Legislation for 'Black Belt' Aid on Hold

WASHINGTON - An effort to create an agency to boost poor, predominantly black counties in the South is stuck in legislative limbo partly because of Hurricane Katrina, which further devastated many of the areas the agency would help.

Those pushing the legislation to aid the Southern Black Belt say the timing has never been more critical, yet they acknowledge its prospects of passage are dimmer than ever in a financially strapped Congress.

They are so dim that its House sponsor, Alabama Democrat Artur Davis, decided not to reintroduce his proposal this session, and its original Senate sponsor, former Georgia Sen. Zell Miller (news, bio, voting record), acknowledges it has little chance, at least in the short term.

"I wish I could say I was optimistic about it," said Miller, a Democrat who retired in January. "It's going to have to have somebody with some real clout. Maybe one of those presidential candidates will see the wisdom of doing this — not only the political wisdom but also the cultural wisdom."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051213/ap_on_go_co/southern_black_counties

Vote these morans and their backassed priorities out!