Posted on 05/18/2007 8:13:25 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3
Sen. Clinton Promises Better Focus for Hurricane Recovery
NEW ORLEANS
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton told local civic leaders Friday that, if elected, she would enact a broad range of initiatives to quicken the recovery of the hurricane-devastated region.
The New York senator's proposals included the appointment of a recovery manager who would report directly to the White House and whose sole responsibility would be to better organize federal aid to the region. Clinton said the Gulf Coast has been neglected by the Bush Administration since the disaster.
"This is upside and backwards," Clinton said, referring to the President's handling of recovery. "If the resources and services aren't back, people won't come back."
Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Mississippi coast on Aug. 29, 2005, flooding 80 percent of the city and devastating the area. Hurricane Rita struck about a month later in southwest Louisiana. The region's recovery from the storms have been sluggish, and local residents widely blame government ineffectiveness.
Clinton, D-N.Y., said she would form a Katrina/Rita recovery census to take stock of the damage and determine the most effective ways to rebuild. Another proposal would eliminate the 10 percent funding match requirement state and local governments must front to receive federal aid.
Clinton said she would also appoint a board to conduct a "stem-to-stern" review of the levee work done by the Army Corps of Engineers. The effort, she said, would seek to reassure city residents that they would be protected if there is a hurricane even stronger than Katrina. She said she would also convene a federal-state-local summit to help speed up the disbursement of stalled Road Home funds.
Lastly, Clinton said she would create a "Gulf Coast Corps," fashioned after the Peace Corps, that would bring teachers, doctors and other professionals to the region, with the hope that many would be former residents who still want to return.
Nearly two years after the storm, about 40 percent of the city's population remains displaced. Tens of thousands of residents cannot return, in part because housing and apartment stocks took a heavy blow from the storm.
"I will not let New Orleans dissipate," Clinton said. "We got to make sure New Orleans is here for our country."
In addition to touring New Orleans and attending a Friday evening fundraiser, Clinton was scheduled to deliver the commencement address Saturday morning at Dillard University and receive an honorary degree. Dillard, a private, predominantly black university in the hard-hit Gentilly neighborhood, was heavily damaged by Katrina.
One of several host committee members for the Friday fundraiser for Clinton was Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee, who along with other committee members paid $2,300 for the honor.
Lee, 74, is a popular longtime Democrat who has had a contentious relationship with black leaders; but in the in the 1960s also worked for one of the few Southern congressmen who supported civil rights legislation.
In the 1980s, after a rash of robberies in white neighborhoods in suburban New Orleans, he said his deputies would stop "young blacks in rinky-dink cars." He later backed off. Last October, he drew criticism by suggesting his deputies could randomly question young black men gathered in high-crime areas.
Derrick Shepherd, a black state senator who represents Jefferson Parish, said the sheriff has a long-standing relationship with Hillary and Bill Clinton, so his support is not surprising. Shepherd said Lee should "stick with crime fighting and not get on his soap box and dictate to people his views on race."
Clinton campaign managers did not immediately comment Friday evening on Lee's involvement.
Clinton got a face-to-face education on the struggles of post-Katrina New Orleans from dozens of residents during her daylong tour of the city.
Along the way, she said she would "cut through" bureaucratic red tape that has stalled recovery in hard-hit areas where mostly working-class and poor residents lacked the financial resources to rebuild on their own.
At a stop in the recovering Broadmoor area, Clinton met resident Henry Julien, who promptly reminded the candidate he had contributed to her campaign.
"Bush said we're going to rebuild New Orleans. We're going to do whatever it takes," said Julien, 59, after his talk with Clinton. "What she said was more specific; that we'll do what it takes to help each other. I'll take her at her word."
Clinton was last in the region on May 5, when she spoke at the National Conference of Black Mayors in Baton Rouge. She did not visit New Orleans.
Her leading rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, also spoke during the mayor's conference, drawing a larger crowd. Later, he visited students at Pierre A. Capdau Charter School in New Orleans and called on the federal government to invest $250 million in the city's struggling schools.
What accent did she use?
She spoke in a Cajun Chocolate Nappy Hair Ho Suthern Hip Hop slang.
the democrat plantation,
i give you $,
you vote for me.
Mo money, mo money, mo money, that’s all the dims promise.
Senior citizens in Chicago were neglected by Clinton in 1995 during the Heat Wave.
Is this for shrillary or billy....just curious
Glad she takes her day job seriously.
I think we have found since Katrina that many of them are too lazy to do anything but commit crimes.
"I don't feeeeel no wayyyys taaaaaaaarrrrrdd....."
with all those restaurants, she is probably screaming at an aide to find a tailor to let out her pants for ‘Ol crusty once again
LOL! I thought her black pantsuit was “Ol crusty!
OK, I’ve had a glass of wine, but just one.
I’m LMAO here.
New Orleans — the PERFECT example of the result of Liberal Democrat lunacy....
A failed city, run by corrupt and inept a$$holes, for incompetent, criminal and lazy leeches of society....
The PERFECT place for Hillary to find and buy votes..
“”This is upside and backwards,” Clinton said, referring to the President’s handling of recovery.”
...Clinton said, affecting an unconvincing Cajun accent.
Clinton Stumps in New Orleans.
You really shouldn’t refer to her cankles like that.
I am surprised they didn’t chase her off with pitchforks. After all this time all she has to offer is comissions.
Hi, Claire.
The Queen of Pander worked her wonders down there, for sure.
What’s this, her first visit? Katrina happened 2 and one half years ago. And she’s hailed like royalty.
Bush visits what, ten times, and it’s still all his fault.
I barely made it through Bubba’s Presidency—I don’t think I could survive hers.
Bread and Circuses for all!
She certainly has the legs for it!
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