Please ask your Senator or
Representative to visit New Orleans - and support its rebuilding.
Here’s a sample letter. The best way to send it is by fax, followed by
e-mail. Delivery of surface mail to congressional offices continues to
be problematic following the anthrax scares of a few years ago. Often a
phone call is the most powerful tool of all. You can find your
Senator or Representative’s contact information at www.congress.com. Thank you - on behalf of Women of the Storm and of all New Orleanians!
Dear Sen/Rep NAME,
Two years after Hurricane Katrina, 57 Senators and 132 members of
the House of Representatives in the 110th Congress have visited New
Orleans to see for themselves the progress that has been made and
the challenges still facing the city. That means 43 Senators and 403
members of the House of Representatives have not yet made the
trip.
I write today to invite you to visit the area. And I encourage you to
support ways to create a revenue stream for rebuilding coastal
wetlands. Louisiana feeds and fuels the nation. Her wetlands are vital
to domestic energy security because almost one-third of the nation’s
oil and gas flows through them. They also account for almost a third of
the nation’s seafood and surround one of America’s largest ports.
In addition, I write in support of the mission of Women of the
Storm, a non-partisan, non-political alliance of Louisiana women whose
families, businesses and lives were impacted by the hurricanes. Members
are culturally, socially and economically diverse and are bound by
their passion for their communities. Women of the Storm invites all
members of Congress to visit New Orleans and coastal Louisiana to see
the extent of the damage first-hand and talk with business and civic
leaders and citizens.
Here’s what the New Orleans newspaper, The Times-Picayune, said editorially:
Everyone in greater New Orleans who has
given the disaster tour to out-of-area friends and relatives can pretty
much predict their reaction:
“Oh, my God. It's nothing like watching it on TV. You have to see it."
That's why Women of the Storm has for months lobbied members of
Congress to come to the city. For people who control the funding needed
to fix damage done by Katrina and the failure of the federal levee
system, getting first-hand knowledge of the tragedy and the challenges
we face can be a mind-changing experience.
Please join 189 of your colleagues and visit New Orleans, one of the
nation’s most historic cities, and with its shipping and oil and gas
interests - a vital region for our country’s economy. To arrange a time
for a visit and tour, please contact Women of the Storm’s founder Anne
Milling at 504-866-8357 or amilling@bellsouth.net.
Thank you!
