idea makes sure that work is rewarded.

The first recommendation to reduce poverty is public works. During the New Deal, the USA reduced poverty for millions during the Great Depression by providing them with jobs. The New Deal public works of the CWA, PWA, WPA, and CCC—this alphabet soup of programs--injected $336 billion in 2008 dollars into the economy, hired over 10 million people, and in combination with other New Deal initiatives cut unemployment from almost 24% in 1933 to 10% by 1940.

This 13.6% decrease was the single greatest drop in the unemployment rate in U.S. history. In addition, reducing unemployment and poverty, New Deal public works built or repaired over:

2,500 hospitals
9,000 parks
43,000 schools
125,000 bridges
almost 1 million miles of highways & roads,
they stocked 1 billion fish
and planted 3 billion trees.

Public workers literally built the infrastructure that we still utilize.

Today, with our unemployment and poverty rates at record levels, public works can once again help to solve our social problems. Here at San José State University, I have been working with my students for the past 3 years on this idea of public works.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, my students and I proposed a modern-day civic works projects for the Gulf Coast. We renamed public works “civic works,” since the body politic didn’t seem to be working for the people of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Today, 35 Congress members and over 250 regional and national organizations are advocating for the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (HR 2269), HR 2269 would create 100,000 green and living-wage jobs and training opportunities for Gulf Coast residents and displaced citizens to rebuild public infrastructure damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and restore the wetlands.

In addition to creating living wage jobs, Civic Works is a powerful tool for poverty reduction as it:

1st: Allows for citizen participation in Local Advisory Boards so that regular people are involved in the decisions about what gets built in their community
2nd: Supports equitable economic development (first source hiring, 20% apprenticeable jobs, and the protection of people of color, women, and immigrants)
3rd: Provides job training and hiring of local contractors and non-profits for long-term development
4th: Focuses on environmentally sustainable, green construction jobs, and expands public works to include child and elderly care, teaching, and public health projects
5th: Provides a dynamic, hybrid model of federal oversight and local control

Importantly, we see the GCCW Act as a model for the rest of the nation about how to reduce poverty and rebuild infrastructure by using a bottom-up model of community development. Plans are already in the works for a California Civic Works Act based on HR 2269.

The 2nd idea I want to recommend to decrease poverty are income transfer payments in the form of Earned Income Tax Credits. Income transfers were used successfully during the War on Poverty, as they played a major role in decreasing poverty from 36 million or 19% of the total population in 1964 to 24 million people or 12% in 1969.

This 7% cut in poverty, which came as a result of income transfers through Social Security and welfare, was one of the greatest decreases in poverty in the history of the nation. More recently, President Clinton expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, so it now provides $36 billon a year to low-wage workers, and it reduces poverty by 5 million people a year.

To make work pay, I would advocate that the EITC would be expanded again, but instead of the average payment being $1,050, I recommend that it is targeted at the middle class, so it truly lifts people out of poverty. The idea is that if you work, you should not make a poverty wage, but rather a living wage, and the government would in essence provide a tax rebate to reward work.

You might ask, where would we get the money for Civic Works and the Earned Income Tax Credit? I would argue that if we, the American tax payer, can bail out banks and mega-firms to the tune of $2 trillion dollars, we can surely spend much less to end poverty in America.

For me, reducing, and someday ending poverty, is not just a sociological exercise, but it is a moral imperative! It is immoral to have 40 million people in poverty in the richest country in the world…and it is immoral that the US has 1 in 5 children living in poverty.

It must be stopped, and Civic Works and the Earned Income Tax Credit targeted at the middle class can help to end this scourge of poverty.

Alabama Hurricane Katrina Survivors Go to Washington

2009-10-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

Fifty-five (55) hurricane survivors and advocates from Louisiana to Alabama braved a nearly 40 hour round-trip bus ride to lobby 2 days for The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act, HR 2269 which would create 100,000 prevailing wage jobs for the survivors of Hurricanes Katrina to rebuild their devastated maritime/seaport communities, and coastal wetlands environment. http://www.solvingpoverty.com/

Click here to read the whole article.

Congressional Tri-Caucus Sponsors Briefing on HR 2269

2009-10-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

Four Years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita:

Human Rights and Green Jobs for America's Gulf Coast

Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (HR 2269):
Stronger, More Sustainable and More Equitable Communities

A Congressional Briefing Sponsored by

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign

In conjunction with the

Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus,

Congressional Black Caucus, and

Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Tuesday, September 22^nd 2009

Noon-1:30pm

(Refreshments will be served starting at 11:30a)

Cannon Caucus Room, 345 CHOB

Four years after our nation's largest disaster, Gulf Coast communities, especially residents with disabilities, poor, elderly, minority and immigrant communities, continue to struggle. The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (HR 2269) builds on the success of innovative resident-led community and faith-based non-profits to rebuild lives and neighborhoods. The Act would create 100,000 green, living wage jobs rebuilding infrastructure and affordable housing, restoring natural flood protection, and promoting energy efficiency. This legislation would allow the federal government to directly partner with municipal officials, non-profits and community agencies to tackle the biggest remaining recovery challenges and ensure hurricane survivors' right to return with dignity and safety and participate in the recovery of their communities. It is supported by over 240 local and national community, faith, environmental, and human rights organizations. Over 100 diverse survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will travel to DC September 22-23 to attend this briefing and discuss the legislation with Congressional staff.

Speakers:

Vicky Cintra, Organizing Coordinator, Gulf Coast Office, Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance

David Gauthe, Program Director, BISCO - Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing

(Thibodaux, LA)

Trinh Le, Community Empowerment Coordinator, Hope Community Development Agency (Biloxi, MS)

Shakoor Alujawani, Organizer, Louisiana Episcopal Community Services (New Orleans, LA)

Moderator: Stephen Bradberry, 2005 RFK Human Rights Award Winner and Nat. Campaign Coordinator, ACORN

Co-Sponsoring Organizations:
RFK Center for Justice & Human Rights - Oxfam America - ACORN - Alabama Arise

All Congregations Together - Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America - BISCO - Boat People SOS

Gulf Coast Civic Works Project - - Hope CDA - Louisiana Episcopal Community Services

LA Interchurch Conference, Council on Environmental Stewardship

Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance - MS Coast Interfaith Disaster Taskforce

MS Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities - NAACP - National Alliance of Vietnamese American Service Agencies

National Council of La Raza - Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign

South Bay Communities Alliance - STEPS Coalition

Turkey Creek Community Initiative - Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

United Church of Christ, Justice & Witness Ministries -U.S. Human Rights Network

Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign Applauds Creation of Long-Term Recovery Working Group

2009-09-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

For Immediate Release September 30, 2009

Contact: Jeffrey Buchanan, (202) 257-9048, buchanan@rfkmemorial.org

Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign Applauds
Creation of Long-Term Recovery Working Group

Washington, DC September 30th, 2009—The Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign welcomes President Barack Obama's decision to create a federal working group to examine our nation’s long-term recovery policies in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and to extend the mandate of the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Recovery.

This announcement comes after 60 survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, joined by national human rights and faith-based advocates, spent two days last week in Washington, DC urging the Administration and Congressional officials to take a new approach to disaster recovery. The group met with senior officials at the Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency as well as Members of Congress and staff in over 40 Congressional offices. During these visits the partners of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign urged the Administration to form an inter-agency working group bringing together federal officials and local community leaders to develop solutions for tackling remaining recovery challenges.

“As someone who works in Louisiana’s rural communities rebounding from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike, threatened by poverty, climate change and coastal land loss, I welcome this Administration’s renewed focus on Gulf Coast recovery,” said Sharon Gauthe, Executive Director, Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing (BISCO). “As this new team begins its work, I would encourage the Administration to look to the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (HR 2269) as a way to incorporate the lessons learned from the 2005 and 2008 hurricanes and to fulfill the federal government’s promise to create stronger, safer and more equitable communities.”

“In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, non-profits and community organizers stepped up to fill the gaps left by the federal government to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people and places, both in the immediate response and now in the recovery phase,” said Councilmember Bill Stallworth of the Biloxi City Council and Executive Director of HOPE CDA. “As the Obama Administration composes its new plan in the Gulf Coast and for future disasters, we believe policy like HR 2269 could help to leverage the passion, innovation and knowledge of community and faith-based organizations to help restore not just neighborhoods but lives.”

Monika Kalra Varma, Director of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, said “The RFK Center along with the partners of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign welcome the Administration’s commitment to improving our national recovery efforts. Strong policies are needed to ensure the fundamental human rights of displaced and low-income survivors to participate in recovery, to return home with dignity and safety, and to find decent work opportunities. Meeting these challenges for the survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will set an important precedent for how we deal with future disasters.”

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign helped develop HR 2269 based on meetings with leaders and community members across the region. The resulting bipartisan legislation builds upon the success of community and faith-based organizations to tackle recovery challenges while fighting poverty, restoring the environment and promoting resiliency. The Campaign has grown to a coalition of 250 local and national organizations advocating for a renewed partnership between Gulf Coast communities and the federal government. The Campaign continues to advocate for policies based on HR 2269, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act, as a pilot project for human rights-based disaster recovery to create jobs, rebuild and sustain vulnerable neighborhoods.

###

SPECIAL REPORT: Obama, Congress get "D" grades from Gulf advocates for Katrina recovery efforts

2009-08-27T22:49:00.000-07:00

The Institute for Southern Studies has just released this report card entitled “Grading the Katrina Recovery: How Gulf Coast leaders rate the President and Congress four years after the storm, and it is based on a survey of over 50 grassroots advocates, community, environmental and faith based organizations leaders around the Gulf Coast, on how those working on the ground feel about federal efforts in 2009 as a follow-up to their acclaimed series of annual reports on Gulf Coast recovery.

This information shows a very different side of the recovery story as of 2009 than what has been coming out in the media and what has been stated in recent press releases from DHS and other agencies and really gives credence to our local and national partners efforts to urge Congress and the Administration to continue working to make good on their promises and obligations to the people of the Gulf Coast.

http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/08/special-report-obama-congress-get-d-grades-from-gulf-advocates-for-katrina-recovery-efforts.html

SPECIAL REPORT: Obama, Congress get "D" grades from Gulf advocates for Katrina recovery efforts

For many people in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the election of President Barack Obama to the White House last November brought a sense of renewed hope -- or at least an opportunity to change the course of the region's stalled Katrina recovery.

But a report released today by the Institute for Southern Studies [pdf] finds that, so far, many Gulf Coast advocates give the administration low marks for their Gulf recovery -- and they don't think Washington has lived up to its promises to make rebuilding a priority.

The report also includes a "Katrina Recovery Index" with 80 indicators on housing, health care, coastal protection, hurricane readiness and other measures of Gulf recovery.

PROMISES TO THE GULF

President Obama had made the federal government's obligation to Gulf Coast rebuilding -- and the Bush administration's failure to fulfill that promise -- a centerpiece of his campaign and agenda. As Obama said on a campaign stop [pdf] in New Orleans in August 2007, "Let New Orleans be the place where we strengthen those bonds of trust, where a city rises up on a new foundation that can be broken by no storm."

Obama repeated his commitment in New Orleans in February 2008:

The broken promises did not start when a storm hit, and they did not end there ... I promise you that when I'm in the White House I will commit myself every day to keeping up Washington's end of this trust. This will be a priority of my presidency.

But the Institute's new report [pdf], based on surveys with over 50 Gulf Coast community leaders, reveals ongoing frustration with the scope and pace of federal initiatives.

Survey respondents included leaders from faith, community and environmental groups working in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. They were asked to grade the president and Congress in eight key areas -- and many expressed belief that, to date, little in Washington has changed:

* Gulf Coast leaders give the Obama administration's recovery efforts a grade of "D+." The only area where Obama ranked higher than a "D" was in the administration's willingness to "publicly acknowledge the challenges facing recovering Gulf Coast communities," which earned a "C-."

* The Obama administration scored lowest on tackling some of the biggest recovery priorities, scoring only a "D" for efforts to help displaced families return home, revitalizing infrastructure, increasing coastal hurricane protection and creating living-wage jobs and business opportunities.

* Surprisingly, Gulf Coast leaders didn't report much improvement over the previous administration: The Obama's grade of "D+" was only slightly higher than the "D-" grade for President Bush.

The Obama administration, which has been submerged in policy battles over economic stimulus and health care, argues it remains committed to the Gulf Coast. Officials point to "shaking loose" $1 billion in appropriated federal funds, moving people out of temporary housing and creating an arbitration panel to handle disputes that have hamstrung rebuilding projects.

LESS STIMULUS FOR THE GULF

But Gulf Coast advocates view the president's $786 billion stimulus bill passed this spring as another missed opportunity. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the White House announced before the Congressional vote that the bill "would create or preserve fewer jobs in Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District than any in the nation, chiefly because the calculations were based on the district's storm-depleted population."

Congress and the president also passed on proposals for a Gulf Coast Civic Works program for "shovel-ready" green rebuilding, and a recommendation from President Bush's Gulf Coast advisor to inject $1.5 billion into stalled Gulf projects.

This may help explain this report's findings that the current Congress receives similarly low grades from Gulf advocates:

* The current 111th Congress received a "D" grade for Gulf recovery -- the highest grade (a "D+") again earned only for members' willingness to "publicly acknowledge challenges."

* The "D" grade awarded to the current Congress is almost identical to that given to the previous (110th) Congress, which also scored a "D."

Clearly, many Gulf Coast leaders believe that -- whatever the reasons -- the current leadership in Washington has not lived up to its pledge to strengthen recovery efforts in the region.

If the President and Congress are to keep their promise -- and regain the confidence of community leaders -- they must signal a more focused commitment to renewal in the still-struggling Gulf Coast.

Obama Addresses the Gulf Coast

2009-08-25T15:24:00.001-07:00

The president, who last visited New Orleans 18 months ago, is not expected to come this week to mark the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the nation's costliest disaster after the failure of federally built floodwalls.

Read the whole article here.

Open Letter To Speaker Pelosi

2009-08-23T13:34:00.001-07:00

YOU ARE INVITED - Gulf Coast Rally To Demand Speaker Pelosi Take Action on the 4th Anniversary of Katrina

2009-08-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

YOU ARE INVITED!!

Gulf Coast Rally To Demand Speaker Pelosi

Take Action on 4th Anniversary of Katrina

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – August 24th – Supporters of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (HR 2269) will gather for a rally and press conference on the 4th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in front of Speaker Pelosi's office on Friday, August 28 at noon to demand passage of this federal bill.

