To Temporarily Deny Federal assistance to the City of Gretna Police. (HR 4209)

On September 1, 2005 a group of hundreds of tired, hungry residents of New Orleans, who had already endured days of confusion and trauma by virtue of being caught in their residences by the floodwaters that drowned the City of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, along with some tourists also caught in the storm, attempted to cross the Crescent City Connection Bridge leading out of New Orleans to the City of Gretna. The bridge was one of the few ways to exit the city. They had been told by New Orleans Police officers that buses were waiting to evacuate them on the other side.

But they were met by a line of armed police who told them that the bridge was closed, instructed them to turn back, and threatened them by firing shotguns over their heads. The officers belonged to the Gretna City Police Department and most of them were white. Most of the evacuees were black.

The group turned back, but the incident did not stop there. Not wanting to return to the flooding in New Orleans, the group halted and took a rest at the summit of the bridge. But Gretna police officers pursued them, threatened them with guns and confiscated their food and water. Then a helicopter dropped close by and the heavy downdrafts from the rotors forced the evacuees off the bridge. The members of the group, appearing on CBS' 60 Minutes stated for the record that they believe that the Gretna police were motivated by racism.

In response to this incident, consistent with a pattern of racist attitudes and behaviors on the part of the police force in question, I have introduced HR 4209 as a bill establishing that federal funds shall not be used to violate the civil rights of citizens fleeing a natural and national disaster.

This bill would temporarily deny federal assistance to the City of Gretna Police Department, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, and the Crescent City Connection Division Police Department in the State of Louisiana for their maltreatment of individuals seeking aid during the Hurricane Katrina crisis. It would make these law enforcement agencies ineligible to participate in any federal program for one year. It would also require the suspension of any federal licenses issued to those agencies and the immediate return of all federally-owned equipment in their possession.

It is apparent that there are communities in America where the authorities suffer under the delusion that they continue to live in a pre-civil rights era. Today, racial discrimination is against the law. The federal government should not provide assistance to outfits practicing systematic discrimination based on race.