Bush administration rejected foreign aid for Katrina victims

While hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents suffered in desperate conditions following Hurricane Katrina, the Bush administration turned down assistance offered by other countries.

That's according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a public-interest watchdog group. In light of its findings, CREW is calling for congressional investigations into how the United States handles offers of foreign assistance following disasters.

A Washington Post analysis of the material -- some 10,000 pages of cables, telegraphs and e-mails from U.S. diplomats around the world -- found that other nations offered $854 million in cash and in oil that was to be sold for cash:

But only $40 million has been used so far for disaster victims or reconstruction, according to U.S. officials and contractors. Most of the aid went uncollected, including $400 million worth of oil. Some offers were withdrawn or redirected to private groups such as the Red Cross. The rest has been delayed by red tape and bureaucratic limits on how it can be spent.

The impoverished nation of Bangladesh, for example, offered $1 million in monetary aid and a disaster management team. The Bush administration accepted the money but turned down the disaster team. The administration also rejected tents, sheets and pillows offered by Pakistan; flooding and sanitation experts from Honduras; doctors, food, blankets and clothing from Peru; water purification equipment from Denmark; and electric generators from Israel. Other rejected aid included medical teams, body bags, bottled water and specially trained rescue dogs.

President Bush initially suggested that the United States did not need foreign assistance to deal with the disaster, telling Good Morning America on Sept. 1, 2005 that the country would "rise up and take care of it." But by the next day, the administration had reversed that policy, with the State Department directing its staff to accept all international aid offers "in principle," according to internal documents obtained by CREW.

Following press reports that international aid was being delayed because the U.S. government was slow to assess the affected areas' needs, CREW filed a FOIA request with the State Department. When officials failed to respond properly to the request, the group filed a complaint in federal court that eventually forced the agency to open its files.

In one disclosed e-mail exchange, State Department officials grappled with how to inform Italy that its shipments of medicine, gauze and other supplies were spoiled after being exposed to the elements and heat. "tell them we blew it," one department official wrote. But then she added: "the flip side is just to dispose of it and not come clean. i'm willing to be persuaded but..."

In addition, the Bush administration turned down an offer of two free cruise ships from Greece, instead paying $249 million to use Carnival Cruise Lines, a company with close financial ties to the Republican Party and the Bush family. The administration also turned down numerous offers of troops and search-and-rescue teams.

Speaking yesterday on ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice blamed the aid debacle on the disaster's unprecedented nature:

Look, the fact is that we received a lot of very generous offers from people at the time of Katrina. It was a new circumstance. The United States is, frankly, not accustomed to receiving large-scale foreign assistance offers.

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), chair of the Disaster Recovery Subcommittee, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that she's committed to asking hard questions about the foreign aid problems:

"Louisiana and the Gulf Coast deserve better," Landrieu said. "And while we did not seek handouts, a hand up was and remains sorely needed." She promised to "get to the bottom of how this administration could so foolishly turn away an outreached hand in a time of such desperate need."

To view some of the materials obtained by CREW, click here.

Katrina housing aid extended; program to be transferred to HUD

The Bush administration yesterday announced that it would extend temporary housing assistance to survivors of Hurricane Katrina for another 18 months, until March 1, 2009. The program, which had already been extended, was set to expire on Aug. 31.

About 80,000 Gulf Coast residents are still living in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers.

"We understand the importance of minimizing uncertainty for Gulf Coast residents who have endured this unprecedented tragedy," Gulf Coast Rebuilding Coordinator Donald Powell said in a statement. "This coordinated, 18-month extension will provide stability to residents while providing effective incentives and assistance to help them transition into long-term housing solutions."

FEMA also announced that it would transfer management of the much-criticized housing assistance program to the Department of Housing and Urban Development by Sept. 1. GCR, HUD and FEMA said they would consult with Congress on the most appropriate structure for transferring those responsibilities.

In addition, evacuees receiving assistance will be required to make small monthly payments beginning next March; the payments will start at $50 per month and increase to $100 per month in June 2008. That announcement drew criticism from ACORN, a grassroots group that's played a lead role in advocating for Katrina survivors' housing needs.

"Charging rent for people to live in FEMA trailers is unfair," said Gwendolyn Adams, co-chair of the Lower 9th Ward chapter of ACORN. "No one chose to have their home deluged and destroyed. Folks are working hard against all sorts of barriers to return and rebuild ... and this is yet another obstacle."

Toni McElroy, president of Texas ACORN, called on the administration to "get serious about rebuilding housing and infrastructure in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, so that our people can finally come home."