Specifically, Speaker Pelosi will be asked to take two small, but powerful actions:

To request that she asks the five committee chairs where the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act sits to report back to her office on HR 2269 before the Congressional winter recess;
To sign on as a co-sponsor HR 2269.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act—which is co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 30 Congress members and supported by more than 240 diverse regional and national student, faith, environmental and community organizations—would create a minimum of 100,000 prevailing wage jobs and training opportunities for local and displaced workers to rebuild Gulf Coast infrastructure and restore the coastal environment utilizing green building technologies.

The rally will include:

a theatrical performance of "President Obama" and "Speaker Pelosi" announcing an important new policy on the 4th Anniversary of Katrina;
reflections from survivors of Hurricane Katrina;
the reading of the names of the 1,836 people who died in Hurricane Katrina, and the planting of 1836 white flags with the names of each person and age on the flag;
the delivering of the attached open-letter to Speaker Pelosi, as well as 10,000 signed petitions in support of HR 2269.

The rally and press conference will be held this Friday, 12 pm, at the Phillip Burton Federal Building at 450 Golden Gate Avenue on the plaza in front of the flag poles.

Contacts:

Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton, Associate Professor, San José State University, (510) 508-5382, smlipton@sjsu.edu
Rev. Jeff Moore, NAACP Silicon Valley/San Jose, (408) 515-1114, moore2j@att.net

Katrina Pain Index - 2009

2009-08-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

By BILL QUIGLEY & DAVIDA FINGER

0. Number of renters in Louisiana who have received financial assistance from the $10 billion federal post-Katrina rebuilding program Road Home Community Development Block Grant – compared to 116,708 homeowners.

0. Number of hospitals in New Orleans providing in-patient mental health care as of September 2009 despite post-Katrina increases in suicides and mental health problems.

1. Rank of New Orleans among U.S. cities in murders per capita for 2008.

1. Rank of New Orleans among U.S. cities in percentage of vacant residences.

2. Number of Katrina cottages completed in Louisiana as of beginning of 2009 hurricane season under $74 million dollar federal program.

33. Percent of 134,000 FEMA trailers in which Katrina and Rita storm survivors were housed after the storms which are estimated by federal government to have had formaldehyde problems.

35. Percent of child care facilities re-opened in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.

35. Percent increase of demand in 2009 at emergency food programs in New Orleans and surrounding parishes, “an increase pinned on the swelling ranks of under-employed and rising food, housing, and fuel costs.”

50. Ranking of Louisiana among states for overall healthcare.

52. Percent increase in rents in New Orleans since Katrina.

52. Percent of federal rebuilding money allocated to New Orleans that has actually been received.

60. Percent of children in New Orleans public schools who attend public charter schools.

88: Percent of the 600 New Orleans residents who will displaced by proposed new hospital complex who are minorities.

160. Number of units which will be public housing eligible in the new St. Bernard area after demolition and rebuilding. St. Bernard was constructed with 1400 public housing apartments. Only a small percentage of the 4000 families in public housing in New Orleans before Katrina will be allowed to live in the new housing being constructed on the site where their apartments were demolished.

27,279. Number of Louisiana homeowners who have applied for federal assistance in repair and rebuilding after Katrina who have been determined eligible for assistance but who have still not received any money.

30,396. Number of children who have not returned to public school in New Orleans since Katrina. This reduction leaves the New Orleans public school population just over half of what it was pre-Katrina.

63,799. Number of Medicaid recipients who have not returned to New Orleans since Katrina.

65,888. Unoccupied addresses in New Orleans. This is 31% of the addresses in the City and nearly as many as Detroit, a city twice the size of New Orleans.

128,341: Number of Louisianians looking for work.

143,193. Fewer people in New Orleans than before Katrina, according to the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center estimate of 311,853, the most recent population estimate in Orleans.

9.5 Million. Dollar amount of federal Medicaid stimulus rejected outright by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal which would have expanded temporary Medicaid coverage for families who leave welfare and get a job.

98 million: Dollar amount of unemployment federal stimulus dollars rejected by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal that was available to bolster the unemployment compensation funds to assist 25,000 families in Louisiana.

900 Million: Dollar amount paid to ICF International, the company that was hired by the State of Louisiana to distribute federal Road Home rebuilding dollars.

?. Current vulnerability to storm-related flooding. The Army Corps of Engineers continues work to provide protection from a storm surge that has a 1 percent chance of occurring any given year. However, Katrina was a stronger storm than the system under construction is designed to protect against. Because no updated indicators exist on land loss, coastal restoration and mitigation of flood risk due to human engineering, tracking recovery is, at best, challenging.

Davida Finger is a social justice lawyer and clinical professor at Loyola University New Orleans.
Bill Quigley is a human rights lawyer on leave from Loyola now serving as legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights. A version of this article with sources is available if you write to the authors c/o quigley77@gmail.com.

Katrina Anniversary Nears, and Should Evoke Truths, Both Ugly and Ennobling

2009-08-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

As we approach the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29, Americans should take the opportunity to learn not only the familiar lessons about economic and racial injustice, but also to embrace the responsibilities these lessons oblige.

Read the whole article here.

Gulf Coast advocates push for HR 2269 in Mobile

2009-07-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

Gulf Coast advocates push for HR 2269 in Mobile:

Click here to read the press release.

July 17th Press Conference in Mobile to Highlight GCCWA

2009-07-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

A 2pm Press Conference in Mobile on Friday, July 17 will highlight community recovery and redevelopment issues, including: Alabama’s 2-year delay of federal CDBG housing dollars intended for some 1,200 approved and deserving households; construction of sewage treatment and other vital infrastructure in environmentally inappropriate areas; the proposed Gulf Coast Civic Works Act for creating 100,000 green jobs from south Alabama to coastal Texas; and overhauling the Stafford Act before another major disaster occurs on US soil.

Learn more details here.

NAACP Urges Congress to Pass GCCW Act

2009-06-26T15:25:00.000-07:00

Advocates take the Gulf Coast cause to the Hill

2009-06-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

Today marks the first day of hurricane season, and much is being reported on preparations happening along the Gulf Coast to prepare for stormier weather.

But Gulf Coast advocates have also been preparing another big push to shore up Congressional support for the Gulf Coast Civic Works program, a Gulf region recovery package that would create "green jobs" along the Gulf Coast for victims of past storms. Several hundred Gulf Coast advocates, including a coalition of civil rights groups, affordable housing advocates, and Hurricane Katrina survivors, headed to Washington, D.C. this past weekend to urge lawmakers to support the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act of 2009 (H.R. 2269). Supporters of the act participated in congressional visits to bring attention to the continuing human rights crisis in the region and the vulnerability of residents to future disasters as the 2009 hurricane season begins.

Click here to read the whole article.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, "Whose Katrina is this?"

2009-06-08T11:01:00.000-07:00

June 1st marks the beginning of the 2009 hurricane season, again prompting concern as to how the city of New Orleans will fare in the coming summer's weather. In recognition of this fact, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project (GCCWP) has gathered volunteers from across the country in Washington, D.C. to lobby for the passage of H.R. 2269, also known as the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. The bill, first brainstormed by students in San Jose and introduced to Congress in May, seeks the funding of 100,000 "green jobs" for displaced residents of the Gulf Coast to rebuild the infrastructure of their local communities.

Click here to read the whole article.

FEMA'S GULF COAST EVICTION NOTICE

2009-06-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Gulf coast residents and advocates gathered in front of the Federal Emergency Management Agency building to protest eviction notices delivered to over 5,000 families still living in trailers some four years after Hurricane Katrina. The press conference speakers -- a diverse bunch that included representatives from faith-based groups, conservative groups, student organizations and ACORN -- called on Barack Obama to honor his campaign pledge to restore the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast.

Click here to read the whole article.

Unlikely allies back House bill for Gulf Coast job

2009-06-08T10:55:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON -- Hurricane season begins today, and with it an effort to gain some traction on Capitol Hill for an ambitious plan to create 100,000 "green jobs" along the Gulf Coast for victims of past storms.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act was born 2,100 miles from New Orleans at a San Jose State University "campus sleep-out" on election night 2006. Students watched Spike Lee's documentary, "When the Levees Broke," on a giant outdoor screen, and wanted to know what they could do to help.

Click here to read the whole article.

Gulf Coast activists protest at FEMA headquarters

2009-06-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — With a FEMA trailer parked across the street, a coalition of Gulf Coast activists stood outside the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters Monday to mark the start of hurricane season, to demand Hurricane Katrina rebuilding and to protest the latest deadline for eviction of about 5,000 residents from FEMA trailers.

"The people of the Gulf Coast don't want FEMA trailers," Michele Roberts, of the Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, told a small crowd. "They want to rebuild homes."

Click here to read the whole article.

Bi-partisan Congress members urge colleagues to sign on to HR 2269

2009-06-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

New Orleans: City of Sickness

2009-05-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

Medical services have not recovered from the storm

HURRICANE KATRINA’S effect on the city of New Orleans has been much longer-lasting than most expected. Almost four years after the storm, a quarter of the population has never returned. A third of homes still lie empty, many decked with tarpaulins and with the flood-line still visible. Residential streets are lined with houses with collapsing porches, fallen plasterwork and hopeful For Sale signs. Less than half the city’s public transport facilities have been restored, and the wheels on the city’s famous street-cars, even the one named Desire, are still rusty.

Click here to read the whole article.

Support the Po Boy: Gulf Coast Civic Works Bill's 100,000 Green Jobs

2009-05-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

"Louisiana has the highest childhood hunger rate in the country, 24 percent compared to 6 percent in Massachusetts according to a report by Feeding America, constituting a domestic human rights crisis since even one hungry child is too many. And repairing our infrastructure including schools, hospitals, levees, flood protection and transportation has just begun as residents struggle for access to affordable housing and jobs."

Click here to read the full article.

Local Green Innovators Stand to Benefit from Legislation Introduced on Capital Hill

2009-05-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

"Forest Bradley-Wright sees the light at the end of the tunnel. And its not just because his job involves handing out a lot of energy-efficient light bulbs.

Bradley-Wright, sustainable rebuild coordinator for the Alliance for Affordable Energy is one of dozens of local rebuilding organizers who could receive funding for green job training programs if a piece of legislation introduced yesterday in Washington is passed into law."

Click here to read the full article.

Students Applaud Re-Introduction of Gulf Coast Civic Works Act

2009-05-07T00:03:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 7, 2009

Contacts: Scott Myers-Lipton <smlipton@sjsu.edu>, 510-508-5382
Roberto Garcia-Ceballos <rgarciaceballos@gmail.com>, 408-687-9012

Students Applaud Re-Introduction of Gulf Coast Civic Works Act

The Newly Introduced Bipartisan Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (HR 2269) Promotes Infrastructure, Training, Comprehensive Flood Protection and Energy Efficiency

WASHINGTON, DC – May 6th – The Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign--which was developed and nurtured by students and faculty at campuses across the country--and now has grown into a diverse national partnership of student, community, faith-based, environmental, and human rights organizations, applauds the introduction today of bipartisan federal legislation to rebuild more equitable and resilient communities across the areas still recovering from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act of 2009 (H.R. 2269) would create 100,000 “green” living wage jobs and training opportunities for Gulf Coast residents and displaced people to rebuild critical infrastructure, restore natural flood protection and increase energy efficiency. This important legislation allows the federal government to partner directly with local leaders and non-profits to address remaining recovery challenges while building resilience to climate change, mitigating the effects of future deadly storms and confronting poverty. It also addresses the challenges faced by internally displaced, elderly, disabled, women, low income, immigrant and minority communities.

HR 2269 was introduced in the U.S. House by Representatives Zoe Lofgren (CA), Joseph Cao (LA), Charlie Melancon (LA), Gene Taylor (MS), John Conyers (MI), Barbara Lee (CA), John Lewis (GA), Peter Stark (CA), and Charlie Rangel (NY).

Learn more about the bill at http://gccwc.wordpress.com.

“The introduction--and hopefully quick passage--of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act, is important not just for the Gulf Coast but the entire nation,” said Dr. Scott Myers Lipton of San José State University and co-founder of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project. “This legislation, with its focus on enlisting communities and expanding opportunity provides the Obama Administration and Congress with an effective new model for disaster recovery and infrastructure development.”

Roberto Garcia-Ceballos, a SJSU senior Sociology major added, "Students on over 50 college campus across the nation have been advocating for almost three years for the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. Let's hope that with the new Obama Administration and Congress, the citizens of the Gulf Coast will not have to wait any longer to rebuild their schools, hospitals, and parks."

Almost four years after Hurricane Katrina, our nation’s largest natural disaster, America’s Gulf Coast remains a domestic human rights crisis. As we approach the 2009 Hurricane Season beginning June 1st, levees remains vulnerable, tens of thousands of people have not been able to return home, schools, hospitals and transportation infrastructure remains damaged, and residents continue to struggle for access to affordable housing and living wage jobs.

“Nonprofit and community groups have been the heroic leaders of the citizen-led Gulf Coast recovery. The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act will efficiently allocate funds for job creation and infrastructure development, two significant recovery needs, by avoiding layers of governmental red tape and dispersing funds directly to the entities, regardless of sector, which are ready to do the work,” said Jainey Bavishi, director of Equity & Inclusion Campaign, a coalition of organizations working on recovery across Alabama, Louisiana Mississippi, and Texas.

“Passing HR 2269 would be a bold stand for the fundamental rights of displaced and low-income Gulf Coast residents,” said Monika Kalra Varma, Director, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Right. “The right to participate in recovery, to return home with dignity and safety, and to decent work opportunities – these are the basic human rights that we have denied survivors of hurricanes Katrina and Rita for too long.”

Marking the beginning of the 2009 Hurricane Season, on May 30^th- June 1^st the Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign will be bringing 400 advocates to Washington D.C. for training and meetings with members of Congress and the new Administration advocating for this critical legislation. For more information on how to participate in these events and support the legislation please visit: http://gccwc.wordpress.com

National Contacts:

Jainey Bavishi, E&I Campaign, Jainey@equityandinclusion.org

Rhonda Jackson, Oxfam America, rjackson@oxfamamerica.org

Jeffrey Buchanan, RFK Center, buchanan@rfkmemorial.or

Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign partner organizations include:

232-HELP/Louisiana 211

ACORN

ACT All Congregations Together

Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice, Inc.

Alabama Arise

Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America

Bay Area Women Coalition, Inc.

Bayou Grace Community Services

Biloxi NAACP

BISCO Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing

BIT Bayou Interfaith Together

CDC 58:12, inc.

Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal

Churches Supporting Churches

Clergy Strategic Alliances, LLC

ColorofChange.org

Commission on Stewardship of the Environment, Louisiana Interchurch Conference

Common Ground Health Clinic

Common Ground Relief, Inc.

