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Two key senators go to bat for N.O.
After tour of ruins, they pledge to back city's financial bailout
By Jeff Duncan
Staff writer
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Two of Congress's most fiscally conservative Republican senators,
Arizona's John McCain and South Carolina's Lindsey Graham, pledged
their support to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans on Friday in a whirlwind
visit lauded by locals who have been attempting to lure high-powered
lawmakers to the region.
But only McCain said definitively that he supports President Bush's
demand that Congress target $4.2 billion in housing aid to Louisiana.
"I am totally in favor of that," said McCain, a leading hopeful for the
2008 GOP presidential nomination. "So, the answer is, yes. I support
the president."
Graham, on the other hand, said he believes the federal government has
a financial obligation to help the city rebuild, but wants to see a
fully developed "game plan" first. When asked if he supports Bush's
call to earmark the housing aid for Louisiana, he said, "I don't know
yet."
Speaking from the dilapidated driveway of a crumbling home across the
street from the 17th Street Canal breach, the senators addressed a
crowd of about 50 residents and members of Women of the Storm, a
nonpartisan group of civic activists who, in conjunction with Sen.
David Vitter, R-La., helped coordinate the visit.
The senators were flanked by about three dozens students from the
Academy of the Sacred Heart, who were invited to join the event when
organizers saw them touring the debris-strewn neighborhood in a pair of
school buses.
The flood-ravaged three-bedroom home at the intersection of Spencer and
Bellaire avenues served as a poignant backdrop for the 20-minute news
briefing.
To the left of the senators, an American flag hung from a rusty pipe.
To the right, a waist-high mound of debris stretched the length of the
muddy front yard. Behind them, a bright orange "No Trespassing" sign
hung from the home's entry way, which was visible through its destroyed
walls.
"I leave here with renewed optimism," Graham said. "If all it takes is
some money, then you all are going to get some money. Shame on us if we
don't learn from this. Let's not pass on to these girls the mistakes we
have made."
Game plan comes first
But the senators cautioned that billions in aid will be contingent upon
local leaders' laying out a comprehensive, coordinated recovery plan in
the coming weeks.
"The game plan to rebuild this area is much more mature than I
realized," Graham said. "Before we spend $4.2 billion I want to see a
game plan. I will write checks, but we need to have a game plan."
Graham drew the biggest reaction when he applauded the Women of the
Storm and local political leadership for their work to consolidate the
region's levee boards and reform what he called "the good-old-boy
system."
The visit came two days after Bush made a similar appearance and urged
Congress to keep the money he requested solely for Louisiana. Bush also
rebuked Congress for diverting $1.5 billion targeted to armor levees,
add new pumping stations near Lake Pontchartrain and close off canals
that failed and flooded much of the city after Hurricane Katrina. He
called on lawmakers to restore that money.
Congress is not expected to vote on the supplemental spending package, the fourth since the storm, until May.
While adding that he thinks the needs of Mississippi, Alabama and Texas
residents still need to be met, McCain said that the housing money,
which is part of a $92 billion supplemental spending request Bush
proposed last month, including $19.8 billion for Gulf Coast recovery
aid, might not be enough.
"I am for doing what is necessary -- $4.2 billion, $10.5 billion, $50.5
billion," he said after bristling at a reporter's request that he
clarify his stance on Bush's statement. "The $4.2 billion is not the
end of the requirement."
Spreading the word
McCain and Graham were accompanied on the visit by Wendy Vitter, the
wife of Louisiana's junior senator. Her husband could not attend
Friday's tour because of another commitment, spokesman Mac Abrams said.
Anne Milling, the co-founder of Women of the Storm, challenged the senators to deliver the group's message to Washington.
"We're all working together, hand-in-hand, to rebuild this wonderful
city," she said. "Be ever-mindful that a great national disaster has
occurred here. And we deserve a national response."
By an unofficial tally, 82 of 435 House members and 40 of 100 senators
have toured the region since Katrina and Rita devastated south
Louisiana six months ago.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is scheduled to visit Lakeview and south
Louisiana as the guest of Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., on Monday.
"It's necessary for every member of Congress to come down here," said
McCain, who is scheduled to visit storm-affected areas of the
Mississippi Gulf Coast today. "You can't appreciate the enormity of it
until you come down here. We have an enormous long-term environmental
challenge here. "
Friday's visit came a week after 34 House members conducted a three-day
tour of the area, as well as parts of Mississippi and Alabama. Because
of business in Washington, McCain and Graham spent only a single day in
the city after arriving late Thursday night.
Their day started with a series of briefings by civic and business
leaders, including Mel Lagarde, co-chairman of the Bring New Orleans
Back commission; Sean Reilly, a member of the Louisiana Recovery
Authority; and King Milling, the chairman of he Louisiana Commission on
Coastal Restoration.
The senators were then briefed by Army Corps of Engineers officials
before boarding a passenger van and embarking on a two-hour ground
tour. The tour, led by Brig. Gen. Hunt Downer of the Louisiana National
Guard, took the group through hard-hit parts of the Lower 9th Ward,
eastern New Orleans and Lakeview.
After the press conference, several residents approached both men to thank them for visiting and to voice their concerns.
A better day ahead
Graham told residents he could sympathize with their plight after
witnessing the destruction Hurricane Hugo wrought on his home state in
1989.
"Charleston is stronger, is better today. So, too, shall be New
Orleans," Graham said. "At the end of the day, you'll have a new New
Orleans."
Debbie Landry, a Lakeview resident and member of Women of the Storm,
told McCain her three-bedroom home a few blocks away was completely
flooded, and that she has lived in a FEMA trailer for the past few
months. The homes of her parents and children also were damaged by the
flood.
"We lost everything," Landry said through tears as she hugged McCain. "We have no family home. We have no family home."
Another neighbor asked McCain to return to Washington and tell his colleagues "we need their help."
"I think I got that message," he said.
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