A good first step, McElroy said, would be for President Bush to support H.R. 1227, The Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery Act, which would forbid HUD from demolishing livable public housing and require one for one replacement if demolition is necessary, require HUD to prioritize applications to repair or rebuild Section 8 housing, and encourage the building of affordable housing by extending the deadline for developers to use GO ZONE tax credits.

Landrieu, Vitter urged to lead on N.O. public housing

The U.S. House of Representatives last month passed H.R. 1227, a measure that would reopen minimally damaged New Orleans public housing units closed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The bill has now moved to the Senate, but Louisiana's Sens. Mary Landrieu (D) and David Vitter (R) have not stepped up to provide the leadership the measure needs to pass.

That's why ColorOfChange.org -- an organization that aims to strengthen black America's political voice -- is asking concerned citizens to call on the senators to show leadership and urge the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs to take up the measure immediately. To add your name to the message the group will be sending the Senators, click here. To learn more about the effort to halt the demolition of public housing in New Orleans, click here.

Racism plagues N.O. area rental housing market

An audit conducted by a fair housing advocacy group has documented extensive racial discrimination in the New Orleans area rental housing market.

Released yesterday by the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, the 2007 Fair Housing Rental Study -- titled "For Rent, Unless You're Black" -- found a 57.5 percent rate of racial discrimination in metro New Orleans rental housing searches. In other words, in nearly six out of every 10 transactions, African-American testers with the same jobs, credit, career paths, income, family types and rental histories as white testers were treated less favorably by landlords.

The discrimination did not involve the use of racial slurs or outright statements of racism, the audit found:

Instead, strategies were covert. Housing providers simply didn't return phone calls from African American testers, didn't provide applications to African American testers, and/or didn't show available rental units to African American testers.

The GNOFHAC conducted a total of 40 tests in four parishes: Orleans (9 tests), Jefferson (20 tests), St. Tammany (10 tests) and St. Bernard (1 test). It based the number of tests conducted in each parish on post-hurricane population estimates from the 2006 Louisiana Health and Population Survey. The rental housing units included in the audit were selected randomly from print and Internet listings of available units.

Of those tests conducted in Jefferson Parish, differential treatment occurred in 50 percent of the cases. That figure was 60 percent in St. Tammany, 55 percent in Orleans and 100 percent in St. Bernard.

Discriminatory treatment fell into several categories: difference in access to appointments to view units, which occurred in 20 percent of the tests; information regarding availability of units (40 percent); access to applications (35 percent); terms and conditions (12.5 percent); favorability of units shown (5 percent); access to waiting lists (5 percent); and response to voice messages (20 percent).

In one example from Orleans Parish, an African-American tester who had made an appointment to view two available units showed up and was told there was only one unit available -- and was allowed only to peek into its window. Later that same day, a white tester responding to the same advertisement was greeted by the same agent, encouraged to view a luxury unit that had not been shown to the African-American tester, and was allowed to view the two available units. The white tester was also told of another unit that would soon be available, information that was not shared with the African-American tester.

In the introduction to the report, GNOFHAC President Anthony Keck acknowledged that racial discrimination was a problem in the metro area's housing market even before Hurricane Katrina. However, he noted that the disaster made addressing the problem even more urgent:

Post-Katrina, we face entirely new challenges, where decisions and actions by those in power have the potential to cement in place for the next 100 years entirely new patterns of discrimination on a grand scale -- not just in housing, but in health care, education and most other social institutions.

Already, an alarming number of local politicians in Orleans, Jefferson and surrounding parishes have actively tried to discourage the poor -- disproportionately Black, Latino, single mothers, disabled or the elderly -- from returning home by blocking the construction of multi-family housing in their districts, towns or Parishes. The prevalent but unchallenged notion in our public discourse of "not wanting to concentrate poverty" is more of an insult than a remedy. Who is deciding what level of income and housing price is good and what level is bad? Why don't we instead "concentrate" on building the local small businesses, parks, schools, police force and health clinics to support vibrant communities regardless of class, income, race, disability, and national origin? It may simply be easier for our leaders to tear down rather than build up.

The report offers several recommendations to address the problem. They include making fair housing a primary component in the rebuilding process, getting business owners and developers involved, expanding private fair housing initiatives, funding fair housing enforcement and education, holding state and local agencies accountable for upholding the Fair Housing Act, and dedicating resources to preserve and expand affordable rental housing.

New Orleans' economy improves, but infrastructure remains a disaster

Nineteen months after Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. Gulf Coast, New Orleans "may have turned a corner," concludes the latest Katrina Index from the Greater New Orleans Data Center in collaboration with the Brookings Institution.