COPE Congregations Organizing People for Equality

Dando la Mano / Extending a Hand

Desire Street Ministries NOLA

Disciples Justice Action Network (Disciples of Christ)

Episcopal Network for Economic Justice

Equity and Inclusion Campaign

First Pilgrims Baptist JEDC-HDM

First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans, Social Justice Team

Franciscan Action Network

Friends Committee on National Legislation

FUEL Faith United for Empowerment and Leadership

Gert Town Revival Initiative, Inc.

Global Green USA

Gulf Coast Civic Works Project

Gulf Restoration Network

Holy Cross Neighborhood Association

Hope Community Development Agency

Institute for Human Rights and Responsibilities Inc.

Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies

Interfaith Alliance

Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

JustFaith Ministries

Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Louisiana Conference of The UMC Disaster Reponses, Inc

Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development

Maria Iñamagua Campaign for Justice

May Day New Orleans

Mennonite Central Committee-New Orleans

MICAH Project

Minnesota Tenants Union

Minnesota-New Orleans Solidarity Committee

Mississippi Center for Justice

Mississippi Coast Interfaith Disaster Task Force

Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance

Mississippi Low Income Child Care Initiative

Moore Community House

MPOWER Mississippi Poultry Workers for Equality and Respect

MQVN Community Development Corporation

National Council of Churches

National Council of Jewish Women

National Economic and Social Rights Initiative

National Employment Law Project

National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

National Lawyers Guild - Minnesota Chapter

National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness (NPACH)

NETWORK, a National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

New Orleans East Cooperative Parish

New Orleans Institute

New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative

New Voices, Academy for Educational Development

Northside Neighbors for Justice

Oak Park Civic Association

Ouachita Riverkeeper

Oxfam America

Pax Christi USA

PICO Louisiana

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Washington Office

Providence Community Housing

Puentes New Orleans, Inc.

Renaissance Neighborhood Development Corporation

Retired Senior Volunteer Program

Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights

Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference

Sierra Club, Delta Chapter

Soria City Civic Organization

Special Commission on the Just Rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, National Council of Churches

Squandered Heritage

St. Bernard Project

STEPS Coalition

Student Hurricane Network

Survivors Village New Orleans

Terrebonne Readiness & Assistance Coalition – TRAC

Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, (t.e.j.a.s.)

The Episcopal Church

The Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana Office of Disaster Response

The Latino Leadership Circle

The Presbytery of South Louisiana Recovery

The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

Turkey Creek Community Initiatives

Union of Black Episcopalians

Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

United Hearts Community Action Agency, Inc.

Universalist Unitarian Service Committee

Women In Construction, Moore Community House

Workers Emergency Relief Campaign

Youth Inspirational Connection, Inc.

Youthanasia Foundation

Action Alert

2009-05-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

ACTION ALERT

FRIDAY, 4/31/09

GULF COAST CIVIC WORKS CAMPAIGN

Dear David,
The Gulf Coast Civic Works (GCCW) Campaign would like to invite you to join several hundred advocates, including Gulf Coast survivors, to Advocacy Days in Washington, DC on May 30-June 1.

Supporters of the GCCW Act will participate in a series of events and congressional visits to bring attention to the continuing human rights crisis in the region, and vulnerability of residents to future disasters as the 2009 Hurricane Season begins. Excitingly, the GCCW Act will be re-introduced into Congress next Tuesday.

Participate in the GCCW Advocacy Days--click here to register:
https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5107/t/5835/event/checkOut.jsp?event_KEY=6838

As a part of the GCCW Advocacy Days, participants will urge members of Congress and the new Administration in meetings to authorize and fund the GCCW Act to rebuild community infrastructure, restore the environment, and reduce energy use to create more equitable and disaster resilient communities.

The GCCW Project is working on Advocacy Days with ACORN, Color of Change, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, Institute for Southern Studies, Oxfam America, Student Hurricane Network, and "Trouble the Water."

GCCW Advocacy Days Events will include:

* May 30: Registration and Introduction at George Mason University, including evening reception/screening of "Trouble the Water"
* May 31: Interfaith Service, Recovery Policy Seminars and Legislative Advocacy Training at George Mason University
* June 1: Congressional Visits and Rally

Get yourself to DC on May 30-June 1st, and let's rebuild the Gulf Coast equitably!
Best regards,

Scott Myers-Lipton, Ph.D.
Gulf Coast Civic Works Project
(510) 508-5382
www.SolvingPoverty.com

GCCW Act to Be Re-Introduced in Late April

2009-04-19T00:08:00.000-07:00

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act will be re-introduced into the House of Representatives in late April. Click here to see the draft of the bill.

Obama's Debt to New Orleans

2009-03-22T01:39:00.000-07:00

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act was recently mentioned in an article that appeared in The Nation. The article is titled "Obama's Debt to New Orleans", and it highlights the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (GCCWA). The authors' first suggestion listed in the article is that the GCCWA should be enacted. You can read the full article here.

Obama asked to fold Cajun coast into stimulus plan

2009-02-07T13:28:00.000-08:00

"With only one day to spare before his inauguration, President-elect Barack Obama is being lobbied heavily by elected officials, church leaders, parish governments, conservationists and others to create 100,000 jobs for the Gulf Coast as part of his promised stimulus plan."

Click here to read the full article.

Obama gives hope to Katrina activists

2009-01-23T13:33:00.000-08:00

"There was the merest mention of 'when the levees break' in President Barack Obama's inaugural address, but for Monique Harden, one among the multitude on the National Mall Tuesday, it spoke volumes about how much New Orleans is on the new president's mind."

Click here to read the full article.

The Ask: 30 hours down; 70 left to go

2009-01-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

"President Obama isn’t wasting any time on polities.
Within minutes of the swearing-in on the mall, a wholly renovated virtual White House had gone live with promises to do better by New Orleans than the Bush administration."

Click here to read the full article.

New White House Web site criticizes Bush over Katrina, promises change

2009-01-21T13:31:00.000-08:00

"The new White House Web site unveiled Tuesday by President Barack Obama's administration announces that "Change has Come to America." It also criticizes former-President Bush's failed response to Hurricane Katrina and makes a strong statement of support for rebuilding the region."

Click here to read the full article.

29th Annual Martin Luther King Luncheon of Santa Clara County, 1/19/09

2009-01-20T23:51:00.000-08:00

Speech given by Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton,

Associate Professor, San José State University, at the

29th Annual Martin Luther King Luncheon of Santa Clara County, 1/19/09

We gather today to honor the life, the vision, and the sacrifice of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a momentous time in American history. Tomorrow, a man, an African American man, will be sworn into office as President of the United States.

We are well aware of the sacrifices people have paid for this moment to come to fruition. Foremost in our minds today, is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But as we all know, there were hundreds and thousands of others who have worked to see such a day.

Famous people, such as Frederick Douglas and Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks and WEB DuBois, have worked for such a day….and not so famous people, like the 72 year old Sister Pollard, who was just one of the thousands of people who stayed off the buses during the 381 day Montgomery Bus Boycott. Sister Pollard gave us that beautiful comment that "My feets is tired, but my soul is rested."

And we could go on and on, about the every day people, including those in this very room, who have struggled and sacrificed for such a day as tomorrow. And we should celebrate…..as I know most of us will be doing tomorrow, as we watch on TV the inauguration of President Barack Obama… (applause). For his election is an historic milestone on our country's long path towards equality, and a very large step on the pathway to the Promised Land.

So with tomorrow, a new chapter in American history will begin. But as well all know, President Obama and our nation, confront great challenges: two wars, the bank and credit crisis, the sharp increase of unemployment over the past 4 months, and the foreclosure crisis, which have all but wiped out the housing gains made by African Americans over the past several decades.

And President Obama will face another issue….and that issue is what Dr. King called "the curious formula". Dr. King said that this formula dates back to the writing of the U.S. Constitution, where a black person was considered 60% of a human being when determining taxation and representation.

Dr. King was fond of saying that because of racism, there was another "curious formula" that existed that declared Blacks 50% of a person. Of the good things in life, Blacks had approximately 1/2 of those of Whites. Of the bad things, Blacks had twice those of Whites.

And in spite of all the positive developments that have occurred since the Civil Rights movement, this "curious formula" still exists today. Some examples will illustrate the point:

In 1970: 10% of White Americans lived in poverty,compared to 30% of African Americans. Today, 8% of White Americans are in poverty, compared to 24% of Black Americans.
In 1968, the unemployment rate was 5% for White Americans and 10% for Blacks. Today, White unemployment is 6%, while Black unemployment is 11%.
Today, in Santa Clara County, the Infant Mortality Rate, a statistic that looks at the number of children that die before their 1st birthday, and is widely accepted as an accurate indicator of general health, is 3.5% for Whites and 10.4% for Blacks.
And just yesterday, I read in the SJ Mercury that Blacks make less than 50% of Whites in SC County.

And this "curious formula" still applies to all sorts of other areas as well: foreclosure rates, loan application denial rates, prison population, who fights and dies in war, and who gets pulled off a BART train.

While this is the disheartening news, the good news is that Dr. King made some very specific policy suggestions on how to change this unjust and racist formula, which are still relevant for us today as we enter the Obama era. A key component of changing this unjust formula was to end poverty in America. To understand Dr. King's call to end poverty, we must do a bit of history, and travel back to 1966.

At that time--after 11 years of struggle since the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955—Dr. King had concluded that black equality with whites could not be achieved without fundamental changes to American society. King called the changes up to 1966 "surface changes" and he called on the movement to undergo a major transformation, from civil rights to human rights.

King felt that the civil rights movement had done little to address the poverty of black Americans, and the inequality that existed between black and white. King argued that it did little good to sit down at a restaurant, if people could not afford the meal.

To solve this problem, King made 3 specific proposals:

a public works New Deal-like program assuring full employment
a guaranteed income at middle class income levels
five million new low income housing units built in 10 years

Under Dr. King's proposal of public works and a guaranteed income, black Americans, as well as whites and other people of color who lived in poverty would be lifted into the middle class, and would be able to provide for themselves adequate housing, food, clothing, and health care.

Dr. King recognized this proposal would cost the U.S. money. But as King declared: "It didn't cost the nation one penny to integrate lunch counters. It didn't cost the nation one penny to guarantee the right to vote. But now we are dealing with issues that cannot be solved without the nation spending billions of dollars and undergoing a radical redistribution of economic power....And if our nation can spend $35 billion dollars a year to fight an unjust, evil war in Vietnam, and $20 billion dollars to put a man on the moon, it can spend billions of dollars to put God's children on their own 2 feet right here on earth."

His goal of ending poverty through public works and a guaranteed income is what Dr. King dedicated most of his time to in 1966-68. Gut with the assassination of Dr. King, and then of Robert Kennedy, the issue of poverty faded into the background of mainstream debate....

However, America was shocked out of its slumber in late August and early September of 2005, when the issue of poverty, as well as race, gripped the nation and world as we watched on TV our fellow brothers and sisters of the Gulf Coast, and specifically in New Orleans, suffer so greatly as they waited for assistance at the Superdome, and at the Convention Center, and on rooftops for 5 days without adequate food or water.

Interestingly, the media had become so unaccustomed to covering our poverty crisis, they didn't even have the language to describe the social suffering they were seeing.….what word the media did come up with was "refugee", as if somehow the winds of Katrina blew away the citizenship of Gulf Coast residents.

As a result of Hurricane Katrina, over 1,830 died, 250,000 houses were destroyed, 500,000 people were displaced. The damage hit the black community of New Orleans hard, but it extended over 90,000 square miles, and included the Vietnamese American communities in NOLA East and Biloxi, Native American communities in LA, and poor white communities all along the Gulf.

Now, I would argue that Katrina was a defining moment in U.S. history. It exposed to nation and world a secret...mostly hidden from mainstream society… but not from Dr. King's vision, but from mainstream society....that the US has a high rate of poverty. In fact, the USA is the poverty leader in the industrialized world Today, 37 million people (13% of the total population & 18% of kids).

So what does Hurricane Katrina have to do with Dr. King's vision? For me, the basic issues of what Dr. King fought for in the last 2 years of his life are all evident in what happened, and continues to happen in the Gulf Coast.

The issues of:

Human rights: specifically, the lack of housing which makes it very difficult for some to return
Poverty and Economic Justice: LA and MS are the poorest 2 states in the nation; prior to storm: 23% of NOLA residents in poverty
Racial injustice: Whether it be the sheriffs of Gretna, who blocked a bridge so that 100s of mostly African Americans could not leave NOLA and enter into the next parrish—and who in fact shot over their heads—or whether the Media images that highlighted white people "finding food" while black people obtained their food through "looting", racial injustice was apparent.

Incredibly, almost 3 ½ years later, the Gulf Coast residents and displaced continue to suffer, especially the kids, the elderly, the poor, and the sick. Much of the basic infrastructure in working class and poor neighborhoods—schools, hospitals, parks, housing, fire stations, the water system—are still badly damaged.

So Dr. King would have understood the racial and social class issues raised by Hurricane Katrina. And I believe, one of his major policy proposals, that of public works, provides a solution for many of the issues that the Gulf Coast faces.

The title of today's event is "Embracing the Spirit of Change." This spirit of change animated a group of 40 SJSU students and myself over 2 years ago. A group of my students had called for a "sleep out" to dramatize the fact that Santa Clara County had recently become the "homeless capital" of Northern California, with over 7,000 homeless on any given.

sleep out held at Smith / Carlos statues
watched Spike Lee's film, "When the Levees Broke"
coincidentally in my morning class, talking about public works….in 1934, CWA hired 800,000 in 2 weeks…

WATCH VIDEO CLIP: To give you a sense of what we started almost 2 and ½ years ago, let's watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA3qtTno-Gc

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project has sponsored two other large student trips to Gulf, most recent in November, 2008, where we had 80 students from 27 colleges come to a conference entitled "Rebuild the Gulf Coast, Rebuild America", co-hosted by Dillard University's Deep South Center for Environmental Justice.

After 1 year of organizing, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (HR 4048) was introduced into Congress by our Rep Zoe Lofgren. It is about to be reintroduced into the House, and hopefully into the Senate.

HR 4048 funds "green" resident-led recovery projects, building on the success of community organizations in Gulf Coast recovery, to help meet the overwhelming unmet needs of the individuals, families, and communities devastated by hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act has bipartisan support from 27 Members of Congress including Representatives Rodney Alexander, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Charlie Melancon, Gene Taylor/Bennie Thompson, over 100 supporting organizations, dozens of national faith leaders, as well as the Louisiana Republican Party, the New Orleans City Council, and the Lafourche and Terrebonne, LA Parish Councils.

