Dennis Kucinich submitted a request to DHS Deputy Inspector General Jadacki for a “readiness score card” a comprehensive assessment of the full range of preparedness issues that FEMA needs to address in order to be prepared for another catastrophic disaster. This report will assess hundreds of discreet areas of emergency preparedness. Further, to ensure global warming is considered in planning for FEMA’s future resource demands, Kucinich inserted language in the Energy Bill that passed the House before recess requiring a comprehensive study to determine the increase in demand for FEMA’s emergency response and disaster relief services as a result of weather-related disasters associated with global warming. The assessment will include an analysis of the budgetary and manpower implications of meeting such increased demand for FEMA services. FEMA agreed to both requests.
Kucinich and The Domestic Policy Subcommittee also held hearings, which resumed last week, on the adequacy of labor law enforcement in the New Orleans metro area post-Katrina. Witnesses testified that the confluence of several labor law suspensions by the President and the influx of no-bid, cost-plus contracts created a “wild, wild West” environment in New Orleans that has subjected the workforce to hazardous working conditions and wage theft. The Domestic Policy Subcommittee drafted recommendations for the consideration of the DOL and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as they draft regulations concerning H2-B visa holders, or non-agricultural guest workers, to do the reconstruction and recovery efforts.
After Hurricane Katrina, President Bush suspended Davis-Bacon wage
requirements in the hurricane-affected region. A number of other labor
law requirements were also suspended by executive order and
administrative action. At the same time, billions of federal dollars
flowed into the region to fund clean up and reconstruction through large contracts exploiting Immigrant labor with unfair wages and working conditions.
The Subcommittee held its first hearing on June 26, where it heard from
workers and advocates that a “Wild, Wild West” atmosphere prevailed,
and many workers were denied wages and overtime by employers in
violation of the law. The hearing also examined the role of the Wage
and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor in investigating and
prosecuting these violations.
Kucinich has been calling for the rebuilding in New Orleans to be given back to residents of the area to create jobs as they repair their city; housing and public infrastructure, including levees to meet the standards necessary for future emergencies. Further, these jobs must be at a fair, living wage and safe working conditions. In fact, Kucinich is calling to restore the value of the federal minimum wage, bringing it up to at least its 1968 level and indexing it to automatically keep pace with the cost of living. This will allow workers to quit their second or third jobs and spend more time with their families.
However, we have to also look at the larger picture, as well as towards the future. The most basic issue affecting both disaster preparedness and response is one of priority. As the Gulf Coast was neglected a war went on in Iraq which needlessly squandered money, to be used for infrastructure and support, and manpower, like The National Guard, to provide relief. This country needs to change direction and focus its priorities back here at home.
We have to change our energy policy and end the domination of oil and fossil fuel and to invest heavily in alternative energy, including wind and solar, geothermal and biofuels. As Kucinich noted:
"As bad as this catastrophe was and still is, Katrina was in fact only a warning. We must make America a better place to live, a place where all may survive and thrive. It must get off the path of war and seek the path of peace, peace with the natural environment, peace with other nations, peace with a just economic system.
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