For Immediate Release: August 23rd
Contact: Jeffrey Buchanan 202-463-7575 ext 241 buchanan@rfkmemorial.org

New Post-Katrina Report, Bush Admin. Misleads on Gulf Coast Rebuilding
New report,“Blueprint for Gulf Renewal”, dispels misinformation about federal rebuilding funding and spending, gives voice to grassroots activists rebuilding Gulf Coast communities.

Read Report at: http://www.southernstudies.org/BlueprintShort.pdf

WASHINGTON DC— According to a new article by the Institute for Southern Studies and RFK Center for Human Rights, the Bush Administration continues to mislead the public on federal Gulf Coast rebuilding spending. Despite the Bush Administration declaring to have done its job by sending the “big check”, a purported $116 billion, for rebuilding Gulf Coast communities, the article finds less then $35 billion available for rebuilding. Less then 42% of this money has been spent to date despite overwhelming continuing needs.

“Gulf Coast residents have been left wondering whether the White House’s check bounced”, says co-author Jeffrey Buchanan, of RFK Center. “Housing and community infrastructure have not recovered due to slow, insufficient, and misguided federal rebuilding efforts, leaving tens of thousands of American families displaced and unable to realize their human right to return and participate in rebuilding their communities.”

The article concludes:
• FEMA funds available to rebuild local public infrastructure only cover about one-eighth of the damage suffered in Louisiana alone, despite having to cover damage across five states.
• Even though failures in the federal levee system resulted in flooding in 80% of New Orleans, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has spent less than 20% of the funds available to protect these communities, admitting repairs will not be done until 2011.
• Rebuilding tax breaks have been of questionable benefit to Katrina survivors, like $1 million in tax breaks to build 10 luxury condos next to the University of Alabama football stadium—4 hours from the Gulf Coast.
• Federal contracts for rebuilding and recovery have also been marked by fraud and abuse. An August 2006 study by Rep. Henry Waxman’s (D-Calif.) office found 19 contracts, totaling $8.75 billion, experienced “significant overcharges, wasteful spending or mismanagement.

This article, co-authored by Chris Kromm, of the Institute for Southern Studies (ISS), is part of the new ISS report “Blueprint for Gulf Renewal”, detailing policy solutions put forward by grassroots advocates two years after Hurricane Katrina and the levee breaks. Blueprint is the latest in a series of Gulf Coast recovery reports by the Institute for Southern Studies.

“The statistics and the voices of Gulf Coast leaders are all telling the same story: the Katrina recovery is failing,” said Chris Kromm, a co-author of the report. “Washington must live up to its promises, and commit to a bold new agenda for the Gulf’s revival.”

“Now is the time for the federal government to step up and fulfill its promises by partnering with Gulf Coast communities to rebuild the schools, affordable housing, flood protection and infrastructure so returning families can finally rebuild their communities and lives,” says Stephen Bradberry, lead organizer of ACORN Louisiana and 2005 RFK Human Rights Award winner.

Read Report at: http://www.southernstudies.org/BlueprintShort.pdf

Source: Robert F. Kennedy Memorial (http://www.rfkmemorial.org)