To justify its optimism, the index points to several bits of good news. They include the fact that newly hired "recovery czar" Ed Blakely -- who last week came under fire for remarks in which he referred to the city's residents as "buffoons," likened its racial divisions to "the Shiites and the Sunnis," and said that those demanding the "right of return" are "using people" for political ends -- is pushing forward with a $1.1 billion recovery plan that emphasizes the redevelopment of commercial corridors in 17 areas of the city in hopes of attracting homeowners and stabilizing neighborhoods. Construction could begin as early as this September.

In addition, the number of unemployment claims are down significantly, with only 46 from New Orleans and 204 across the entire metropolitan area. At the same time, unemployment rates are 4 percent in New Orleans and 3.8 percent across the metro area -- well below the national rate of 4.5 percent in February.

But other figures show that hard times still linger in the Big Easy -- especially for residents of modest means who rely on public amenities like schools, transportation and libraries:

* While one more public school opened in New Orleans this past month, 75 of the parish's public schools remain shuttered. In all, only 45 percent of New Orleans public schools operating pre-Katrina are open today, a figure that's inched up by only 4 percentage points since last September.

* Recovery of public transit remains stuck, with less than half of all routes open in New Orleans. Only 17 percent of pre-Katrina buses are operating in the city -- a figure that remains unchanged since March of 2006.

* The number of open state-licensed hospitals in the city remains frozen at 52 percent of pre-Katrina levels -- a number that has not budged in the past five months. Meanwhile, there are still no state-licensed hospitals open in neighboring St. Bernard Parish.

* Only 62 percent of public libraries that were open before Katrina are open today in New Orleans. That figure has not changed since June of 2006.

* Another child care center opened this past month in Orleans Parish, but 191 remain closed. In all, only 32 percent of the number of child care centers operating pre-Katrina are open today.

We would like nothing more than to see New Orleans turn a corner down the path to a full and just recovery. But we remain skeptical that the city has reached that corner yet.

E-mails boost Katrina victims' case against State Farm

The company's ads boast, "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there."®

But apparently the nation's largest insurer didn't want engineers who were actually neighbors of Hurricane Katrina victims to inspect storm-damaged properties, arguing that they were "too emotionally involved."

So we learn from e-mails sent by executives at a North Carolina engineering firm hired by State Farm to assess Katrina damage claims. Obtained by The Associated Press, the e-mails indicate that the insurer threatened to fire Raleigh-based Forensic Analysis & Engineering Corp. for reports that found wind rather than water damage, which the insurer does not cover. Reports the AP:

The e-mails between Forensic president and CEO Robert Kochan and Randy Down, the firm's vice president of engineering services, outline complaints about the firm's work from Alexis "Lecky" King, a State Farm manager in Mississippi.

In an e-mail dated Oct. 17, 2005, Kochan says the firm will continue working with State Farm, but discusses needing to "redo the wording" of a report after a discussion with King "such that the conclusions are better supported."

It also says King didn't want local engineers to inspect properties because they were "too emotionally involved" and were "working very hard to find justifications to call it wind damage when the facts only show water induced damage." She was also apparently upset that a report was based upon eyewitness accounts, the e-mail said.

In a reply dated Oct. 18, 2005, Down questioned the insurer's motivations and questioned if there was an ethical problem with State Farm telling the firm what to put in reports. He also suggested that on another occasion, State Farm asked the firm to remove information from a report because "they would then have to settle."

"I really question the ethics of someone who wants to fire us simply because our conclusions don't match hers," Down wrote in an e-mail dated Oct. 18, 2005.

"But what about the obvious fact that SF would love to see every report come through as water damage so that they can make the minimum settlement," he wrote.

Forensic eventually pulled out of Mississippi because the company was not getting enough work. A State Farm spokesman denied that the company did anything unethical.

In January, the insurer reached a settlement with the Scruggs Katrina Group of attorneys that required it to pay out millions to policyholders who had filed suits and were represented by the firm. The following month, State Farm announced that it would stop writing new homeowner and commercial policies in Mississippi, citing the "untenable" legal and political climate.

State Farm recently reported earning $5.3 billion in profits during 2006. That's up 65 percent from $3.2 billion in 2005, when storm-related pay-outs spiked.

The State Farm e-mail revelations came as the Senate Commerce Committee this morning held a hearing on oversight of the property and casualty insurance industry. Among the people who testified was Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, whose prepared statement charged the insurance industry with "running wild":

Much of this debate has centered on the sanctity of contracts. For example, State Farm has complained that their policies are "now being reinterpreted by the courts and certain elected officials." That would indeed be a problem, if it had actually occurred. What really happened is much different.