The program would be a pilot project administered by the Office of Gulf Coast Recovery and Rebuilding using a hybrid model to partner directly with communities in planning, overseeing and administering recovery projects to assist the survivors of these disasters, provide communities with tools to build resilience against the impact of future disasters and revitalize the region economically. The bill would create a minimum of 100,000 prevailing wage jobs and training opportunities for local and displaced workers on projects reinvesting in infrastructure and restoring the coastal environment utilizing emerging green building techniques and technologies. It is our hope that HR 4048, which is inspired by Dr. King, will inspire a national Civic Works project.

I would like to conclude with a recognition of the fact that this year is the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's visit to India to learn first-hand from the co-workers of Mohandas Gandhi about non-violence.

I would encourage you to look at the photos of Martin and Coretta Scott King in India that are on display. Of Gandhi, King would say that: "Christ furnished the spirit and motivation, while Gandhi furnished the method...Prior to reading Gandhi, I had about concluded that the ethics of Jesus were only effective in individual relationship. The "turn the other cheek" philosophy and the "love your enemies" philosophy were only valid, I felt, when individuals were in conflict with other individuals. When racial groups and nations were in conflict, a more realistic approach seemed necessary. But after reading Gandhi, I saw how utterly mistaken I was. Gandhi was probably the 1st person in history to lift the love ethic of Jesus above mere interaction between individuals to a powerful and effective social force on a large scale."

King's passion for non-violence would strengthen because of his trip to India. King was most impressed with how little animosity there was between Indians and the British. This gave King confidence that after a non-violent struggle in the U.S., the oppressed and the oppressor, would be able to sit down at the table of brother and sisterhood.

Even during the difficult years of 1966-68, when large-scale riots encompassed many America cities, and the belief in NV as a strategy for social change was waning, King held fast to NV stating, "if I'm the last, lone voice calling for nonviolence, that I will do."

His belief in NV extended beyond how he conducted his campaigns, but also into how nations should treat one another. He bravely opposed the Viet Nam war, even though many in the movement felt like he should stick to civil rights.

He spoke out against how much the US spends on the military, saying: "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom."

And he called on today's Western powers, who were yesterday's colonial masters, not to continue using racism, economic exploitation and military might, which King saw as all tied together, but rather to build an "international order" based on respect, fairness, and peace.

For as King said: "We have inherited a large house, a great 'world house' in which we have to live together—black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Moslem and Hindu—a family unduly separated in ideas, culture and interest, who, because we can never again live apart, must learn somehow to live with each other in peace.

Our nation, which is involved in 2 wars, and currently spends over $700 billion dollars a year for the military, which is 48% of the total military spending in the world, would be wise to listen to Dr. King's call for an end to militarism.

So as Dr. King would say, where do we go from here: Chaos or community? As a follower of Martin King, I would say:

End poverty in America by creating a civic works project for the Gulf Coast and nation that creates full employment, and by implementing a guaranteed income, perhaps through an extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit.
And by building decent housing for our low and moderate income residents.
And lastly, create an international order based on non-violence, fair trade, and human rights.

As we celebrate today, what would have been Dr. King's 80th birthday, and President Obama's inauguration tomorrow, let us re-dedicate ourselves to the ideas and ideals of our great American hero, our 2nd founding father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

-- --------------------------------------------------------------------

Scott Myers-Lipton, Ph.D.Sociology Department, San José State
Co-Founder, Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign
(510) 508-5382
www.SolvingPoverty.com
www.SequoiaRetreatCenter.com

"I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Obama asked to fold Cajun coast into stimulus plan

2009-01-19T13:28:00.000-08:00

GULF COAST CIVIC WORKS: Last chance for Gulf recovery?

2009-01-14T22:12:00.000-08:00

From Facing South of the Institute for Southern Studies:

In his final press conference this week, President Bush defended Washington's response to Hurricane Katrina -- the most politically damaging episode in his term -- saying "don't tell me the federal response was slow."

The comment didn't play well back in the Gulf Coast, where many residents hope that a new administration means a new chance to push for full recovery in a region that has since endured the additional disasters of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Specifically, advocates see a window of opportunity in Obama's economic stimulus plan to press for a Gulf Coast Civic Works program that could quickly create jobs and jump-start much-needed rebuilding efforts.As we reported yesterday, over 130 organizations have signed onto a letter to President-elect Obama calling on him to enact an Executive Order for Gulf Civic Works in his first 100 hours of office.

A draft copy of the Executive Order is here [pdf].The plan would call on Congress to authorize $6.7 billion for the program, which would be run out of the Gulf Recovery Office set up by Bush (currently in the Department of Homeland Security, but the order calls for it to be moved directly to the White House).

Among the highlights of the Gulf Civic Works proposal:

* Creating 100,000 jobs across the Gulf Coast, focusing on much-needed rebuilding and recovery projects.

* First-source hiring to ensure jobs go to locals who need them most, and making up to 40% of jobs apprenticeships to help new, untrained workers.

* Placing an emphasis on "green" jobs like restoring wetlands and environmentally-sound construction.

* Setting up community boards to identify "shovel-ready" projects and locate local sub-contractors, to ensure money doesn't flow to out-of-state businesses like it did after Katrina.

The idea of a federally-backed jobs program in the Gulf Coast has been floated since Katrina struck in 2005 and aggressively championed by advocates like Scott Myers-Lipton, a sociology professor at San Jose State University, as well as national groups like ACORN, ColorOfChange, Oxfam and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works plan also has strong support in the Gulf Coast, where basic infrastructure is still lacking in dozens of communities. Last week, the non-profit America Speaks surveyed 200 residents in south Louisiana and 92% expressed support for the Gulf Coast Civic Works program.

This week, the Equity and Inclusion Campaign of the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Fund is hosting meetings with residents in Gulf towns to identify pressing projects that could use federal support; a meeting in Biloxi, Mississippi yesterday drew 20 residents representing 15 area organizations. There are no shortage of ideas, but after over three years of effort, does the Gulf Coast Civic Works program really have a chance of passing? As legions of groups fighting for a piece of the stimulus pie it won't be easy, although advocates are hopeful for several reason.

First, the plan fits within Obama's framework for economic stimulus while also offering him a chance to act on his declared commitment to Gulf Coast recovery. Obama frequently criticized the Bush administration's lack of leadership in the Katrina recovery and Gulf Coast rebuilding was an ongoing theme of his campaign.

Second, the plan is starting to draw attention from right people. Environmental groups like the Sierra Club and Global Green USA of Brad Pitt fame have embraced the program's call for green jobs. The Center for American Progress, led by Obama transition director John Podesta, included the project in its widely-circulated proposal [pdf] on how to spend stimulus money.

Gulf advocates are now feverishly working to shore up Congressional support, including getting two of the bill's original sponsors last year -- Mississippi Congressmen Gene Taylor and Bennie Thompson, both Democrats -- to sign on again.

There's a sense of urgency to the campaign: With Katrina receding from the public's mind -- and competition for federal dollars heating up -- there's a fear that the window of opportunity for steering needed federal support to the Gulf may be closing.

As Scott Meyers-Lipton told me, "This may be the last chance we have to make sure the Gulf Coast gets the money it needs to rebuild."

Group aims to keep Coast projects going

2009-01-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

"As President-elect Obama and congressional leaders draft an economic-recovery package for projects that are ready to go, advocates of the Gulf Coast want the area’s hurricane-recovery projects to be included."

Click here to read the full article.

Representatives Lofgren and Melancon urge Chairmen Frank and Obey to fund HR 4048 proposal

2009-01-08T13:10:00.001-08:00

Representatives Lofgren and Melancon urge Chairmen Frank and Obey to fund HR 4048 proposal.

NOLA City Council endorses HR 4048

2008-11-23T11:28:00.001-08:00

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."

Big Oil hurt coast, so why doesn't it pay for repairs?

2008-11-20T20:56:00.000-08:00

Please check out the article titled:

Big Oil hurt coast, so why doesn't it pay for repairs?

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

2008-11-15T20:43:00.000-08:00

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.

A Moral Response to the Gulf Coast Hurricanes

2008-09-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign Interfaith Statement:

A Moral Response to the Gulf Coast Hurricanes

As Hurricanes Ike and Gustav hit the Gulf Coast, internally displacing over one million people, we as a nation were reawakened to the needs of the Gulf Coast. Three years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck and the levees breached, the slow pace of recovery and the new needs caused by Ike and Gustav's destruction have created a moral crisis along the Gulf Coast that demands a powerful response from people of faith.

While the nation has learned to better prepare for this latest hurricane, whether by inaction or injustice, we have still failed to protect the wellbeing of Gulf Coast survivors, new residents and their families, especially the children, the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable through just long term rebuilding policies which fully support human rights. The collapse of local institutions, homelessness, internal displacement, poverty, abusive labor practices and environmental degradation mean they continue to suffer and struggle unduly. A spiritual wound remains open across the region, one felt in God's creation and every community across this country.

Our God is a God of justice, of humanity and of healing, and this moral injustice calls each of us to bold action in support of the common good. We must act to justly rebuild communities, restore the Gulf Coast, and empower families to overcome the devastation they suffered in our nation's worst natural disasters.

As people of faith and as Americans we believe in transcendent human dignity and place our trust in basic human rights. Many of the survivors of these disasters lack the resources to return to their communities to reunite with their families. Many families still have not recovered and have not been able to resume their lives with the dignity and safety that are their right. New residents who came to work in the recovery face hardships and abuses.

Gulf Coast communities continue to suffer from toxic trailers; closed schools, police stations, and hospitals; a shortage of affordable housing; crumbling roads and water systems; and workplace abuse.

As we have seen during Hurricane Gustav, an inadequate flood protection system and accelerating erosion of the wetlands left residents vulnerable to this and future disasters. Through years of improper stewardship, preventable coastal erosion has destroyed billions of dollars worth of natural flood protection and threatens the homes, places of worship, schools, and businesses of those who live along the Gulf Coast. This also threatens the security of the majority of our nation's energy infrastructure, parts of which was once built above land and now resides below salt water. The result is an American human rights and national security crisis that requires the attention all Americans, regardless of where they live, their faith, or their political party.

Together Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ike and Gustav killed more than 2,000 people. They destroyed thousands of homes, businesses, and places of worship, causing over $150 billion in damages and displacing hundreds of thousands of families. Members of diverse faith communions have responded generously, volunteering thousands of hours to rebuild lives across Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas and giving millions in charitable donations. Faith groups have formed powerful new partnerships with local community leaders, non-profits, and other denominations, to lead some of the most successful efforts in the recovery.

We have learned that acts of faith and mercy alone, no matter how profound, cannot provide everything needed for a sustainable recovery. Gulf Coast families deserve a federal government that recognizes their needs by rebuilding their communities, supporting basic human rights of all communities, addressing poverty and displacement, and confronting coastal erosion. The government must empower local communities to take the lead in rebuilding their neighborhoods, renewing their lives, and restoring God's creation. We believe it is a moral obligation for the federal government to fulfill its promises for Gulf Coast recovery: empowering residents to return and participate in equitably rebuilding their communities.

Now we are joining community and faith leaders across Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas and calling on people of faith to form a new partnership for a renewed and just federal Gulf Coast recovery policy to put all Gulf Coast communities, regardless of race, ethnicity or income, on the path to an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable recovery.

We ask national leaders of both parties, Democrats and Republicans, as they discuss the future of our nation, to honor the third anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the survivors of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav by pledging to fulfill these obligations in the next Administration and Congress, including:

• Passing policy based on the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act for a resident-led partnership to rebuild vital public infrastructure, restore the environment, and create good jobs and economic opportunities for residents and returning displaced families to help create stronger, safer, and more equitable communities;

• Increasing funding for federal, state, and local partnerships in the Gulf Coast to create more affordable housing and promote home-ownership for returning families, workers, and residents moving out of unsafe FEMA trailers; and

• Supporting federal funding to restore the coastal wetlands and barrier islands that form the Gulf Coast's natural barriers to flooding and to build improved levee systems to create a comprehensive flood control system which could protect all Gulf Coast communities from another Category 5 storm.

Signed,

Rev. Richard Cizik, Vice President, National Association of Evangelicals*

Rabbi Steve Gutow, Executive Director, Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary, National Council of Churches

Dr. Ingrid Mattson, President, The Islamic Society of North America

Fr. Larry Snyder, President, Catholic Charities, USA

Rev. David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World

Richard Stearns, President, World Vision

Rev. Jim Wallis, Chief Executive, Sojourners

The Rt. Rev. Wayne Burkette, President, The Moravian Church, Southern Province

The Rt. Rev. David L. Wickmann, President, The Moravian Church, Northern Province

Rev. Jacob Jang, General Secretary, Korean Presbyterian Church in America

The Most Reverend Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop, The Episcopal Church

Stanley Noffsinger, General Secretary, Church of the Brethren

The Rev. John H. Thomas, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ

Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins, General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Rev. Jim Winkler, General Secretary, The United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society

Dr. Robert C. Andringa, President Emeritus, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities

Roberta Avila, Executive Director, Mississippi Coast Interfaith Disaster Task Force

His Eminence Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, President, National Council of Churches and Legate, Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)

Dr. David R. Black, President, Eastern University*

Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston, Coordinator, Disciples Center for Public Wellness, Church of Christ

Rev. Jennifer Butler, Director, Faith in Public Life

Sr. Simone Campbell, Director, NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

Dr. Tony Campolo, Eastern University, St. David's, PA*

Dr. Iva Carruthers, General Secretary, Samuel Dewitt Proctor Convention

Rev. Alfred Carter, President, Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing

Rev. Noel Castellanos, CEO, Christian Community Development Association

Charles Clements, President and CEO, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

Rev. Luis Cortes, Executive Director, Nueva Esperanza

Dr. Paul Corts, President, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities*

Sr. Anne Curtis, RSM, Leadership Team, Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

Marie Dennis, Co-President, Pax Christi International and Director, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, President, Common Cause, Former General Secretary of the National Council of Churches

Rabbi Jerome M. Epstein, Executive Vice-President, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, Director, Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism

Mary Fontenot, Executive Director, All Congregations Together

Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, President, Interfaith Alliance

Sharon Gauthe, Executive Director, Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing

Sr. Donna Graham, OSF, Franciscan Justice and Peace Office and OFM for Province of St. John the Baptist

Dr. David Gushee, Presidents, Evangelicals for Human Rights*

Rev. Dr. Derrick Harkins, Treasurer, Senior Pastor, World Relief, Nineteen Street Baptist Church*

