Former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, now president and CEO of the National Urban League, visits Washington, D.C., seeking more help for victims of Hurricane Katrina. He tells Farai Chideya about a victims' fund the Urban League has established with the help of several major businesses.
FARAI CHIDEYA, host: From NPR News this is NEWS & NOTES.  I'm Farai Chideya in for Ed Gordon.</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: National Urban League president, Marc Morial, says Congress should      protect and assist people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.  The former      mayor of New Orleans is in Washington today to hold lawmakers' feet to      the fire.  He's also giving a keynote speech on Katrina race and poverty      at Georgetown Law School.  He'll announce a new Katrina relief fund to      help residents build.</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: Marc Morial now joins us from our NPR headquarters in the nation's      capital. Thanks for joining us.</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): Good to be with you.</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: So tell us exactly what this Katrina relief fund is about.      What specifically are you talking about?</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): Well, what we're doing is the National Urban League has over      100 affiliates throughout the nation, and our affiliates provide services      to people.  Our Katrina initiative is about helping evacuees who now find      themselves in cities like Baton Rouge, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Memphis,      just to name a few, connect with housing and jobs as they move from      shelters in some cases, as they move from double bunking with family      members, friends or, in some cases, strangers, as well as to help people      connect with jobs.  In some cases, people need to connect with jobs in      Houston, in Dallas, in Baton Rouge, because their ability to return to      New Orleans is long-term because of the damage that their home may have      suffered.  In some cases, we hope to help people connect with jobs and      the rebuilding and the recovery because I believe very strongly that      people have a right to work; that the evacuees ought to be first in line      for the recovery and the rebuilding jobs.  So this is the work...</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: So let me just...</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): ...that we're going to do.</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: ...ask you.  Are you talking about a private effort?  A      non-profit effort?  Or a government effort or a combination?  What      specifically is the mechanism?</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): Our specific effort, our fund, our initiative is a      non-profit effort that's going to be funded substantially by private      dollars, and what we're doing is supporting the work of our affiliates.      Our affiliates have housing counselors, employments counselors.  We've      been stretched, literally, to the gill with the demand for services in      places like Houston and Dallas because there's so many people that we      need to help.  So that is part of our initiative and that's an important      component of the programming work we're going to do.</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): On the other hand, there's a policy and an advocacy side.  At a speech      I'll give at Georgetown University Law Center on Wednesday, I will      outline what I call the `Katrina bill of rights.' And that bill of rights      encompasses rights that I believe that victims and evacuees and survivors      of Katrina ought to have.  One key right is the right to work on the      rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf coast; to be first in line.      Because many people, several hundred thousands of people, have lost their      jobs because of Hurricane Katrina.  What better way to give them an      opportunity to get back to work than to give them an opportunity--the      first right to participate in the recovery and the rebuilding effort.</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: Let me ask you this.  What about what you're doing now is      revolutionary?  What about what you're doing now isn't the same reaction      that nonprofit groups have to every disaster, which is to say, `I'm going      to help you,' and then five years later you find out that the people who      were affected by the disaster have not had their lives changed in any      material way?</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): Well, I think in this case what we're doing is just      basic--dealing with basic needs on one front.  I mean, the other side of      it is the broader policy implications that I'm going to talk about this      morning; the idea that, indeed, Hurricane Katrina laid bare the problems      of poverty, race and class in this nation in a way that many people, to      be quite honest, felt that these problems had been solved.  But they were      absolutely wrong. Those of us who work in these areas, who've worked with      people in communities and cities, have been loud voices for a long time      saying these problems have not gone away.  Katrina laid bare those      problems and that's--in that respect, this, indeed, is a wake-up call for      this nation when it comes to poverty and race.</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): Now one of the features...</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: I actually have to jump in just because we're running out of      time. One of the reasons we're running out of time is because we want to      talk about the bankruptcy bill which affects a lot of Katrina survivors.      But before I go to that and ask you about that, I want to ask you, in      your role as head of the Urban League, do you feel that you should be in      an adversarial position to government urging to it to do something      different, or should you be in a partnership with government trying to      get government to reinvest in work programs that would get Katrina      survivors back into their own city?</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): It's both.</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: What's your role?</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): For us, it's both.  Because we are--fundamentally, one of      the things we do is serve people, and we serve people in partnerships      with government and the private sector.  The other thing we do is policy      advocacy. We are not simply a mouthpiece organization.  We're also an      organization that on an annual basis serves two million people.  Many of      these people would not be served but for us.  They're in our after-school      programs.  They're in our job-training programs.  And we do work in      partnership, not only with government, but also with private foundations,      with corporations, in order to do that very important work.  But we      also--yeah?</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: Unfortunately, I have to jump to the question of bankruptcy      because we have a gentleman coming on...</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): Certainly.</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: ...to talk about that.  Katrina survivors have been given a      certain amount of buffer against this new bankruptcy bill taking affect      next week.  Do you think that that's enough?  Is that enough to protect      them from the catastrophic losses?</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): How much of a buffer is it?</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: That's the question that's up in the air.  What do you--in your      analysis...</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): I really believe that there ought to be a moratorium or a      suspension of these new provisions to give people an opportunity to      determine whether they want to file bankruptcy.  I fear that many people      I know have rushed to file bankruptcy to beat the new deadline because      they fear that after the deadline they're not going to be able to      discharge their debts.  I think that the new bank--features of the new      bankruptcy law were just insensitive and inappropriate to try to force      people.  It runs counter to what bankruptcy is really all about, and I      think that there ought to be some specific provisions, a moratorium if      you will, on the new bankruptcy law for Katrina victims and survivors, to      give them more time and an opportunity to get their lives together.  Many      people can't find their papers, their personal papers.  They don't have      access to their banks.  I don't think the average American may have--has      shown a lot of compassion or may have the sense of how dispossessing      Katrina has been.  People have lost their houses, their homes, they're      disconnected from their families.  They can't find their papers just to      be able to get things together to make an intelligent decision.</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: They're so absolutely vulnerable and we're going to have to      leave it there.  Marc Morial, president...</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): Thanks for...</s>FARAI CHIDEYA, host: ...and CEO of the National Urban League, former mayor of New      Orleans.  We certainly will talk to you more soon.  Thank you so much.</s>Mr. MARC MORIAL (Former Mayor, New Orleans): Thanks.  Thanks for having me.