NAACP Supports Congressional Black Caucus Hurricane Relief Legislation

Dear Mods, I know this is a long post, but it is very important. It is several days old but I did not see it posted yet.(I did a search for all forums and did not find it mentioned) Thanks.

Hey everybody... Do this for John Conyers and for the Katrina survivors. Shame your representatives and senators into doing the right thing, if that is what it takes, but get their attention. We owe this much and so much more to the Congressional Black Caucus. Let's make a big noise to get this passed!
***there is an easy sample letter enclosed. Please use it***
Never Forget Katrina

ACTION ALERT:
NAACP Supports Congressional Black Caucus Hurricane Relief Legislation
Washington Bureau • National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People
1156 15th Street, NW Suite 915 Washington, DC 20005 •
P (202)463-2940 •
F (202)463-2953
E-MAIL:washingtonbureau@naacpnet.org •
WEB ADDRESS: http://www.naacp.org/

ACTION ALERT

November 9, 2005

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THE ISSUE: On November 2, 2005, all 42 members of the Congressional Black Caucus in the US House of Representatives introduced H.R. 4197, the Hurricane Katrina Recovery, Reclamation, Restoration, Reconstruction and Reunion Act of 2005. The bill is designed to provide for the full recovery of the Gulf Coast region and for the reunion of families devastated by Hurricane Katrina. A thorough summary of the provisions contained in HR 4197 is attached to this Action Alert. H.R. 4197 is an omnibus bill in that it addresses a myriad of issues faced by Katrina victims, including:
o The establishment of a victim restoration fund;
o Environmental protection for all Katrina victims;
o Health issues, including the rebuilding of hospitals, an elimination of health care disparities between racial and ethnic minority Americans and others and the continuation of health insurance;
o An extension of unemployment benefits;
o Providing a myriad of housing and community development grants;
o Educational assistance from early child care and Head Start, through elementary and secondary education and including assistance for colleges and university students, faculty and facilities;
o The protection of the voting rights of Hurricane Katrina victims;
o The expansion of small business opportunities to residents of the Gulf States prior to Hurricane Katrina, as well as the rescission of orders by the Administration to waive the Davis-Bacon Act and affirmative action requirements for federal contracting in the damaged areas; and
o The waiving of certain regulations in banking, as well as the new bankruptcy reform law to provide additional protection from foreclosure and repossession.
Finally, the legislation expresses the sense of Congress that the President should, within the next 6 months present a plan to Congress and the public to address and eradicate poverty in the United States over the next 10 years.

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THE ACTION WE NEED YOU TO TAKE: Contact your Representative and both your Senators and URGE THEM TO CO-SPONSOR AND SUPPORT H.R. 4197 .
To contact your Senators and Representative, you may:
o Make a Phone
Call: Call your Senators and your Representative in Washington by dialing the Capitol Switchboard and asking to be transferred to your Senators'/Congressman's offices. The switchboard phone number is (202) 224-3121 (see message section, below).
o Write a Letter: To write letters to your Senators, send them to The Honorable (name of Senator) U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 To write a letter to your Representative, send it to The Honorable (name of Representative) U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515
o Send a Fax: If you would like to send a fax, call your Senators' or Representative's
offices (through the Capitol switchboard) and ask for their fax numbers (you can use either the attached sample letter or the message box, below).

o Send an E- Mail: To send an e-mail to your Senators, simply go to www.senate.gov, and click on "Contacting the Senate"; you can look your Senators up either alphabetically or by state. To send an e-mail to your Representative, go to www.house.gov, and click on "Write Your Representative." This will help you identify who your congressman is and how to contact him/her.
Unfortunately, not all Members of Congress have e-mail addresses.
REMEMBER TO CONTACT BOTH YOUR SENATORS!!!!!

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THE MESSAGE ¨ The damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to the Gulf Coast region, and the number of lives affected by these natural disasters, warrants a comprehensive and thorough response from the Federal government.¨ Such a response must address all aspects of the lives of every resident of the region, from health care toeducation to unemployment to the establishment of a victims' compensation fund.¨ Any genuine response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina must directly benefit those most affected; the residents of the Gulf Coast area. ¨ We must also learn from the horror of Hurricane Katrina, and work to eradicate poverty and establish safeguards so that this never happens again.