Rev. Dr. Leo Hartshorn, Minister of Peace and Justice, Mennonite Mission Network, U.S. Ministries

Dr. Frederick Haynes, III, Senior Pastor, Friendship West Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas

Dr. Obery Hendricks, Professor of Biblical Interpretation, New York Theological Seminary, Author of "The Politics of Jesus"*

Bishop Thomas J. Hoyt, Co-Chair, National Council of Churches Special Commission on the Just Rebuilding of the Gulf Coast

Dr. John Huffman, Senior Pastor, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church*

Dr. George Hunsinger, Professor, Princeton Theological Seminary, Founder, National Religious Campaign Against Torture

Dr. Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland, A Distributed Church*

Dr. Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Professor of Christian Ethics and Theology, Drew University, Madison, NJ*

Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo, Justice and Witness Ministry, United Church of Christ

David E. Jehnsen, Chair of the Board, Every Church a Peace Church

Ven. Michael S. Kendall, President, Episcopal Network for Economic Justice

Hon. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Author of "Failing America's Faithful", former Lt. Governor of Maryland and Board Member, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial

Rabbi Asher Knight, , Temple Emanu-El, Dallas Texas

Chris Kromm, Executive Director, Institute for Southern Studies, Author of "Faith in the Gulf"

Rabbi Irwin Kula, President, The Center for Leadership and Learning

Julie Kulinski, Director, Women in Construction, Moore Community House, Biloxi, MS

Dr. Peter Kuzmic, Distinguished Professor, Gordon Cornwell Theological Seminary

Rabbi Michael Lerner, Founder, TIKKUN and Network of Spiritual Progressives

Rev. Michael E. Livingston, Co-Chair, National Council of Churches Special Commission on the Just Rebuilding of the Gulf Coast

Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, Founder and CEO, World Hope International

Renaye Manley, Organizaing Director, Interfaith Worker Justice

Bishop A.C. "Chip" Marble Jr., Assisting Bishop, Diocese of North Carolina, Greensboro Office*

Dr. Molly T. Marshall, President and Professor of Theology and Spiritual Formation, Central Baptist Theological Seminary

Rev. Timothy McDonald III, President, African American Ministers in Action

Dr. Brian D. McLaren, best-selling Author, Pastor and intellectual leader of "emerging church,"*

Rev. LeDayne McLeese Polaski, Program Coordinator, Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America

Fr. T. Michael McNulty, SJ, Justice and Peace Director, Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Rev. Gail E. Mengel, Ecumenical and Interfaith Officer, Community of Christ

Rabbi Jack Moline, Chair of the Board, Interfaith Alliance and Senior Rabbi, Agudas Achim Congregation

Rev. Jethroe Moore, II, President, San Jose NAACP

Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, Chair, Council of the Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago

Dr. Pamela Nath, , Listening & Discernment, Mennonite Central Committee

Sr. Ann Oestreich, IHM, Congressional Coordinator, Congregation Justice Committee, Sisters of the Holy Cross

Vicky Partin, Lay Missioner, Chattahoochee Valley Episcopal Ministry

Dr. Ron Patterson, Executive Director, Christian Disaster Response

Sara Pottschmidt Lisherness, Director, Compassion, Peace, and Justice Ministries, Presbyterian Church USA

Sr. Claire Regan, Office of Justice and Peace, Sisters of Charity of New York

Rev. Carl W. Rehling, Director, Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, Diocesan Liaison for Justice and Peace

Sr. Jane Remson, O.Carm. Main Representative to UN, Carmelite NGO Congregation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Dr. Meg Riley, Director of Advocacy and Witness, Unitarian Universalist Association Congregation

Bill Robinson, President, Whitworth University*

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

Robert S. Runkle, Chair, Social Justice and Outreach Ministries Commission, Episcopal Diocese of Spokane

Dr. Andrew Ryskamp, Director, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee

Rev. Gabriel Salguero, Director, Hispanic/Latino Leadership Program, Princeton Theological Seminary*

Rev. Dr. Virginia Samuel, Interim Dean of Campus Life and Student Affairs, Drew University, Madison, NJ*

Sr. Marylin K. Scheib, Regional Administrative Office, Sisters of Mercy of the Regional Community of St. Louis

Rev. Bill Schulz, Chairman, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee Board of Directors

Rev. Dr. Ronald J. Sider, President, Evangelicals for Social Action

Dr. Ann E. Smith, President, Gamaliel Foundation

Rev.Dr. Cory Sparks, Chair, Commission on Stewardship of the Environment, Louisiana Interchurch Conference

Dr. Glen Harold Stassen, Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics, Fuller Seminary*

Rev. Ron Stief, Organizing Director, Faith in Public Life

Russ Testa, Executive Director, Franciscan Action Network

Rabbi Uri Topolosky, Senior Rabbi, Congregation Beth Israel, A Community Synagogue in New Orleans

Rev. Romal Tune, President, Clergy Strategic Alliances

Sr. Mari Turgi, CSC, Director, Holy Cross International Office

Rabbi Stewart Vogel, President, Southern California Board of Rabbis

Rabbi Brian Walt, Executive Director, Rabbis for Human Rights

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Executive Director, Shalom Center

Alix Webb, Program Manager, The Poverty Initiative, Union Theological Seminary

Rev.Dr. C. David Williams, President, Union of Black Episcopalians

Dr. Lauren Winner, Assistant Professor of Christian Spirituality, Duke Divinity School, Duke University*

Rabbi David Wolpe, Senior Rabbi, Sinai Temple*

Dr. Aidsand Wright-Riggins III, Executive Director, National Ministries, American Baptist Church, USA

Dr. Amos Yong, Professor of Theology, Regent University School of Divinity*

Susan Youmans, Executive Director, Environmental Partnership

News Clippings from the Interfaith Statement

2008-09-18T22:29:00.000-07:00

Below are links to news clippings from the Interfaith Statement:

Religion News Service: Faith Leaders Urge Long-Term Solutions for Gulf Coast

Christian Post: Top U.S. Religious Leaders Press for Moral Hurricane Response

Associated Baptist Press: Faith leaders to candidates: Stop neglecting Gulf Coast

Dallas Morning News, Religion Blog: High-profile interfaith group calls for more help for Gulf Coast

Sojourners: Top U.S. Religious Leaders Press for Moral Hurricane Response

The Presbyterian Outlook: Religious leaders call for response to hurricane rebuilding to be national moral priority, civic works campaign

Episcopal Café: Interfaith group pleads for help after Ike and Gustav

Black Christian News: Top Religious Leaders Want Human Rights Based Hurricane Response

National Council of Churches News Service: Interfaith solidarity religious leaders agree that justice must prevail in hurricane recovery

United Methodist News Service: U.S. religious leaders urge moral hurricane response

Episcopal News Service: Presiding Bishop, other Episcopalians join interfaith call for justice in Gulf Coast

Northland Church Blog (Dr. Joel C. Hunter is the guy who gave the closing prayer at the DNC): Evangelical, Mainline Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim Leaders Call for Moral Response to Hurricanes

United Church of Christ Blog: U.S. Religious Leaders Call For Rebuilding, Jobs In Wake Of Hurricanes

Islamic Society of North America: GULF COAST CIVIC WORKS CAMPAIGN INTERFAITH STATEMENT

Interfaith Statement Gains Attention

2008-09-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

Interfaith Statement Gains Attention -

http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3523&Itemid=53

http://www.wfn.org/2008/09/msg00074.html

best, scott

TELECONFERENCE: Evangelical, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim Leaders Call for Moral Response to Hurricanes

2008-09-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

Evangelical, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim Leaders Call for Moral Response to Hurricanes

Rebuilding and Human Rights are National Moral Priority

(September 15, 2008) – Today, 107 leading religious officials – including, Rev. Richard Cizik, National Association of Evangelicals; Richard Stearns, President, World Vision; Rabbi Steve Gutow, Jewish Council for Public Affairs; Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, National Council of Churches; Dr. Ingrid Matterson, Islamic Society of North America; Fr. Larry Snyder, Catholic Charities USA; Rev. David Beckmann, Bread for the World; and Rev. Jim Wallis, Sojourners – are calling for not just a charitable response but bi-partisan resident-led federal solutions helping families. They'll discuss a letter sent today to Senators John McCain and Barack Obama and members of Congress addressing the crisis.

What: Media Teleconference: 107 National Faith Leaders Urge Next Congress and President to Make Human Rights and Gulf Coast Rebuilding a Priority

When: Monday September 15th, 12:00pm ET

How: Members of the working press, please RSVP to buchanan@rfkmemorial.org

Teleconference Call in: (866) 443-5810 Conference ID: 64628175

Who:

Moderator: Stephen Bradberry, National Campaign Coordinator, ACORN, New Orleans, LA

Rev. Alfred Carter, President, Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing, Thibodaux, LA

Julie Kulinski, Director, Women in Construction, Moore Community House, Biloxi, MS

Dr. Frederick Douglas Haynes III, Senior Pastor, Friendship-West Baptist Church, Dallas, TX

Sr. Simone Campbell, Director, NETWORK, a Catholic Social Justice Lobby

Rev. Dr. Samuel Rodriguez Jr., Executive Director, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

Hadar Susskind, Director, Washington Office, Jewish Council on Public Affairs

Rev. Michael Livingston, Co-Chair, National Council of Churches Special Commission on the Just Rebuilding of the Gulf Coast

Background: Three years after the current administration first promised to rebuild the region devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the slow pace of recovery and recent devastation of hurricanes Gustav and Ike have created a moral crisis in the Gulf Coast. The collapse of local institutions, homelessness, internal displacement, poverty, abusive labor practices and environmental degradation in the Gulf Coast demands a powerful response from people of faith and bi-partisan resident-led federal solutions helping families return and participate in rebuilding their communities, creating living wage jobs, restoring the coastal wetland and ensuring human rights in the Gulf Coast region a national priority.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign is a nonpartisan partnership of community, faith, environmental, student, and human rights organizations in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi and their national allies advocating for federal legislation based on HR 4048, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act and urging national leaders to make creating jobs, rebuilding infrastructure and affordable housing, and restoring natural flood protection along the Gulf Coast a national priority.

# # #

Katie Paris

Note name change from Barge to Paris and new email address!

Faith in Public Life

202-435-0262

NAACP Calls for support of HR 4048

2008-09-13T23:39:00.000-07:00

NAACP Calls for support of HR 4048

NAACP, JEWISH Council, and GCCWP Host Panel

2008-09-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

Over 50 people gathered at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in San Jose to mark the 3rd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and to reflect on Gustav. Check out the media at:

http://www.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_1035526
http://www.ktvu.com/video/17355337/index.html
http://webblog.abc7news.com/2008/08/the-back-story.html

GCCWP On the Blogs

2008-08-28T22:26:00.000-07:00

Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton, co-founder of the GCCWP and Stephen Bradberry (ACORN) were on a panel facilitated by James Rucker of ColorofChange.org at the "Big Tent" in Denver for the Democratic National Convention. There were about 100 bloggers tuning in. Check out the blogosphere to catch what they thought:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/25/left-behind-panel-puts-ka_n_121218.html

http://www.first-draft.com/2008/08/new-political-c.html

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/guns-butter--why-not/story.aspx?guid=%7B8483DCEE-C3AB-4D6C-95C6-2FE7DE6F3E8E%7D&dist=msr_28

And you know that you are making headway when the Heritage Foundation starts writing untruths about your ideas.

Read on: http://blog.heritage.org/2008/08/25/bring-back-the-wpa/

News Release: Katrina Remembered

2008-08-27T22:25:00.000-07:00

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release

Monday, August 27, 2008

Contact: Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton (510) 508-5382, smlipton@sjsu.edu

KATRINA REMEMBERED: 3rd ANNIVERSARY EVENTS

SAN JOSE, CA: A San José State student group will plant 1,800 white flags on the lawn surrounding the Smith-Carlos sculpture at noon Thursday, August 28, in remembrance of Hurricane Katrina victims. The storm slammed the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. This 3rd Anniversary event will be lead by SJSU students from the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, and will include a discussion of the current situation in the Gulf Coast and a report out from the Democratic National Convention in Denver, where 3 SJSU students and Dr. Myers-Lipton were at advocating for HR 4048: The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act.

On Sunday, August 31st at 3 pm, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project student leaders, along with San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP, the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley, and Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, will host a community forum featuring California Assemblywoman Sally Lieber and Katrina survivors at 3 p.m. Sunday, August 31, on the second floor of King Library.

LA Republican Party Endorses HR 4048!

2008-06-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

LA Republican Party Endorses HR 4048!

Click on the images bellow to read the LA Republican Party GCCWC Resolution.

Representative Woolsey agress to co-sponsor HR 4048

2008-06-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

Representative Woolsey has agreed to co-sponsor HR 4048 and hold a hearing early next year in the Workforce Protection subcommittee that she chairs.

Pictured from left to right: Roberto Garcia-Ceballos, Tena Flores, Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton, Representative Woolsey, Latu Tapaatoutai, and Justine Ouano.

LA Republican Party Endorses HR 4048!

2008-06-09T11:11:00.001-07:00

The Louisiana Central Committee of the Republican Party voted yesterday to endorse HR 4048. We have always said that the GCCWP is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue, but an American solution. This latest endorsement goes a LONG WAY to show this statement to be true.

Click on the image below to see the Louisiana Republican resolution:

GCCWP Members meet with Congressman John Lewis and ask him to Co-sponsor HR 4048

2008-06-08T22:03:00.000-07:00

Roberto Garcia-Ceballos (L), Congressman John Lewis (C),
and Latu Tapaatoutai (R) pictured above.

"Asking Congressman John Lewis to Co-sponsor HR. 4048 was an empowering experience. John Lewis led the student movement during the civil rights and now students from San Jose State are leading a human rights movement in America. This shows we are continuing the legacy of the students of the Civil Rights Movement. I have faith that John Lewis will Co-sponsor HR. 4048". - Roberto Garcia-Ceballos

Lofgren sends out "Dear Colleague" letter

2008-06-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

Check out this new "Dear Colleague letter" that Congress member Lofgren's office sent out today. We are now at 7 co-sponsors; this letter may help get a few more.

Gulf Coast Civic Works Project wins SJSU Student Organization of the Year

2008-05-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

For those of you who have not heard the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project won Student Organization of the Year at last nights banquet!!!!! WOW. Myself, Roberto, and Harold accepted the award on behalf of you all, but I want to personally thank each and every one of you to make the achievement a reality. All of you have done amazing work for our group, have grown as students, community leaders, student leaders, and have become amazing friends to me. You all, Scott, and the GCCWP in general have been invaluable experience to me and can not thank you all enough.

