Baker announces Gulf Coast recovery initiative

Baker announces Gulf Coast recovery initiative

BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News staff

Former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker announced the launch of a hurricane recovery fund for the Texas and Louisiana coasts Wednesday at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

	B.J. ALMOND

Baker, who is honorary chair of the Baker Institute, told news media the fund will seek to “raise as many dollars as we can to help,” but vowed it would not compete with other efforts aimed at hurricane relief in the wake of hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, in a joint appearance at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, shared the announcement of the recovery fund via satellite. Bush said it was the third time he and his erstwhile rival had teamed up to help people affected by natural disasters. They joined forces to raise millions for victims of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 and of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Tossing to Baker in Houston, Bush said the best thing he and Clinton could do would be to “get out of the way” of his former secretary of state. Taking the podium in Houston, Baker called the Bush/Clinton team “disaster busters.”

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Baker, who will serve as the national chairman of the new fund, said the focus will be on “the immediate and long-term infrastructure needs of the affected coastal communities.” The recovery fund will not make grants to individuals or families, Baker said, noting that relief funds have been set up for that purpose. Baker expects the first grants to be made in early 2009.

Baker stressed that the fund would complement already-existing funds, like the ones announced by Houston Mayor Bill White and the Red Cross, because it will target recovery rather than relief. He also said it will raise money from national and international sources. “We will be fishing in an entirely different pond,” he explained.

To contribute or learn more about the fund, go to www.bushclintoncoastalfund.org.