[StBernard] The Hill Newspaper: Rebuilding the Gulf Coast a priority

[Westley Annis]

The Hill Newspaper
Rebuilding the Gulf Coast a priority
By Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-La.)
 
<"http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/020106/ss_jindal.
html">
 
On New Year's Eve, my children slept in their own beds in their own home in
Kenner, La. It was the first time my family had been able to truly move home
since Hurricane Katrina forced us to evacuate in August.
 
And my family was very fortunate, as thousands of other Louisianians spent
New Year's in temporary homes and hotels scattered across the country. The
lucky families still have a home to repair; for thousands of others, the new
year brings a realization that they have lost everything, lifetimes of hard
work wiped away, and now they must roll up their sleeves and rebuild their
lives and communities from scratch.

Congress will be back in session shortly and will begin setting the agenda
for the new year. As a congressman from Louisiana, my thoughts are with the
families still trying to make ends meet. As such, my priorities in 2006 are
driven by rebuilding the Gulf Coast region in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita.
 
Most, at this point, recognize the need for the recovery to be a team
effort, with the feds, the states, local communities and the private sector
working together. The states, particularly Louisiana and Mississippi, that
have endured the brunt of the damage from these storms need to be active
participants in their own rebuilding. They cannot rely on the federal
government to do everything for them.
 
For Louisiana, that means the state must set its own priorities, write its
own plan and pay its fair share of the recovery. And Louisiana should go
further, working to improve, not just rebuild. The state, not the federal
government, is responsible for taking the lead in making sure that failing
education and healthcare systems that plagued the region pre-Katrina really
are relics of a bygone era.
 
This is not to say that the federal government has no role in the recovery
moving forward. In fact, I look for Congress and the federal government as a
whole to set firm priorities in our relief effort, providing more directed
aid with direct results. Congress has already demonstrated its promise to
the region, allocating more than $60 billion for the recovery with the first
relief funding passed into law within days of the storms. The initial goal
was to get money on the ground as quickly as possible.
 
In 2006, comprehensive, omnibus-type relief bills should not be the norm.
That means focusing on providing directed support for the local economies -
helping business owners get back on their feet and providing jobs for people
who are returning to their homes.
 
The $9 billion in tax relief that passed immediately before Congress
recessed for Christmas is a great start. Moving forward, we need to provide
additional, targeted incentives to businesses to help overcome the risks
many might perceive in moving back to the devastated region.
 
We must continue to provide assistance to homeowners, many of whom saw
damage to their properties far in excess of the checks that they will
receive in compensation. Without continued support, these victims are left
with few options besides selling their homes, perhaps declaring bankruptcy,
paying what bills they can and then moving away.
 
Finally, and perhaps most important, the federal government needs to focus
on hurricane protection. The most fundamental responsibility of government
is to provide for the safety of its citizens. It is a must moving forward
that the federal government commit not just to rebuilding the hurricane
protection system that failed during Hurricane Katrina but to strengthening
and improving it.
 
I mention these priorities not to imply that efforts have not been made on
these fronts already but to point out that the needs of the Gulf Coast
region cannot be solved with quick answers and then forgotten.
 
Certainly there is more on Congress's agenda for 2006. We will continue to
work to strengthen our national security, support continued job growth and
economic success and craft tougher ethical standards for our nation's
leaders, among others.
 
But for me, my constituents and the hundreds of thousands who have had their
lives impacted by the storms of 2005, the hope for the agenda of 2006 is
that Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and Florida remain on people's
minds, in their hearts and in their prayers.
 
Jindal is a member of the Education and the Workforce, Homeland Security and
Resources committees.
 
Paid for by The Committee to Re-Elect Bobby Jindal, Inc.
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