With this said, lets use this new campus power/respect as a recruitment tool to get more people on our side at SJSU to complete the goals that we have established regarding our local congress people, national campaigns, and student/campus networking!! Our project, our goals, and group stood out among 292 student organizations as THE BEST!!! There are amazing students doing amazing things at our campus and we were singled out anyway. I want you to all let that sink in a think of new ways we can use this power to continue forward progress for Gulf Coast and beyond.

Again, congratulations. We should all be loud and proud!! Also, I think we should consider what we want to do with our plaque! Hang in CCCAC?? I like this idea.....

Chris Hauck

Gulf Coast Party Platforms Project

2008-04-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign is leading an initiative to introduce and pass state level party resolutions in the Republican and Democratic Parties of the Gulf Coast states (AL, LA, MS) and, with the help of supporters like you, in other states across the nation, mandating party officials and delegates to the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis and Democratic National Convention in Denver to include Gulf Coast rebuilding priorities in the national party platforms.

Party platforms are written at national party conventions every four years to determine the national priorities for federal action of each parties members of Congress and Presidential candidate. The process presents an opportunity for state level party activists to influence these priorities. In addition to working to pass these resolutions, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign plans to work with Gulf Coast and national NGOs, and allies on a national advocacy campaign to push these platform planks on Gulf Coast rebuilding to be a priority at each convention.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign developed a multi-issue Gulf Coast rebuilding platform plank written with input from a bi-partisan mix of leading community groups in the Gulf Coast, including ACORN, BISCO, Equity & Inclusion Campaign, Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations, and more, as well as national groups like Amnesty International USA, RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights, and the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project.

The plank demands:

1) the federal government fulfill its moral obligations to rebuild and help the displaced realize their human right to return;

2) local community planning in how federal funds are used to rebuild communities;

3) enactment of HR 4048, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act;

4) increased funding for building and providing access to affordable housing; and

5) funding for equitable Category 5 flood protection and coastal restoration.

The resolution campaign is focused currently on the political parties and eventually the conventions but similar supportive resolutions could be presented by your local municipal, county/parish and/or state level government body as well in support of these federal actions.

We need supporters to present resolutions to their state Democratic and Republican Parties in hopes of being passed by vote thereby mandating delegates from as many state parties as possible to support these planks in the national party platforms.

Any member of a state party can present a resolution or platform amendment. Still each state party has different rules and timelines for presenting resolutions and platform planks and how and when the resolutions are voted on. You will have to call your state party office (Find State Republican Party Contacts here: http://www.gop.com/Connect/States.aspx Find State Democratic Party Contacts here: http://www.democrats.org/local.html ) to request the timeline and how best way to present a resolution and state party platform plank for your particular state party. In most states resolutions are voted on in June state party conventions or meetings of the state party central committee. In some states you must submit resolutions one month before they will be considered.

If you are interested in submitting a resolution, please call your state party office as soon as possible for details! If you have submitted a resolution or have questions, please write to Scott Myers-Lipton (smlipton@sjsu.edu) to inform the campaign of your participation so we can coordinate and help coordinate support for the resolutions within your state party.

best, scott

--------------------------------------

Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton

San Jose State University

Sunday Times Picayune: Gulf Coast Civic Works Act in the News

2008-04-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

Click here, to read the latest Times Picayune article that features the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act.

Gulf Coast delegation Advocates for HR 4048 on Hill

2008-04-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

This week, the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation has taken the leadership in bringing 40 Gulf Coast community leaders to DC to lobby the AL, MS, and LA congressional delegations, as well as members of the Education and Labor Committee.

One of the main goals of the group is to ask for co-sponsorship of HR 4048 and to ask for a hearing of the bill. The Gulf Coast group has spoken to, or is scheduled to speak tomorrow to, the following representatives:

Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D MS–2)
Rep. Chip Pickering (R MS–3)
Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. (R LA–7)
Rep. Spencer Bachus (R AL–6)
Rep. Artur Davis (D AL–7)
Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D TX-15)
Rep. Robert C. Scott (D VA–3)
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D CA-6)
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D OH–10)
Rep. David Wu (D-OR-1)
Rep. Danny K. Davis (D IL–7)

For our part, the students have a campaign to get all 53 CA Congress members signed on as co-sponsors to HR 4048. Yesterday, we faxed the letters to 50 of the 53 CA Congress members (we already have 3 on board). Next week, we will follow up with phone calls.

We encourage all to contact their Congress members asking for co-sponsorship.

GCCWP Student Group Contact Information

2008-04-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

In light of where the GCCW campaign is currently at, the GCCWP has
reorganized itself to focus primarily on building the national college
campus network to help pass HR 4048.

Our thirty student leaders at SJSU have broken down into six teams.
The lead contact person for each team and contact info are listed
below:

National Campus Outreach Teams:

1. Gulf Coast Colleges: (Leads: Latu Tapaatoutai @ ltapaatoutai@hotmail.com and
Julia Lang @ julia.c.lang@gmail.com)
2. Historically Black Colleges: (Leads: Tena Flores @ tenafelicia@yahoo.com,
Hanna @ palindrome_image@comcast.net, Rochelle @ chelle1036@msn.com,
Carlyn @ carlynmsteward@gmail.com, and Sonja @ booboo0830@aol.com)
3. Campus Service-Learning Centers (Leads: Roberto Garcia-Ceballos @ pancho4o8@yahoo.com, Marcus Kilgore @ mkhomero@hotmail.com,
Alisia @ grusie2002@yahoo.com and Kristin Rasmussen @ kristinalexandra@gmail.com)
4. National Campus Based Organizations [e.g., Campus Progress,
Amnesty International] (Leads: Harold Bell @ mr.bell2@hotmail.com,
Rochelle @ chelle1036@msn.com)
5. Campuses already engaged with GCCWP (Lead: Scott Myers-Lipton @
smlipton@sjsu.edu)

If you have any contacts or ideas for these teams, please contact the
lead person.

Please note that we also have a GCCWP team focusing on getting our 53
CA Congress members to co-sponsor HR 4048. We already have two (plus
Congressmember Lofgren, who introduced the bill). The lead person on
the CALY campaign is Chris Hauck @ chrishauck@charter.net

REJUVENATING THE FIGHT FOR THE GULF COAST - SJSU Students Remind Community of Why They Struggle

2008-04-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Contacts: Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton (510) 508-5382, smlipton@sjsu.edu
Angie Gil (650) 575-9674, agil@appstream.com

REJUVINATING THE FIGHT FOR THE GULF COAST

SJSU Students Remind Community of Why They Struggle

Location: Outside Amphitheatre 12:00 – 1:00 / Student Union from 1:00 – 6:00 pm

San Jose, CA – This Thursday the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project will hold its second annual Post-Katrina Summit. The day-long event, which consists of multiple activities, is a symbol that the fight must continue for victims of Hurricane Katrina. CC Campbell Rock--a native to New Orleans, a veteran journalist, and Katrina evacuee--is set to speak about the ills of one of the worst national disasters, as well as how it has affected our society. In addition to her attendance, there will also be a panel discussion with the students of the organization, a music performance, and a showing of Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke."

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project (GCCWP) is the national effort to pass HR 4048: The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act, which would create 100,000 jobs for Gulf Coast residents and evacuees to rebuild their communities. HR 4048 will provide our citizens with living wage jobs, make housing available for themselves and their communities, restore a sense of personal empowerment and hope, and restore faith among our citizenry of the government's ability to respond to the needs of our people.

The GCCWP, which is made up of students and faculty from San Jose State University, is no stranger to hard work. The collective has held several creative events over its 2-year lifespan in an attempt to get the country's support. Just last November the group participated in a campus wide sleep out, an event where students replicated the lives of homeless Gulf Coast residents and slept outside for a night. Students and faculty also orchestrated a Mardi Gras precession in February of this year, in which they recreated the family friendly events of the New Orleans staple.

The GCCWP has allied with regional partners (LA ACORN, All Congregations Together (ACT of New Orleans), Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing [BISCO], Equity and Inclusion Campaign), as well as national partners (ColorofChange.org, RFK Human Rights Center, and Student Hurricane Network) to pass HR 4048.

Many of the SJSU students are well aware of their peers' efforts and say they are pleased to be around conscious students. Senior communications major Jason Jong said, "I think its critical that events like this take place so that we're constantly reminded of the tragedy; not the sad side of it but the side that tells you something needs to be done." He continued, "People need to understand that even though the Gulf Coast isn't on the news, doesn't mean that people's lives have been restored."
###

GCCWP on front page of Campus Compact's "Current"

2008-03-31T11:39:00.001-07:00

Photos from Student Hurricane Network (SHN) in Louisiana

2008-03-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

The above are some pics of the group working on the bill, from Jonathan Rhodes.

1) SHN group working in the conference room at the Louisiana State Bar Association.
2) and 3) SHN group working at a different office in the law firm of Adams and Reese.
4) SHN group working from home on Good Friday.
5) SHN at a workers rights rally outside of our office at the LA Bar Association.
6) and 7) SHN meeting in NOLA.
8) SHN meeting in Mobile.

Student Hurricane Network Working for HR 4048

2008-03-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

In this blog, Scott Hechinger describes his experience in New Orleans working with Student Hurricane Network and for the passage of HR 4048: The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act.

Right now, he is in the Gulf Coast with 20 law students as they travel to New Orleans, Mobile, and Biloxi for community meetings to get input about HR 4048

It is a good account of his initial reflections. Please note that Vitter has not come out against HR 4048 (it is not even in the Senate yet). Rather, Scott H. has confused S. 1668 with HR 4048. Vitter did come out against this bill, and stopped in its tracks, even though the entire Louisiana House members were behind it.

best, scott ml

'West coast legislation could aid gulf coast'

2008-03-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act: HR 4048 makes the news. Click here to read the full article, titled 'West coast legislation could aid gulf coast'.

3 upcoming meetings to discuss HR 4048: New Orleans, Mobile, and Biloxi

2008-03-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

If you have contacts in the Gulf Coast region, please let them know about these 3 upcoming meetings in New Orleans, Mobile, and Biloxi.

Thanks, scott ml

----------------------------------------------------------------

The Equity and Inclusion Campaign, Student Hurricane Network, and ACORN
will be convening meetings in New Orleans, Mobile, and Biloxi next week
to review the content of HR 4048, Gulf Coast Civic Works Act, and begin
a discussion about possible amendments to the bill. We envision these
meetings as a start to a much longer discussion about amending this
legislation. The meetings are scheduled as follows:

Tuesday, March 18, 1 - 4 PM:
New Orleans, LA
Greater New Orleans Foundation
1055 St. Charles Ave., Ste. 100
(Parking available in back of building through entrance on Caliope St.)

Wednesday, March 19, 5:30 - 8:30 PM:
Mobile, AL
Exact Location TBA

Thursday, March 20, 1 - 4 PM:
Biloxi, MS
Donal Snyder Community Center
2520 Pass Road

A summary of the bill is attached to this email for your review. The
full text of the bill can be found at:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-4048.

Please forward this announcement to your networks. Email
jainey@equityandinclusion.org to RSVP or with any questions.

Jainey K. Bavishi
Equity and Inclusion Campaign Manager
Senior Program Associate, Community Engagement
Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation
445 N. Sixth Street, Suite 200
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70801
Office: 225-383-1672
Cell: 225-772-2714
Fax: 225-383-1858

CA STATE SENATE PASSES GULF COAST RESOLUTION

2008-03-11T19:43:00.000-07:00

NEWS RELEASE

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Contacts:
Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton (510) 508-5382, smlipton@sjsu.edu
Arianna Smith (916) 319-2022, Arianna.Smith@asm.ca.gov;
Office of Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Sally Lieber

CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE PASSES GULF COAST RESOLUTION
Students, Gulf Coast, Victorious in Vote

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Yesterday, the California State Senate passed Assembly Joint Resolution 22 on a 24-11 vote. AJR 22 urges California Congress members and the President to support the passage of House Resolution 4048: The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. HR 4048 is based on the work of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project (GCCWP), a movement begun by college students and faculty whose goal is to create civic work jobs and rebuild communities in the Gulf Coast region.

The Project was developed by students and faculty at San Jose State University, and support of the movement has now spread to over 40 colleges around the country. Today's vote represents a major victory for the students and faculty who been working for the past year to pass AJR 22. On the passage of AJR 22, Harold Bell, an SJSU senior involved with the GCCWP noted, "I think this is a sign that people are coming around to our vision of resurrecting the Gulf Coast. This California resolution is a wake-up call to the members of Congress that there is still a crisis in the Gulf Coast, and HR 4048 is one of the solutions."

AJR 22 was introduced in May 2007 by Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Sally Lieber after being inspired by the students involved in the GCCWP. The resolution passed the Assembly in September 2007. "Regardless of where we live, we have an obligation to call for action in the Gulf Coast region," said Lieber. "As Californians, we are also vulnerable to a variety of natural disasters, and we would not want to endure the kind of dismal federal response that the Gulf Coast residents received."

On November 1, HR 4048 was introduced into Congress by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), with original co-sponsorship from Reps. Charlie Melancon (D-LA) and Gene Taylor (D-MS). This legislation, which is also based on the work of college students, will establish a federal authority to coordinate recovery projects, rebuild key infrastructure, and revitalize the region's workforce by training and hiring 100,000 civic workers. The bill is currently in the House Education and Labor Committee, which is chaired by Rep. George Miller (D-CA).

The GCCWP estimates that the cost for HR 4048 would be between $4-10 billion a year, 80% of which would go straight to the civic workers. At the same time, $8 billion in unobligated funds from the FEMA's Disaster Recovery Fund remain unspent, as well as $20 billion in Gulf Coast rebuilding federal appropriations; both of these funding sources could be used to fund HR 4048.

California students and faculty have now partnered with regional partners (LA ACORN, All Congregations Together [ACT of New Orleans], Equity and Inclusion Campaign), as well as national partners (ColorofChange.org, RFK Human Rights Center, and Student Hurricane Network) to pass HR 4048.

Students from San Jose State University, Stanford, UC Berkeley, CSU Monterey Bay, and San Diego State University will be following up in the next month with the members of California's 53-member Congressional delegation asking that they co-sponsor HR 4048.

Chris Hauck, an SJSU senior involved in the project stated that, "The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act is not only a solution for the people and infrastructure of the Gulf Coast, but is also a step forward in an ongoing fight for equality and human rights. The GCCWA can be used as not only a solution for the Gulf Coast, but also a pilot project to create jobs and infrastructure solutions nationwide."

