[StBernard] EDITORIAL: Thank you, Mr. President, Chairman Powell, Members of Congress

[Westley Annis]

Times-Picayune
Saturday, June 10, 2006

President Bush stood in the gloom of Jackson Square in mid-September and declared that New Orleans would rise from Katrina's floodwaters. "All who question the future of the Crescent City need to know: There is no way to imagine America without New Orleans," he told the nation. 

"This great city will rise again," he said. The federal government will "do what it takes ... stay as long as it takes" to rebuild this battered region. 

The words were a balm to people who had lost so much of what they loved. 

What people in greater New Orleans needed, though, was a hand in rebuilding their lives. With the agreement Thursday in Congress on a supplemental spending bill that includes $4.2 billion for housing and $3.7 billion for flood protection for South Louisiana, that help has arrived. 

It would not have happened without President Bush, who insisted that Congress not reduce Louisiana's housing or levee money in making cuts to the spending bill. For that, this region should be immensely grateful. 

Donald Powell, the president's Gulf Coast recovery coordinator, deserves heartfelt thanks as well. Mr. Powell was skeptical initially of Louisiana's efforts to get more money for housing repairs and buyouts, but he came around after he grasped the depth of damage here and its causes. 

Mr. Powell has made himself a student of the canal and levee breaches that caused the flooding in the metro area, and he has an appreciation of the special difficulties in trying to rebuild entire cities and parishes. He is no easy mark. He insists on solid information and isn't inclined to give away the government's money for just anything. 

But when he is persuaded of the justness of a request, he has proved to be a very effective advocate for this community. 

Louisiana's congressional delegation also pushed hard for the aid package, as did state, parish and city officials. The results are impressive. In addition to the levee and housing money, the spending bill includes $550 million for replacement of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, $400 million for a pilot program to build so-called Katrina cottages to replace travel trailers, $500 million for farms, $150 million for fisheries and $50 million for colleges. 

The spending bill still has to be approved by the full House and Senate, but that is expected to happen next week. 

Then, the real work of rebuilding our battered community can begin.




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