"Today, members of the House and Senate Conference Committee reached an agreement to include $3 billion for the Road Home program in the Defense Appropriations Report, which could be voted on as early as next week, said LRA chairman Norman C. Francis.

As of last week, OpEdNews and the Times Picayune reported that Road Home money would not be passed out of committee, since it was attached to an Iraq spending bill. Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said that until there is a change in the administration's policy in Iraq, the spending bill would not be passed out of his committee.

In a compromise move by Democrats, the Road Home money will be included in an overall Defense Budget request of $471 billion for Fiscal Year 2008. The House-Senate negotiators approved the Defense Budget without additional Iraq war funding except for $11.6 billion in “emergency money” to provide money to purchase mine- resistant vehicles.

A stop-gap continuing resolution to provide funding for all government agencies through December 14 is attached to the conference report which adds $6.4 billion for domestic spending, and an extension of last year’s “bridge fund” for overseas military operations, but that would cease once the new Defense Bill is passed.

Let’s get this straight. $3 billion for overdue Road Home money in Louisiana, and $11.6 billion for vehicles in Iraq in a bill that is not “really” about Iraq funding.

Meanwhile, Democrats will have a lot of explaining to do and are expected to bring up a separate bridge fund “of less than $50 billion,” along with language that will force a policy change in Iraq.

Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pa. Murtha and House Majority Leader Hoyer did not rule out including deadlines for withdrawing troops from combat zones, which would likely lead to a veto by President Bush.

So, in summary, the Road Home money will not appear to be held up by the Democratic majority when Bush vetoes the new bill, as he most likely will.

This report now returns to the floor and must be passed in each chamber before being signed by Bush.

The compromise move obviously drew GOP protests. Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, offered an amendment to attach $70 billion in bridge funding without restrictions. He said that absent additional funding this year, the Army would run out of money in January.

Threatening to hold Congress as well as Road Home money hostage, Stevens added, "I do believe the Congress would break the Army if it refuses to provide the money the Army needs now," Stevens said. "You're not going home as long as I'm here without a bridge fund."

Democrats attached the $6.4 billion for domestic items to the new committee report after an intense lobbying effort by Louisiana officials and visits to the Gulf Coast by top Democrats.

Louisiana officials don’t care where the money comes from, but issued a statement expressing thanks to the Democratic majority for their compromise efforts. LRA chairman Norman C. Francis said, "I also join thousands of homeowners in giving an extra special thanks to leaders in the House and Senate, especially Speaker Pelosi and Majority Whip Clyburn. They have been our partners, staying the course and delivering on their commitments. Their record of support gives me great hope and confidence that the full Congress will swiftly pass this conference report."

This committee report just two weeks after Francis, Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin, New Orleans Recovery Director Ed Blakely, and LRA Executive Director Andy Kopplin concluded a series of successful meetings with key Congressional leaders and Bush administration officials in Washington, DC where they urged swift action to address the Road Home funding shortfall.

To date, the Road Home has received more than 184,000 applications, and more than 67,000 homeowners have received their awards, totaling more than $4.2 billion. At the current rate of grant payouts of 10,000 a month, and at the current average award per grant of $70,000 per homeowner, the Road Home program is projected to exhaust its existing budget just after the first of the year.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated South Louisiana, claiming 1,464 lives, destroying more than 200,000 homes and 18,000 businesses.

OpEdNews is here in New Orleans, and people just want to go home. But, the road home is long and hard and sad.
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http://www.thelegacyofdianfossey.com
Georgianne Nienaber has been an investigative environmental writer for more than thirty years and wrote a column for the Rwandan New Times. She lives in rural northern Minnesota. Recent articles have appeared in India's TerraGreen, COA News, The Journal of the International Primate Protection League, Africa Front, The United Nations Publication, A Civil Society Observer, AllAfrica.com, and Zimbabwe's The Daily Mirror. Her fiction exposé of insurance fraud in the horse industry, Horse Sense, was re-released in early 2006. Gorilla Dreams: The Legacy of Dian Fossey was also released in 2006. She recently worked on the Coleen Rowley for Congress campaign, doing press and campaign events and just returned from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was in DRC as a MONUC-accredited journalist. Nienaber got acquainted with the music biz at Chicago's WLS radio after college and before Africa grabbed her attention. Her first interview was with Grace Slick who reminisced about her days as a card punch operator before Jefferson Airplane took her away.