The Mississippi Attorney General's Office ... has learned that State Farm acted after Hurricane Katrina to create and implement three different tactics for denying coverage. These tactics are not set forth in the policies themselves. Homeowners could not agree to those conditions, because they were never made aware that requirements outside of their policies would be used to deny their coverage. On information and belief, these policies were not presented, for review, to our state's Insurance Commissioner. State Farm's policies on the Mississippi Gulf Coast are not being "reinterpreted" by the courts and elected officials -- they are being ignored altogether by the "good neighbors" who issued them.

Hood concluded by urging Congress to take action to keep homeowners from losing faith in the insurance industry altogether:

Consumers who faithfully pay their premiums should not have to wonder why, after nineteen months of inspections, mediations, phone calls and letters, they are no better off than those who did not buy insurance at all. If the industry wants to serve coastal areas, they must be held accountable, just as any other business would be.

Students demand jobs for Gulf Coast residents

Students from more than three dozen U.S. colleges and at least one high school will be holding events across the country next week to draw attention to the ongoing disaster in the Gulf -- and to demand federal legislation for a New Deal-style rebuilding program.

The Post-Katrina College Summit is a week-long effort to raise awareness about the Gulf Coast through documentary films, speakers, spoken word, blood drives, rallies, petition drives, reading the names of Katrina victims, and other events.

"The Summit is an attempt to catapult New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast back into the national consciousness and to promote federal legislation for a New Deal-style program for the Gulf Coast," according to a statement from the organizers.

The gathering is an outgrowth of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project. The brainchild of Scott Myers-Lipton, a sociology professor at San Jose State University, the project has brought students and faculty together nationwide to press the federal government to launch a civic works program in the Gulf Coast that would create 100,000 rebuilding jobs for the region's residents. The project organizers estimate that the cost of the program, which includes job training, would be about $4 billion.

The Institute for Southern Studies' Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch program included the project's demand for the civic works program in our February 2007 report on post-Katrina reconstruction efforts titled "A New Agenda for the Gulf Coast." Let's hope the powers-that-be give this excellent idea the attention it deserves.

New Orleans economic summit honors King's legacy

The Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the Citizenship Education Fund is currently hosting a conference in New Orleans titled "Greenlining Redlined America: The First Annual Gulf Coast Economic Summit."

Convened to hold the government accountable for its broken promises to the region, the two-day summit that opened yesterday is also commemorating today's anniversary of the assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"We must not allow New Orleans to be forgotten," said Rainbow PUSH President Rev. Jesse Jackson. "We must demand that the Bush administration deliver on its promise to rebuild this city and this region. This summit aims to put New Orleans back on the agenda."

The conference organizers aim to develop strategies to promote reconstruction financing of areas that have not been rebuilt since Hurricane Katrina struck the region in 2005.

"We are looking at the whole reconstruction of New Orleans and the Gulf region," said Sheila Williams, executive director of the coalition's Right to Return and Reconstruction Project. "It appears that a red line has been drawn around certain communities and reconstruction of those communities has been very slow."

The summit is holding sessions on the education crisis in post-Katrina New Orleans, the use of tax incentives to spark rebuilding, and government and private-sector reconstruction plans and contracting opportunities. Today, Jackson will lead a candlelight vigil at the exact hour -- 6:01 p.m. -- that King was assassinated in Memphis 39 years ago while on a mission to support the city's striking sanitation workers.

On April 28, Rainbow PUSH and other groups are planning a march into New Orleans' storm-devastated 9th Ward to shine the spotlight on the slow pace of rebuilding there, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports:

Jackson said the April 28 march will bring attention to the 9th Ward, which he called a "metaphor for neglected urban America," and equated the area to other blighted urban areas in dire need of retail and residential infusions. "In some real sense, the 9th Ward is Newark. The 9th Ward is South Side Chicago. The 9th Ward is neglected, abandoned urban America," Jackson said.

Last month, New Orleans city officials announced plans to invest $1.1 billion in public funds in 17 targeted redevelopment zones in the hope that the public money will in turn attract private dollars. The Lower 9th Ward and eastern New Orleans are slated to get the biggest infusions of cash at $145 million each.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin joined Jackson at the town hall meeting yesterday and said he welcomes the upcoming march as a way to draw attention to New Orleans' plight. Also attending the conference was U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), who promoted the Congressional Black Caucus' demand for a Katrina victims' compensation fund. She and others point out that a federal fund paid hundreds of millions of dollars to families of those killed in the 9/11 terror attacks and argue that the mostly black victims of Katrina also deserve compensation.

"If Dr. King were alive today, he would be doing what we are doing: highlighting the inequities and injustices in New Orleans, working to shift America’s focus back on the rebuilding of these neglected communities," Jackson said. "Katrina is a metaphor for all the ills in urban America -- the lack of affordable housing, lack of high-quality education, the lack of efficient health care and the lack of economic development."