A coalition of civil rights organizations is calling on President George W. Bush and Congress to initiate a comprehensive agenda to assist survivors of Hurricane Katrina with temporary housing, job training, school placement and opportunities to help rebuild their communities.

The NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus and the National Urban League have mobilized their collective resources to help feed and house thousands of hurricane survivors and reconnect an unprecedented number of black families.

This week, officials said there still more than 2,000 children, many of whom are black, who are scattered across the country and remain separated from their parents.

Leaders of several civil rights groups say it’s necessary for federal officials to establish a cohesive strategy to address the large-scale concerns of so many black Americans. One of their goals, they say, is to ensure that federal resources promised to those in need are actually delivered.

Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, recently told a U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security that a compensation fund should be created for survivors of Hurricane Katrina -- much like for the families of 9/11 -- and said black-owned businesses should receive contracts to help rebuild the storm-battered Gulf Coast region.

"Within days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Congress passed and the president signed legislation authorizing a 9/11 victims compensation fund, which eventually provided more than $7 billion in compensation for the victims of 9/11," Morial said in his testimony on Capitol Hill.

"As it did then, Congress must take immediate and decisive action to begin compensating American citizens whose lives have been disrupted by this major national tragedy," he said.

Black survivors of Hurricane Katrina, particularly those from New Orleans, have expressed concern about their property rights, whether they can afford to rebuild their homes, and if they can ever return to their Gulf Coast communities. Some have even inquired about their eligibility to vote in upcoming elections. 

Several blacks who have taken up temporary residence in the D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C. told reporters last week they want opportunities to work, but that jobs are scarce.

Morial, the former mayor of New Orleans, said the National Urban League laid out a Katrina Victims Bill of Rights, which calls for immediate actions that Congress should take to "protect the victims and ease their burdens."

He said Congress must provide for federal disaster unemployment assistance to every worker left jobless by this tragedy and provide a meaningful benefit that meets the needs of unemployed workers and their families.

"Half a million hardworking Americans, through no fault of their own, have been thrown out of work and, in many cases, have seen their jobs disappear altogether," he said. "We owe it to these workers to help them support their families as they struggle to get back on their feet."

In response to the hurricane disaster and days after he was criticized for the federal government’s slow reaction to the crisis, President George W. Bush pledged $60 billion for hurricane relief efforts.

"This is an unprecedented response to an unprecedented crisis, which demonstrates the compassion and resolve of our nation," Bush said in a recent speech to the nation.

(On Tuesday, Michael Brown, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency who was recently forced out of his job, appeared before a congressional panel and blamed Louisiana officials for the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,000 people. Brown said Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin were responsible for failures in the area’s emergency response efforts. "My biggest mistake was not recognizing ... that Louisiana was dysunctional," Brown told the panel.)

A spokesman for Morial told BlackAmericaWeb.com Tuesday the federal government now appears to be moving in the right direction and added the National Urban League is scheduled to announce a major policy initiative regarding hurricane relief in the weeks ahead.

Bruce S. Gordon, president of the NAACP, recently outlined a series of hurricane-relief recommendations for lawmakers to consider, which included:

• Ensure displaced families’ immediate and long-term right to return to the Gulf Coast region.
• Provide temporary housing at military bases currently closed in the Gulf Coast region.
• Provide economic incentives for displaced families to return to the region.
• Rebuild and reconnect families and children.
• Establish $100 billion Family Reconstruction Fund (providing unemployment assistance, job training, school placement, finding separated children, etc.).
• Ensure that local residents have first choice at jobs and contracts in rebuilding effort.
• Establish Gulf Coast Region Reconstruction Fund for rebuilding homes, business, universities, etc.).
• Establish timeline to rebuild colleges and universities, including historically black universities Xavier, Dillard, Southern and Jackson State (Mississippi).
• Set 50 percent residency target for all contracts.
• Set 40 percent minority vendor target for all reconstruction.

"We want to make sure that going forward there are safeguards to assure that people displaced by Hurricane Katrina will be the first in line to get jobs rebuilding the affected areas," Gordon said in a statement.

"In addition," he said, "we want President Bush to see that there are safeguards to assure equity in the distribution of rebuilding funds and that minority contractors have a fair chance to be awarded some of the work that will be necessary to rebuild New Orleans and other affected communities."

Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Melvin Watt (D-NC) said, "The CBC is absolutely committed to the principles addressed in this call to action, and we will work across party lines to have them carried out."

For his part, Morial told the Senate committee that lawmakers have a serious responsibility in helping Americans rebuild their lives.

"I have been gratified and greatly moved by the tremendous outpouring of help from community-based and private organizations across the country and, indeed, around the world," Morial said. "But while private help is necessary and appreciated, this tragedy requires a concerted, dedicated and wholehearted response from our federal government."

He added that hundreds of thousands of citizens displaced by Hurricane Katrina continue to have full voting rights in their home states.

"If we can see to it that Iraqi citizens living on our shores are able to vote in a war-torn land halfway across the world," Morial told the Senate committee, "we can certainly guarantee that the displaced citizens of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi continue to have full voting rights in their home states and districts."