An obvious oversight
Residents of a host of parishes in Louisiana are eligible for federal funding thanks to President Bush's declaration Tuesday that a major disaster exists in Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.
Bush's order entailed federal assistance through grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster caused by Gustav.
Bush's order made available federal funding for individuals in Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Vernon, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana parishes.
Federal funding also is available to state and local governments and some private, non-profit organizations on a cost-sharing basis in Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Vernon, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana parishes. That assistance is designed to help parish deal with debris removal.
We certainly recognize the aforementioned parishes, and the people who live there, are in dire need of assistance by any and all means. Those parishes and their citizens should received assistance from the federal government, too.
But we are disappointed parishes in northeast Louisiana were not included in President Bush's declaration. Either the president was not aware of the damages Gustav delivered to northeast Louisiana, or it was an oversight by the president that parishes in northeast Louisiana need help from the feds as well. Otherwise, we suspect President Bush would have included northeast Louisiana parishes in the disaster order he declared Tuesday.
With that backdrop in mind, we encourage Congressman Rodney Alexander and U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu and David Vitter to enlighten President Bush about the problems we have incurred in northeast Louisiana thanks to Gustav. Gov. Bobby Jindal and his administration should be included as well in any efforts to make the president aware of the damages Gustav delivered to our region of the state.
That certainly isn't asking too much of our members of the Congress and of the governor. |
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