President Katrina Promises Not Enough



We are encouraged that President Bush pledges to finally address the deadly impact of poverty, racism and economic injustice in the United States. We agree this shared tragedy must set the nation on a new course.

Hurricane Katrina blew the cover off the reality of poverty and racism, and Americans were shocked that the reality of who we are does not match our beliefs about ourselves. But years of tax breaks for the wealthy and the costs of war have robbed us of programs that help people with shelter, food, job training, and health care, as well as our ability to respond to emergencies and build and maintain an essential infrastructure.

Those of us who are most vulnerable - the poor, the elderly, minorities and immigrant communities - have borne the brunt of the hurricane's wrath. However, we must not pit the needs of Katrina evacuees against the many thousands who are also in dire need of affordable housing and health care, food security, decent schools and other basic necessities of life.

We must not only provide the charitable emergency response to those who have been stranded by this disaster, but also build a country where deep poverty and hunger are unknown and we have the world-class schools, health care, and economic opportunities for all that we wanted to believe we had.

To live up to the promise he made to America last night, the President should immediately cancel plans to cut $35 billion from Medicaid, food stamps and other programs that Hurricane Katrina evacuees and millions of others rely on to survive. Seventy billion in tax breaks to our nation's wealthiest people must be repealed. Efforts to privatize Social Security must come to an end.

Congress, the President, religious and community leaders and members of the public must forge a new resolve -- one that works to fight decades of disparity and injustice.

In 1969 another deadly hurricane barreled down the Gulf Coast. Camille was the first category five hurricane ever to touch down in the region. With peak winds at up to 220 miles per hour, she ripped through entire communities, leaving towns like Pass Christian, Mississippi, in ruins. Her tidal surge set a United States record for height and inland penetration.

Camille was one of the most devastating in the region, often compared to the 1900 hurricane that leveled Galveston, Texas. The lives devastated in the wake of her passing and the resulting inequities in emergency services to the poor and vulnerable prompted a Federal hearing during which the Service Committee gave testimony on how to improve fatal flaws in the disaster preparedness system.

At that time it was also true that the Feds weren't prepared to deal with the human consequence of major natural disasters. No safeguards were in place to guard against the blatant racial and economic disparities. Emergency food, water and basic relief items were carried into white communities, while poor and black communities were entirely ignored.

Then and now AFSC urges that our disaster preparedness agency - FEMA - must be fully funded and independent of the Department of Homeland Security. Improved communications before, during and after a crisis are essential. Real steps must be taken to assure agencies cannot discriminate in emergency services or emergency relief efforts.

Evacuees themselves must play an essential role in determining how New Orleans and other affected communities are rebuilt. They should receive a fair share of the jobs involved with reconstruction and should receive a livable wage for that work. In addition, Congress must strenuously monitor how no-bid contracts have been awarded and spent to guard against the injustice of price gouging and hurricane profiteering.

The President must urge Congress to approve a moral budget that adequately funds and promotes the Government's essential responsibility to provide for the common good. Hurricane Katrina showed us all too clearly what happens when we fail to meet that responsibility.

About the American Friends Service Committee
Backed by an 87-year history of humanitarian work, the American Friends Service Committee has provided crucial, life-saving assistance to people struggling for survival whether caught in the crossfire of war or suffering the horrors of earthquake or famine. The Service Committee along with the British Friends Service Council accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for its humanitarian work during World War II on behalf of Quakers worldwide.

AFSC helps those who are suffering without regard to their religious, ethnic, or political affiliation. In 1919 AFSC was hand-picked by Herbert Hoover to launch massive programs to feed millions of starving children in post-war Germany. During World War II, the Service Committee provided temporary aid, housing and other assistance to Japanese-Americans and worked to get them out of internment camps. The United Nations asked AFSC to provide relief assistance to more than 200,000 Palestinian refugees entering the Gaza Strip during and after the Arab-Israeli War.

With national offices in Philadelphia, AFSC has regional offices in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Des Moines, Houston, New York City, Pasadena, San Francisco, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington, and in 22 countries of the world.





President Katrina Promises Not Enough