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(SAMPLE LETTER)
(date)
The Honorable ___________________________ United States
Senate / House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20510 / 20515

RE: SUPPORT FOR COMPREHENSIVE HURRICANE KATRINA RELIEF
LEGISLATION

Dear Senator / Representative
_______________________________;

The damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to the Gulf Coast region, and the number of lives affected by these natural disasters, warrants a comprehensive response from the Federal government. Such a response must address all aspects of the lives of every resident of the region, from health care to education to unemployment to the establishment of a victims' compensation fund. That is why I strongly support H.R.4197, the Hurricane Katrina Recovery, Reclamation, Restoration, Reconstruction and Reunion Act of 2005, introduced by Congressman Mel Watt (D-NC) and supported by all 42 House members of the Congressional Black Caucus. I hope that you too will support this omnibus bill by co-sponsoring it and working hard to see that it soon becomes law. H.R. 4197 is designed to provide for the full recovery of the Gulf Coast region and for the reunion of families devastated by Hurricane Katrina. It is an omnibus bill in that it addresses a myriad of issues faced by Katrina victims, including:
the establishment of a victim restoration fund;
environmental protection;
health issues;
an extension of unemployment benefits;
providing a myriad of housing and community development grants;
educational assistance from early child care and Head Start, through elementary and secondary education and including assistance for colleges and university students, faculty and facilities;
the protection of the voting rights of Hurricane Katrina victims; the expansion of small business opportunities as well as the rescission of orders by the Administration to waive the Davis-Bacon Act and affirmative action requirements for federal contracting in the damaged areas; and the waiving of certain regulations in banking, as well as the new bankruptcy reform law. Finally, the legislation expresses the sense of Congress that the President should, within the next 6 months present a plan to Congress and the public to eradicate poverty in the United States over the next 10 years.

Any genuine response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina must directly benefit those most affected; the residents of the Gulf Coast area. We must also learn from the horror of Hurricane Katrina, and work to eradicate poverty and establish safeguards so that
This never happens again. Thus I urge you again to co-sponsor and strongly support H.R. 4197. Please contact me in the near future and let me know what you intend to do about this very important matter.
Sincerely,
(sign and print your name and remember to include your
address)

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SUMMARY OF H.R. 4197, THE HURRICANE KATRINA RECOVERY,
RECLAMATION, RESTORATION, RECONSTRUCTION AND REUNION
ACT OF 2005

