Source:
The Boston GlobeWASHINGTON -- On the cusp of the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, will present a plan today aimed at hastening the rebuilding of New Orleans and restructuring how the federal government responds to future catastrophes in America.
The Gulf Coast restoration, said Obama, a candidate in the Democratic presidential primary, has been weighed down by red tape that has kept billions of dollars from reaching Louisiana communities. As president, he said, he would streamline the bureaucracy, strengthen law enforcement to curb a rise in crime, and immediately close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet to restore wetlands to protect against storms.
Obama also said that he would seek to lessen the influence of politics in the Federal Emergency Management Agency by giving its director a fixed term, similar to the structure of the FBI. Under Obama's plan, the FEMA director would serve a six-year term and report directly to the president.
Obama and several presidential hopefuls are scheduled to arrive in Louisiana this week to highlight how New Orleans has -- and has not -- recovered from Hurricane Katrina. Democrats have sought to use the city as an example of what they believe was among the Bush administration's greatest domestic failures.
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http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/08/26/obama_develops_plan_for_gulf_coast_restoration/