The complete text of AJR 22 can be found here.

The complete text of HR 4048 can be viewed here.

More information about the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project can be located here.

###

HR 4048 to be considered at Minnesota Democratic State Convention

2008-03-10T21:18:00.000-07:00

HR 4048 will be considered at the Minnesota Democratic State Convention, as reported by Peter Scholtes. You can read the full story here.

AMENDED VERSION OF AJR 22 INCLUDES HR 4048

2008-03-04T22:19:00.000-08:00

AJR 22 has been amended to include HR 4048!

Click here to see the updated text of AJR 22.

The Katrina Diaspora in Photos

2008-03-01T23:04:00.000-08:00

Direct link here.

Article discusses the KatrinaRitaVille Express coming to the Texas Presidential debates

2008-02-22T10:40:00.000-08:00

Thursday, February 21, 2008

KatrinaRitaVilleExpress is coming to tonight's presidential debates!

Several Gulf Coast organizations have purchased two FEMA trailers that are now touring the country to raise awareness about the ongoing nature of the crisis in the region and the government's failure so far to rebuild in a manner that meets the needs of poor and minority residents. The trailers will be making a stop at tonight's CNN Democratic Presidential Debate from the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. At 7 p.m., the debate will be shown live on the side of one of the 32-foot trailers. For more details about the KatrinaRitaVille Express, visit the tour's Web site here.

'Poverty Is Poison' By Paul Krugman

2008-02-21T23:25:00.000-08:00

This article discusses the many dangers in our society that exist as a result of poverty. Hurricane Katrina is mentioned as an example of an event that exposed poverty in the U.S., making it an impossible issue to ignore.

Poverty Is Poison
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: February 18, 2008

"Poverty in early childhood poisons the brain." That was the opening of an article in Saturday's Financial Times, summarizing research presented last week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

As the article explained, neuroscientists have found that "many children growing up in very poor families with low social status experience unhealthy levels of stress hormones, which impair their neural development." The effect is to impair language development and memory — and hence the ability to escape poverty — for the rest of the child's life.

So now we have another, even more compelling reason to be ashamed about America's record of failing to fight poverty.

L. B. J. declared his "War on Poverty" 44 years ago. Contrary to cynical legend, there actually was a large reduction in poverty over the next few years, especially among children, who saw their poverty rate fall from 23 percent in 1963 to 14 percent in 1969.

But progress stalled thereafter: American politics shifted to the right, attention shifted from the suffering of the poor to the alleged abuses of welfare queens driving Cadillacs, and the fight against poverty was largely abandoned.

In 2006, 17.4 percent of children in America lived below the poverty line, substantially more than in 1969. And even this measure probably understates the true depth of many children's misery.

Living in or near poverty has always been a form of exile, of being cut off from the larger society. But the distance between the poor and the rest of us is much greater than it was 40 years ago, because most American incomes have risen in real terms while the official poverty line has not. To be poor in America today, even more than in the past, is to be an outcast in your own country. And that, the neuroscientists tell us, is what poisons a child's brain.

America's failure to make progress in reducing poverty, especially among children, should provoke a lot of soul-searching. Unfortunately, what it often seems to provoke instead is great creativity in making excuses.

Some of these excuses take the form of assertions that America's poor really aren't all that poor — a claim that always has me wondering whether those making it watched any TV during Hurricane Katrina, or for that matter have ever looked around them while visiting a major American city.

Mainly, however, excuses for poverty involve the assertion that the United States is a land of opportunity, a place where people can start out poor, work hard and become rich.

But the fact of the matter is that Horatio Alger stories are rare, and stories of people trapped by their parents' poverty are all too common. According to one recent estimate, American children born to parents in the bottom fourth of the income distribution have almost a 50 percent chance of staying there — and almost a two-thirds chance of remaining stuck if they're black.

That's not surprising. Growing up in poverty puts you at a disadvantage at every step.

I'd bracket those new studies on brain development in early childhood with a study from the National Center for Education Statistics, which tracked a group of students who were in eighth grade in 1988. The study found, roughly speaking, that in modern America parental status trumps ability: students who did very well on a standardized test but came from low-status families were slightly less likely to get through college than students who tested poorly but had well-off parents.

None of this is inevitable.

Poverty rates are much lower in most European countries than in the United States, mainly because of government programs that help the poor and unlucky.

And governments that set their minds to it can reduce poverty. In Britain, the Labor government that came into office in 1997 made reducing poverty a priority — and despite some setbacks, its program of income subsidies and other aid has achieved a great deal. Child poverty, in particular, has been cut in half by the measure that corresponds most closely to the U.S. definition.

At the moment it's hard to imagine anything comparable happening in this country. To their credit — and to the credit of John Edwards, who goaded them into it — both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are proposing new initiatives against poverty. But their proposals are modest in scope and far from central to their campaigns.

I'm not blaming them for that; if a progressive wins this election, it will be by promising to ease the anxiety of the middle class rather than aiding the poor. And for a variety of reasons, health care, not poverty, should be the first priority of a Democratic administration.

But ultimately, let's hope that the nation turns back to the task it abandoned — that of ending the poverty that still poisons so many American lives.

Rep. Lofgren Releases "Dear Colleague" Letter to House Members

2008-02-11T00:57:00.000-08:00

On Friday, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren released the attached letter that was sent to all members of the House of Representatives. It is a "Dear Colleague" letter, and it asks her fellow House members to co-sponsor HR 4048: The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. Significantly, the letter highlights the work done by students and faculty. And positively, Rep. Mike Honda has responded to this request and has signed on as a co-sponsor.

Mardi Gras Events in support of HR 4048 on SJSU campus reported in Spartan Daily: Dressing, marching for Katrina

2008-02-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

The following is the full article that was published in the Spartan Daily. They covered the events that took place at SJSU on Tuesday Feb. 5th in support of HR 4048:

Dressing, marching for Katrina

By Tommy Wright

To help bring awareness of the conditions in the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, members of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project held a Mardi Gras celebration at SJSU on Tuesday.

"We are trying to draw attention to the bill we have in Congress right now, H.R. 4048, to help rebuild the Gulf because the Lower Ninth Ward is still not rebuilt," said Carlyn Steward, a senior behavioral science major and member of the group. "It's been two years."

"So, we're trying to do something about it, but we are all the way in California," Steward said. "So we're just trying to help bring awareness here in California by celebrating Mardi Gras in the traditional way that they would in New Orleans."

H.R. 4048, or the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act, was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Zoe Lofgren with the purpose of rebuilding homes, public infrastructure, and community resources in the areas that were devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

It would provide at least 100,000 jobs to those affected by the hurricanes.

"That's the dirty little secret, the reconstruction that has been done and the clean up that has been done didn't go to the people of the Gulf," said associate professor Scott Myers-Lipton, who runs the project. "It went to outside labor, cheap labor, exploited labor."

"I think people don't realize the extent of what's going on over there," said Julia Lang a sophomore sociology major and member of the group. "There's human rights violations, there's government negligence, but we're targeting this area because it's been exposed."

According to Myers-Lipton, the problem is nationwide.

"We're at the lowest level of investment in public infrastructure since the Great Depression."

He said they want to look at the problem as a whole, but they are using what they are trying to do for the Gulf Coast as a test.

"There's really a crisis in America, but the crisis is just more clearly seen in the Gulf Coast because four out of the seven hospitals are still down, 65 percent of all the schools are still down in New Orleans, and not just in New Orleans, in the larger Gulf," said Myers-Lipton.

The event started with sign and mask making at the Seventh Street Plaza. The group later met at the John Carlos and Tommie Smith statue to begin their procession around campus. The event featured New Orleans cuisine and the band Bug Horn Rex playing jazz music.

Myers-Lipton said the group hopes to gain the support of 100 members of the House of Representatives for the bill, which now only has Lofgren and two cosponsors on board, but they need help.

"There's tens of thousands of things to do … get involved," he said.

Mercury News Publishes Article on GCCWP Mardi Gras Events: SJSU students celebrate Mardi Gras with eye on aiding Gulf Coast

2008-02-05T22:48:00.000-08:00

San Jose Mercury Newspaper reports on the Mardi Gras events that were held at SJSU, in support of HR 4048:

SJSU students celebrate Mardi Gras with eye on aiding Gulf Coast

By Dana Hull

San Jose State University is 2,200 miles from New Orleans. But on Tuesday the spirit of Mardi Gras filled the campus, which is leading a growing network of colleges pushing for a federal law to create thousands of jobs in the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast.

Sociology professor Scott Myers-Lipton and a group of his students are spearheading a nationwide campaign for HR 4048, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act.

To drum up support for the campaign, students danced to a local brass band, passed out Mardi Gras beads and dished out red beans, rice and cornbread.

Drafted on the San Jose campus, the legislation calls on the federal government to create 100,000 jobs in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast in communities destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It's modeled on the vast public works programs created during the 1930s, when millions of Americans were put to work building highways, parks and public libraries.

Myers-Lipton's passion for activism has made San Jose State the leader for the bill, which Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, introduced in Congress. The challenge now is getting at least 100 members to sign on as co-sponsors.

Junior Roberto Garcia-Ceballos, 21, went to New Orleans for the first time last month. He spent three days helping to gut houses and clear lots in the city's Lower Ninth Ward, a low-income neighborhood devastated by Katrina that has become the focus of intense debate about how New Orleans rebuilds.

"The trip was very eye-opening about all of the social problems this country has," said Garcia-Ceballos. "They've torn down public housing, and there are huge homeless encampments under the freeways."

Two and half years after Hurricane Katrina pounded New Orleans, many of Myers-Lipton's students are stunned that so much of the city remains destroyed.

"I talked to people who have to travel four to 12 miles just to get groceries," said Kristin Rasmussen, 27. "Parts of the city feel like a ghost town."

Contact Dana Hull at dhull@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-2706.

SJSU Mardi Gras Events A Success

2008-02-05T22:35:00.000-08:00

Today, San Jose State University hosted incredibly successful Mardi Gras events.

Over 75 students participated in the procession around campus.

Students rallied in support of HR 4048 - The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act.

GCCWP SJSU Mardi Gras Event noted in San Jose Mercury Newspaper

2008-02-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

Click here to link to the full article.

The following is an excerpt from a San Jose Mercury Newspaper article written by Sal Pizzaro:

FAT TUESDAY: The Super Tuesday/Mardi Gras collision is producing an interesting side effect at San Jose State University.

The politically minded students and faculty supporting the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project plan to parade around campus Tuesday with BugHornRex, a traditional New Orleans jazz band.

They plan to make politically themed signs and masks - whatever those are - in the morning before starting a procession at the statues of Tommie Smith and John Carlos just before noon.

The parade is supposed to wrap up with a New Orleans-style cookout at the Seventh Street Plaza barbecue pits.

GCCWP Receives Message of Support from Executive Director of BISCO

2008-01-31T09:26:00.000-08:00

The following message was sent to us from Sharon Gauthe, who is the Executive Director of BISCO (Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing):

I greatly appreciate everything all of you are doing to help keep the current situation here in Louisiana & the Gulf Coast fresh in the minds of the American public. The youthful energy of your students and their leaders is a blessing to us all. This is a wonderful project, very much needed as so much work is yet to be done, not only in New Orleans but along the whole coast. Our organization is in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parish. We are 60 - 90 miles southwest of New Orleans and were affected by Hurricane Rita as well as Katrina. Thank you for keeping our name on the minds of Americans throughout our great nation. They just don't know and when they do, they care and they do something about it, which can't be said for all of the politicians, some who vote against us but won't even come down to see our area's needs. Again, Thank you and best of luck in all of your endeavors in the future. Sharon

Push to inject Gulf revival into debates acknowledged

2008-01-30T18:02:00.000-08:00

With your help, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act questions shot up to the #1 and #3 most popular for the Democratic and Republican debates in California, winning acknowledgment from the New Orleans Time-Picayune, The Nation, Black Agenda Report, and Alternet. See below for the front page Time-Picayune article:

Group Pushes to inject Gulf revival into debates
Question could go to presidential rivals

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

By Bruce Alpert

WASHINGTON -- Encouraging allies to click away in pursuit of cyber democracy, a coalition of activists is pushing sponsors of this week's California debates to ask the presidential candidates about their plans to encourage hurricane recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast.

The result: As of Tuesday afternoon, a question asking the candidates whether they support the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act, which would pay for infrastructure projects employing local and displaced workers, has jumped to the most-voted-for question among the more than 3,800 suggested for Thursday's Democratic debate. The same question ranked No. 3 in votes among more than 3,500 proposed for tonight's GOP debate.

Both debates will be televised on CNN.

Politico, a Web-based political newspaper distributed in Washington, which is co-sponsoring the debates with CNN and the Los Angeles Times, said it will list the 150 questions with the most votes on its Web site, www.politico.com, today and during the debates and that some of the most popular questions will be asked of the candidates during the debates.

Stephen Bradberry, Louisiana organizer for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, said it's important for Gulf Coast recovery issues to stay in the national forefront and that one way to do that is to raise the issue during the presidential debates. He said only a few questions about Katrina have been asked during the 20 Democratic debates so far, and not one during the 19 Republican debates.

"We want to keep the issue alive," said Bradberry, who noted that the biggest chance for getting the issues a full airing was lost when the Commission on Presidential Debates refused to hold a debate in New Orleans.

"If the debate is not coming to the Gulf Coast, then we need to bring the Gulf to the debate," he said.

ACORN and other groups, including the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation and the RFK Center for Human Rights, cite a June article by pollster John Zogby to argue that that there's still a lot of voter interest in the issues raised by Hurricane Katrina and recovery efforts. Zogby wrote that "Katrina over the long haul will prove to more of a defining moment in American history than the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001," and that Americans have a "hunger nationwide for a new model for the federal government."

Although hurricane recovery hasn't come up much during the debates, it has generated some discussion even without specific questions by moderators. During a GOP debate in August, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said he watched nonstop TV coverage of the hurricane in August 2005 that showed people desperately seeking help. "It was just was beyond my comprehension that we could get TV cameras to these people," he said, "but we couldn't get a boat, or a bottle of water to them."

At another GOP debate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said government's failure to respond quickly to Katrina, along with failures to control U.S. borders from illegal immigration and missteps in Iraq, made Americans skeptical about the government's ability to deliver on politicians' promises.

At Democratic debates, Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Barack Obama, D-Ill., and former Sen. John Edwards, D-S.C., have outlined their own plans to aid recovery efforts.

