LEGAL ACTIVISTS OF COLOR
News, Events, Actions and Commentary on law and social justice. Welcome to the official blog of the United People of Color Caucus (TUPOCC) of the National Lawyers Guild.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Call Congress today to support the Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery Act!

----- Forwarded Message -----



From: ... Sent: Monday, March 19, 2007 11:45 AM Subject: Call Congress

Today! Support H.R. 1227! You Can Reopen 3000 NOLA Apartments!



Call Congress today to support this bill : Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery Act

H.R. 1227. It will be in the Rules committee today. Call your representative

today! It doesn't matter what part of the country you are in. Just Call!!!



Please see attached PDF file on the bill



Common Ground Legal wrote: Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2007

...

From: Common Ground Legal

To: ...

Subject: On Monday 3/19 You Can Reopen 3000 NOLA Apartments!



RE-OPEN 3000 NEW ORLEANS APARTMENTS!

Monday, 3/19 Tell YOUR Congressperson to Pass the

Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007 (HR 1227)



To All Supporters of Social Justice in the Gulf Coast Reconstruction!



This bill is a direct result of the grassroots organizing, actions and

civil disobedience in the eighteen months since Katrina, and it needs

your support and immediate action NOW. Right now, fewer than 200,000

of 454,000 pre-Katrina residents have returned to New Orleans. Right

now, more than 200,000 Black residents remain displaced. Right now, in

spite of the courageous work of returning residents and volunteers,

the city is a shell of its former self.



Now low-income neighborhoods are caught in a game of

which-comes-first. They are told there are not enough schools,

hospitals and services to support their return. Then they are told

there are not enough people in the neighborhood to support having

schools, hospitals and services. The housing crisis keeps many from

returning to demand, and assist, the rebuilding of the city's

infrastructure.



Fortunately, we have an opportunity to change this.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-D) has introduced a bill HR 1227: "to

assist in the provision of affordable housing to low-income families

affected by Hurricane Katrina." This bill, also known as the Gulf

Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007, was passed by the House

Financial Services Committee and will be discussed on the floor this

Tuesday, March 20.



Specifically, the bill provides for



a) increased flexibility of existing federal funding;



b) better oversight of the Louisiana Recovery Authority;



c) re-opening 3000 public housing apartments by August 1, 2007 and

maintaining pre-Katrina levels of federal housing assistance; and



d) assistance to landlords and communities who assisted evacuees.

Passage of this bill would be a major victory for everyone affected by

the housing crisis in New Orleans and the Gulf.



Go To http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ to get the phone, fax and

email contact for ALL your congressional representatives. Call and

tell them to support the Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act -

for JUSTICE!



USE THIS INFO, OR YOUR EXPERIENCE WHEN YOU CONTACT CONGRESS!:



· Little support for reconstruction in poor communities. Of the more

than 130,000 homeowners who applied for federal funds for home

repairs, only 2,000 have received federal assistance. In lower income

areas the city has removed infrastructure instead of rebuilding. Walk

through the Lower Ninth Ward, and you will find a landscape little

changed since September 2005.



· Prohibitively high rents. Many returnees face rental rates 2-3 times

what they paid before the flood, often for apartments that were not

properly decontaminated. Homelessness has increased exponentially.



· Public housing closures. More than 80% of public housing in the city

remains closed, even though the apartments were some of the least

damaged by flooding. Instead of making repairs HUD spent 1.5 million

barricading the buildings to forcibly keep residents out.



We have the power to give a national voice to the people of New

Orleans and to support them in their struggle. This Monday 3/19, take

five minutes to call your Congress member and urge her/him to "vote

YES" on HR 1227!



For more information....A. Full text of HR 1227:



http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-1227 or see

www.justiceforneworleans.org , www.survivorsvillage.com , or

www.commongroundrelief.org



PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL SUPPORTERS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Moved by the ongoing human rights crisis in the Mississippi Gulf Coast, grassroots organizers in the Katrina Self-Determination and Bolivarian Movements throughout the country have agreed to host the Mutual Aid and International Solidarity Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana at Dillard University, one of the country's oldest black educational institutions on May 24th – 27th, 2007. Presenters & attendees will share organizing experiences, explore opportunities for mutual aid and stand in solidarity for human rights and self-determination.

The conference calls on all progressive forces in the U.S. to join at the to build the Katrina Self-Determination and Bolivarian Solidarity Movements. This conference is designed to network person-to-person and grassroots links between the peoples of Venezuela and the United States.

For more info go to MutualAidSolidarity.org

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