March 20, 2007, Washington, DC – The National Council of Jewish Women have Katrina on their minds and they want the recovery fixed.

Today, more than 500 members of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), including five members from the New Orleans section, are visiting Congress and calling on their representatives to keep New Orleans’ plight at the top of the legislative agenda. 

In a hand-delivered open letter to Congress, the NCJW expressed deep concern over the lack of progress in recovery from the devastating damage wrought to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  It also called the federal emergency response “a shameful disaster.” 

“The federal government bears special responsibility for the destruction of New Orleans.” said Ina Davis, president of the NCJW’s New Orleans section.  “We’ve rallied our fellow members nationwide to raise their collective voice and let legislators know that voters beyond New Orleans expect Congress to take action that will help their fellow citizens in extreme distress.”

The NCJW is appealing to members of Congress to witness first-hand the devastation in New Orleans in hopes that it will spur assistance.  In addition, the letter urges Congress to immediately write into law a waiver of the requirement that local and state government pay a ten percent match of the cost of disaster recovery.  The waiver has been granted for 32 disasters since 1985—disasters whose scope by any measure was far less than Katrina.

“It is unconscionable not to waive the federal requirement for Katrina.  If the President will not do it administratively, Congress must do it by law,” says the letter. 

The letter also acknowledges New Orleans’ special role in our nation’s history and culture as well as the federal government’s culpability in its destruction.  “Congress must carry out its legislative and oversight responsibilities to ensure that a vibrant and prosperous New Orleans and Gulf Coast can once again take its rightful place in the economic and cultural life or our nation.”

NCJW has deep roots in New Orleans and has been at the forefront of social change — championing the needs of women, children, and families — while courageously taking a progressive stance on such issues as child welfare, women’s rights, and reproductive freedom.  The New Orleans Section was founded in 1897 and currently has almost 1,000 members, many of whom are still displaced by hurricane Katrina.  NCJW also is a national partner of Women of the Storm, a broad based local organization of women formed after Katrina to urge members of Congress to visit New Orleans. 

NCJW is a volunteer organization, inspired by Jewish values, that works to improve the quality of life for women, children, and families and to ensure individual rights and freedoms for all through its network of 90,000 members, supporters, and volunteers nationwide.

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