Students react to Gulf Coast tragedy; Use media as an outlet

2008-01-20T06:12:00.000-08:00

After becoming deeply moved by what they learned during a social action course at SJSU taught by Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton in Fall '07, two students created their own pieces reacting to the government's lack of leadership in securing aid to residents after Hurricane Katrina.

The two students were also part of a media team, which focused on obtaining media attention and developing outreach strategies in order to promote the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project.

Justin Ruiz is a senior at SJSU, and is majoring in Communication Studies. Justin also works for the Golden State Warriors as a Broadcasting Assistant.

boomp3.com

Kristin Rasmussen is a Theatre Arts graduate student at SJSU. Her video was made in partnership with local hip hop artist JeFFHH, who wrote the song that is featured in her video, after he visited New Orleans a year ago while taking part in Louisiana Winter 1.

SJSU STUDENTS TO HOST MARDI GRAS EVENT

2008-01-18T08:34:00.001-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS:
Kristin Rasmussen (415) 845-4200 / kristinalexandra@gmail.com
Dr. Scott-Myers Lipton (510) 508-5382 / smlipton@sjsu.edu

SJSU STUDENTS TO HOST MARDI GRAS EVENT
Students to "Celebrate for HR 4048"

On Tuesday, February 5th, 2008, students and faculty will gather at San Jose State University to celebrate Mardi Gras and rally in support of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (HR 4048).

SJSU students and faculty created the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project in November of 2006. Through relentless effort, and by forming alliances with Louisiana ACORN, ColorofChange, and the RFK Center for Human Rights, HR 4048 was introduced into Congress on November 1, 2007. Congress member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced HR 4048, with original co-sponsorship from Charlie Melancon (D-LA) and Gene Taylor (D-MS). When enacted, HR 4048 will create 100,000 civic work jobs for Gulf Coast residents and evacuees to rebuild their public infrastructure.

Students and faculty will "Celebrate for HR 4048" by processing around campus with a jazz band. The celebration will include throwing of beads, small floats, and New Orleans cuisine. Below is the full schedule:

• 9 am–noon: Politically-themed mask making and sign making (in support of HR 4048) on the 7th Street Plaza sponsored by the Cesar Chavez Community Action Center
• 11:30 am: Meet at the Smith/Carlos Statues; begin procession around campus at 11:45 am
• 12:30 pm: New Orleans cuisine at the barbecue pits on the 7th Street Plaza
• 4-5:30 pm: "American Blackout" (video on Black voter suppression), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Library, Room 225
• 7–9 pm: ""The History of New Orleans from the Bottom of the Gumbo Pot," presentation by Dr. Steven Milner, Chair of African-American Studies; SJSU student report out of the current state of New Orleans based on their recent NOLA trip, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Library, Room 225

This year, Mardi Gras falls on Super Tuesday, where 22 states will hold caucuses or primary elections to choose their presidential candidates. What better day than Mardi Gras/Super Tuesday to highlight the importance of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. The SJSU students hope to send a loud message to the nation and to the presidential candidates that there is solution to the crisis in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and it is HR 4048, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act.

# # #

GCCWP Meets with LA ACORN: Partnership Strengthened

2008-01-16T15:02:00.000-08:00

During this past week, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project (GCCWP) met twice with one of its most important allies, Louisiana ACORN. This working relationship began last January, when Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton met with Stephen Bradberry at Xavier University in a VERY EARLY morning meeting.

On their last day in New Orleans as a part of Louisiana Winter 1, Stephen suggested that the two groups meet at 7 am at Xavier. Scott ML being the 24/7 organizer that he is, said sure.....the 30 students were less enthusiastic.....1 student woke up for the meeting! But this was a very important meeting, as the two groups began discussing how they could work together to enact the GCCWP.

Scott and Stephen continued to talk on the phone throughout the past year. Importantly, Stephen came to San Jose State University to speak to 70 students in September, where he witnessed the power of the student movement at SJSU. He also gave an incredibly inspiring talk.

Then, Scott and Stephen, along with Jeffrey Buchanan from the RFK Center for Human Rights, Jonathan Rhodes from Chicago-Kent School of Law, and Brenda Muniz who is ACORN's Legislative Director, went to the Hill together to discuss with members of Congress the GCCWP. This trip was very productive, as we garnered the support of Charlie Melancon from south Louisiana and Gene Taylor from south Mississippi.

In the beginning of our Louisiana Winter 2 trip, Stephen and Tanya Harris, Lead Organizer for New Orleans ACORN, met with the students in ACORN's new center in the Lower Ninth Ward to discuss the social conditions of that community. Tanya talked about how Brad Pitt's project is building 150 houses on one end of the Lower 9, while ACORN is taking the lead to build 150 houses on the other side, with the hope of sparking development throughout the community. Stephen talked about the importance of the GCCWP as a pilot project for the rest of the country.

At the end of our 8 days in New Orleans as part of Louisiana Winter 2, Stephen met with the students for a national phone call with other community-based organizations to discuss strategy about how to mobilize Gulf Coast communities to support HR 4048. The students had a chance to see first-hand how organizing works within a major community-based organization, and how it works collaboratively with others to further our common goal.

Before the phone call, Stephen discussed the depth of his commitment to the GCCWP, and the passing of the bill. Students left the meeting energized about having such a powerful ally as Stephen Bradberry and LA ACORN. In fact, they have begun to BELIEVE that with allies like Stephen, that it will be possible to achieve our collective goal.

Stay tuned....this relationship between the GCCWP and LA ACORN continues to flourish, and the result just might well be the passing of HR 4048, and a new direction for our country.

59 Students & Faculty Gather at Loyola U.:National Campus Strategy to Pass HR 4048 Developed

2008-01-14T07:31:00.001-08:00

Today, 59 students, staff, and faculty from 10 college campuses met at Loyola University in New Orleans and took a major step forward in planning a national campus campaign strategy to pass the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project (HR 4048).

Eighteen students from San Jose State University facilitated the event, which included an ice breaker facilitated by Justine Ouano, a discussion of the history of the GCCWP led by Marcus Kilgore, and in-depth discussion of HR 4048 led by all of the SJSU students.

We were happy to have Jonathan Rhoades in attendance. Jonathan, who is a law student at Chicago-Kent College of Law, took the research that the GCCWP had done during the first Louisiana Winter trip last January and crafted the original bill.

Folks then broke down into 5 groups, and discussed in depth the following questions:

1) What part of bill are you most excited about? Do you have any concerns about the bill?
2) What has worked on your campus to promote social justice causes? In light of that learning, how can we bring/promote HR 4048 at your campus?
3) How do we build a national student coalition around HR 4048?
4) Do you have a powerful experiences in New Orleans that you want to share? Does it connect to the GCCWP?
5) Have you experienced Katrina fatigue on your campus? And if so, what have you done to overcome it?

We then discussed the various GCCWP Campaigns. Chris Hauck and Roberto Garcia-Ceballos talked about the Myspace and Facebook campaign entitled "Bring the Gulf to the Debates."

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, is working with two of its closest allies on this project, which are Louisiana ACORN and RFK Center for Human Rights.

As you might be aware, the Gulf Coast has barely been mentioned in the debates. Jeffrey Buchanan from RFK has found that during the 12 Republican debates, the Gulf Coast has never been mentioned, and that in the Democratic debates, the Gulf Coast has not done much better, with less than one percent air time provided to discuss the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast.

Harold Bell discussed our campaign to get 100 co-sponsors on HR 4048 before March 1st. GCCWP folks plan on meeting with our respective Congress members throughout the country. We will also encourage others to phone and email their representatives.

Lily Perez discussed the KatrinaRitaVille Express tour, and how students can invite Derrick Evans (tccidirector@gmail.com) to bring a FEMA trailer to your campus to dramatize the social condition in the Gulf Coast, and to promote HR 4048.

Latu Tapaatoutai and Victor Ngo discussed how campuses could sponsor Mardi Gras events on February 5 to "Celebrate for HR 4048."

Marcus Kilgore discussed our upcoming plans for a National Post-Katrina Summit on April 7-11. We invited the campuses in the room, as well as across the nation to participate in holding lectures, reading the names of the Katrina victims, creating a memorial with flags with the names of the victim on it.

Out of this discussion, Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton of SJSU, proposed that the GCCWP develop a campaign that celebrates the life of the Katrina victims. Many of the over 1,800 people who died have never had their pictures shown in the national papers, as the 9-11 victims were so appropriately displayed.

To correct this "oversight" and to humanize what has taken place and continues to take place, we talked about dedicating part of the GCCWP web site to pictures of the people who passed. They would be accompanied by a description from the family members of who the person was, what where their likes, etc.

Family members who do not have access to a computer could give it to a minister or community-based organization, and they could email it to us to post. They might also send it to the GCCWP through the mail.

The national gathering ended with a dance lesson from Carlyn Steward and Tena Flores to "Soulja Boy." These two SJSU women had many from the group up dancing to this tune.

GCCWP meets with the Louisiana Relief Authority (LRA)

2008-01-10T21:37:00.000-08:00

Today, Marcus Kilgore, Julia Lang, and Scott Myers-Lipton, along with two students from Student Hurricane Network, met with Deputy Director Andy Knopp and Robin Keegan from the Louisiana Recovery Authority. The LRA, which is located in Baton Rouge, is one of the lead organizations in Louisiana overseeing the recovery.

We went with Andy and Robin to discuss HR 4048, with the hope of learning from their experience during these past two years of leading the recovery efforts. They provided us with important information about the social conditions in Louisiana. For example, they informed us that 40% of Louisiana residents between 25 and 50 are not in the work force and 756,000 residents do not have high school diplomas.

Andy said that what was needed was not just 100,000 jobs, but 100,000 qualified workers. This led to a long discussion about how the GCCW Act can provide the necessary training to rebuild the Gulf Coast. Robin added that there were other obstacles for people obtaining jobs. She felt that the GCCW Act needed to include housing stipends, child care, and transportation.

The other key point that Andy brought up was that FEMA will only pay for the damages caused by Hurricane Katrina. Many public infrastructure projects need additional funds that FEMA will not cover. Andy thought that the GCCW Act could fill the gap between what FEMA does not cover and the actual cost of the reconstruction project.

Back in New Orleans, the students spent the day gutting a house across the street from the Calio Housing Project, which is best known as the former home of the famous rapper Percy "Master P" Miller. The work involved wearing "hazmat" suits to protect the students from the dust, fiber glass, and other harmful particles.

Students knocked down the walls, stripped the house to its bare frame, and removed all the tiles in the house. The students reported back they had a good time.

Reflecting on the day, Harold Bell, a senior business major at SJSU, stated that "it was a humbling experience to interact with the local community. They have gone through so much, and I have come to realize that my troubles are only a fraction in the grand scheme of things. It was also great to work as a team and see immediate results. I mean, you should have seen that house before we started. And afterwards, with the house gutted, there was a feeling of a fresh start."

Letter Carriers Union #214 supports Gulf Coast Reconstruction Program like WPA

2008-01-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

Gulf Coast Reconstruction Program Resolution

Resolution calls for federally-funded public works program (like WPA of the 1930s) with prevailing wages and the right to organize...the Right of Return of evacuees...and an end to state repression, racial profiling and police brutality in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

WHEREAS, During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the world watched the United States government stand by and let thousands of African Americans and poor people in New Orleans and throughout the Gulf Coast suffer and hundreds die a most tragic and unnecessary death;

WHEREAS, Robert "Tiger" Hammond, president of the Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO recently said, "Parts of this town look like a nuclear bomb hit two days ago, not like it was two years ago.";

WHEREAS, The AFL-CIO Housing Trust (HIT) is participating in the $1 billion Gulf Coast Revitalization Program for New Orleans and other communities ravaged by Hurricane Katrina;

WHEREAS, The AFL-CIO will be investing in the building of modular housing and will coordinate union sponsored worker training programs;

WHEREAS, The AFL-CIO community fund and affiliated unions have raised millions of dollars to assist Katrina survivors;

WHEREAS, ILWU Locals 10, 19, 52, and the International in conjunction with the African American Longshore Coalition sent several 40 foot containers of humanitarian and construction supplies, and vehicles along with financial support to the Gulf;

WHEREAS, Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters volunteered to drive trucks filled with supplies to the Gulf for survivors;

WHEREAS, The American Federation of Teachers has dispatched tutors and specialists to assist local workers in preparing for apprenticeship opportunities, investing its resources in the people of New Orleans despite the city's attacks on public education and wholesale privatization of education;

WHEREAS, Almost immediately after Katrina, President George W. Bush issued an executive order suspending prevailing wage requirements on federally funded projects. Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress suspended affirmative action requirements, relaxed environmental regulations, and started handing out privatized, no-bid contracts like they were bottled water;

WHEREAS, In the weeks after Katrina and Rita, New Orleans witnessed an influx of more than 150,000 workers from outside the region, many of them recruited from Mexico and Central America by temporary agencies;

WHEREAS, Fifty percent of migrant day laborers were never paid for their work and the New Orleans Workers Center has countless stories of transient workers who showed up at a certain location to get paid, and instead were met by ICE agents and deported;

WHEREAS, Katrina brought about the largest displacement of African Americans in the U.S. South since the post-Reconstruction period at the end of the 19th century;

WHEREAS, The ACLU has released a report revealing continuing incidents of racial injustice and human rights abuses in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina;

WHEREAS, These violations include reports of heightened racially motivated police activity, housing discrimination, and prisoner abuse;

WHEREAS, On August 29th thru September 2, 2007, an International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was held in New Orleans made up of an international panel of judges from 7 countries, a prosecution team of leading attorneys from across the country, experts and witnesses (survivors) who provided testimony regarding human rights abuses and crimes by the government at all levels (federal, state and local);

WHEREAS, Both Katrina survivors (witnesses) and prosecutors at the International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita called for a reconstruction program to rebuild the Gulf;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That National Association of Letter Carriers Branch #214 support the call for the implementation of a federally funded Gulf Coast Reconstruction Program which shall include prevailing wages for workers, and the right to organize; and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, The Gulf Coast Reconstruction Program include the right to return to the Gulf, a Gulf Coast Public Works Program (similar to the WPA of the 1930's), an end to state repression via police brutality and racial profiling, and building solidarity committees nationally to continue the struggle for a just reconstruction in the Gulf Coast; and

THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, That this Resolution be sent to our affiliates and forwarded to the democratic leadership of the House, the Senate, and the Congressional Black Caucus.

This resolution was adopted by NALC Branch #214 on January 9, 2008 in San Francisco, California, by unanimous vote. It is modeled after a resolution adopted by the Central Labor Council of Alameda County in November 2007. NALC Branch #214 represents 2,500 letter carriers in the San Francisco Bay Area.