Introduced by Congressman Mel Watt (D-NC) and the members of the Congressional Black Caucus November 2, 2005
The bill introduced on November 2, 2005 by all 42 House members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is called the Hurricane Katrina Recovery, Reclamation, Restoration, Reconstruction and Reunion Act of 2005.
HR 4197 emphasizes two critical objectives the CBC and many others have considered most important since Hurricane Katrina - the desire to see the Gulf Coast restored fully and the desire to see the residents of the Gulf Coast reunited with their families. The following is a summary of some of the important provisions of the bill. The full text of the bill can be accessed by going to http://thomas.loc.gov and entering the bill number (HR 4197). TITLE I - Victim Restoration Fund: Uses the model approved by Congress after the 9/11 terrorist attacks - having a Special Master make an individual evaluation of the amount each claimant is to receive. Instead of making a determination of the amount due for each claim as a result of death as was the case under the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, however, under the Victim Restoration Fund, the Special Master's job would be to determine what compensation is necessary to restore each individual Hurricane Katrina claimant to his or her pre-Katrina condition. The Special Master would be required to offset recoveries to each claimant from collateral sources (insurance, government sources, etc.,) and would be authorized to accept non-government funds to help reduce the financial burden on the Federal government.
TITLE II - Environmental Provisions: Requires the EPA to develop, in consultation with state officials, a comprehensive environmental sampling and toxicity assessment plan (CESTAP) including public health assessments and monitoring, training of clean up workers, notification to the public of risks, a step-by-step process for allowing residents to return to their property, a process of compensating those unable to return to their property because of environmental conditions and independent review of determinations.
TITLE III - Health Provisions:
* Subtitle A authorizes grants to rebuild and repair medical facilities destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Katrina and to help close health access and outcome disparities between minorities and others and provides coverage under Medicaid for each survivor of Hurricane Katrina whose income does not exceed 100% of the poverty line.
* Subtitle B authorizes 100% Federal payment for states to provide emergency Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) benefits to survivors of Hurricane Katrina who meet eligibility standards regardless of where they are.
* Subtitle C provides 100% Federal coverage of unemployment benefits (marked up 25% or $100 per week, whichever is greater) to Katrina survivors for 26 additional weeks.
* Subtitle D provides for Federal payment of private health insurance premiums for at least 12 months for employees and employers whose ability to continue payment of premiums was severely impaired as a result of Katrina and prohibits cancellation of policies by insurance providers who receive premium payments under the program.
TITLE IV - Housing & Community Rebuilding Provisions: Authorizes additional Federal funds for the Hurricane Katrina disaster area for the following purposes and in the following amounts:
* Public Housing Capital Funds - $100 million;
* HOPE VI Community Revitalization - $100 million;
* HOME - $1 billion;
* Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) - $1 billion;
* CDBG Section 108 Loan Guarantee Funds - $10 million;
* YouthBuild - $200 million;
* HUD Demonstration Act Funds - $4.5 million;
* Funding for 300,000 additional tenant-based rental assistance (Section 8) Vouchers;
* $10 million for Fair Housing Enforcement; and
* $10 million for Housing Counseling for families in temporary shelters.
TITLE IV also prohibits placement of persons displaced by Katrina in substandard housing, provides for more vigorous enforcement of Fair Housing laws, gives people displaced by Katrina preference for HUD inventory and foreclosed properties, and establishes a mortgage payment fund for payment of mortgages similar to the fund authorized under Title III for the payment of private health insurance premiums.
TITLE V - Education Provisions: To help meet the educational needs of the Katrina areas and evacuees from these areas:
* Subtitle B provides additional emergency funding for Child Care Development Act Block Grants and Head Start Services;
* Subtitle C provides additional funding for elementary and secondary schools to help students relocated as a result of Hurricane Katrina and school systems to which they were relocated, to help rebuild and restart the operation of schools in the Katrina areas, to help homeless youth, for community learning centers, for construction, modernization and repair of school facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina and for teacher incentive programs; and
* Subtitle D provides loan forgiveness for college students, grants for reconstruction and renovation of colleges damaged by Hurricane Katrina and grants for recruitment and retention of students and faculty at colleges impacted by Katrina.
TITLE VI - Voting Rights: Provides Katrina evacuees the same absentee ballot and registration provisions available to military personnel and authorizes up to $50 million in grants for the restoration and replacement of election supplies, materials and equipment damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
TITLE VII - Financial Services Provisions: Waives certain regulations, capital requirements, fees and customer identification requirements to facilitate financial transactions for persons displaced by Katrina, provides technical assistance to minority financial institutions and allows CDFI Fund resources to be used for disaster relief in the Katrina areas.
TITLE VIII - Expanded Opportunity and Small Business
Provisions: * Subtitle A reinstates Davis-Bacon wage requirements, sets small and minority business, local (Gulf Coast) business and local employee participation goals in post-Katrina contracting, requires financial incentives to be provided to meet these goals, requires contractors to provide apprenticeship opportunities and reinstates affirmative action requirements suspended by President Bush after Hurricane Katrina.
* Subtitle B authorizes additional funding for new SBA disaster loans and increases loan caps on SBA loans to small businesses impacted by Hurricane Katrina, allows the
SBA to defer payments and refinance existing loans, authorizes additional funding for business counseling, small business development centers and HubZones and increases the surety bonding threshold for Katrina related procurement contracts.
TITLE IX - Tax Provisions: Provides tax credits of up to $5,000 for persons or families displaced by Hurricane Katrina who purchase or construct homes in Hurricane Katrina areas, increases the low-income housing credit dollar amount and allows the issuance of federally guaranteed, tax exempt bonds for reconstruction of the Katrina disaster area.
TITLE X - Bankruptcy: Exempts victims of natural disasters from most provisions of the Bankruptcy reform law that recently became effective.
TITLE XI - Miscellaneous Provisions: Requires FEMA to reimburse entities that performed services that should have been performed by FEMA following Hurricane Katrina if the entity requests reimbursement and allows retroactive purchase of flood insurance by victims of Hurricane Katrina who did not live in a designated flood plain.
TITLE XII - Eradicating Poverty: Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should present within 6 months a plan to eradicate poverty in the United States within 10 years.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS IMPORTANT MATTER!!! If you have any questions, call Hilary Shelton at the Washington Bureau at (202) 463-2940.
MEMBERSHIP IS POWER! JOIN THE NAACP TODAY. For more information, call your local NAACP branch or visit http://www.naacp.org/
1156 15th Street, Suite 915, Washington, DC 20005



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.12.8/165 - Release Date: 11/9/2005

similar to the way the administration treated the black citizens of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast (highly likely), the chances of this passing are zero and none . . .

much support there is on a "liberal" site for the Congressional Black Caucus. If we are not there for the Congressional Black Caucus and all the survivors of the hurricanes who face crushing discrimination, you better not be too surprised if the black vote goes elsewhere. This is an opportunity for the Democratic Party to really stand solid on its moral values. There should be an outcry, not a whimper.