Support Gulf Coast Job Creation Bill!

Dear Friends,

December 10 is International Human Rights Day, the fifth International Human Rights Day since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. After five years, four regional disasters (Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike) and a new President, the United States government still has not taken the necessary steps to ensure the human rights of the survivors of our nation’s disasters.

As we look across the Gulf Coast we still see:

• Tens of thousands of Katrina survivors unable to realize their right to return home.
• Families living in toxic FEMA trailers struggling to find resources to rebuild their homes.
• Over 2 million residents of coastal Louisiana increasingly vulnerable to future disasters an internal displacement due to coastal land loss and climate change.
• Homelessness and rental housing costs rising while affordable housing projects grind to a halt with the crash of financial markets;
• Communities still without vital medical facilities.
• Many more survivors who can't find work at a living wage or training to finance their families' recovery and find their way out of poverty.

But we have a chance to let the Obama Administration know that such injustices must not continue in the United States of America.

Click here to support a plan to bring human rights home.

President Barack Obama launched an effort to reconsider how our country should respond to natural and man-made disasters. The President has tasked Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to lead a Long Term Disaster Recovery Working Group. But that working group hasn't included many grassroots leaders representing low income, minority, and immigrant communities-the most vulnerable victims of the storms-in its early consultations.

A growing movement of Katrina survivors, local elected officials and community, faith-based, and human rights organizations is continuing to push the Administration and Congress to stand up for human rights and enact innovative policies to equitably restore Gulf Coast communities. But we need your help.

President Obama pledged to fix what the Bush Administration left undone after Katrina. But we need to pressure him to make good on his promise. Let’s tell the Obama Administration that we will not let another Human Rights Day pass without meaningful steps to recognize the rights of disaster survivors along America’s Gulf Coast and across the nation.

Click here to send your message to the Obama Administration.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Buchanan
Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign
http://www.solvingpoverty.com/

PS The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project 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.

Ask Your Congress member to co-sponsor HR 4048: The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act

Posted by Chuck Bell at 5:36 AM    

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Gulf Coast Civic Works Act Would Bring 100,000 Jobs to Gulf Coast

Jeffrey Buchanan: Four Years Later, Let's End the Human Rights Crisis in KatrinaRitaVille:
RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights
Posted: August 28, 2009 04:53 PM
Huffington Post

"...Looking to build on local successes and tackle recovery issues, diverse grassroots leaders from across the [Gulf Coast] region working with students, policy experts, and a bipartisan group of legislators including Representatives Zoe Lofgren, Rodney Alexander, Joseph Cao, Charlie Melancon, Gene Taylor and Bennie Thompson developed the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act."

"This legislation would create 100,000 green job and training opportunities for residents and displaced survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to rebuild and sustain their communities. The federal government would partner directly with local officials and non-profits to address remaining challenges like infrastructure, affordable housing and flood protection. It would focus on building resilience to climate change, mitigating the effects of future deadly storms and confronting poverty."

"This plan is supported by 250 community, faith, environmental and human rights organizations along the Gulf Coast and across the nation like the NAACP, ACLU, National Council of Churches, Jewish Council on Public Affairs, NETWORK, Global Green, 1SKY, the Equity & Inclusion Campaign, Oxfam American and Amnesty International USA..."

"Over 30 members of the U.S. House are now urging their colleagues on Capitol Hill and at the White House to remember the people of the Gulf Coast and our duty as Americans to ensure every community has a right to recovery with this legislation. As we approach the 4th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, there is no better way to utilize the lessons learned since 2005 and support our brothers and sisters along the Gulf Coast than by passing and funding the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act.

Click here to support to urge your Member of Congress to support the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act.

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Posted by Chuck Bell at 8:51 PM    

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A New Deal for the Gulf States?

Kudos to Rep. Zoe Lofgren and allies, who are pushing a public jobs program to support economic recovery in the depressed states on the Gulf Coast. The Drive for Decent Work applauds this visionary thinking.

We hope more Congressional leaders will step forward with similar creative proposals to address the need for jobs and public investment in essential infrastructure and public services.

A New Deal for the Gulf Coast: Advocates welcome vital recovery legislation
from: Facing South, Institute for Southern Studies

Almost four years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, legislation was introduced this week to create more jobs and support sustainable rebuilding efforts in the region.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act of 2009 (H.R. 2269) was introduced in the House Tuesday by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and a growing bipartisan group of co-sponsors.

Facing South has reported that one of the major barriers to rebuilding and one of the biggest problems facing residents of the Gulf Coast post-Katrina is finding good jobs. Inspired by New Deal-era public works programs, the act 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 in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

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Posted by Chuck Bell at 8:09 AM    

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