Lofgren Commends Gulf Coast Civic Works Project Proposal

Media Contact: Kyra Jennings, 202.225.3072, kyra.jennings@mail.house.gov

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) today applauded the work of San Jose professor Scott Myers-Lipton for his work in initiating the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, and expressed her interest in working with Myers-Lipton and elected officials from the Gulf Coast region to help this project take shape.

“The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project is not yet a plan, it is just an idea. But it is a good idea,” said Rep. Lofgren. “Working with Congressional Representatives from the Gulf Coast Region I hope that we can transform this good idea into an actual plan that may have a positive impact on rebuilding the region and building up the working families of the Gulf Coast who were frozen out of the process by prior efforts.”

Prof. Myers-Lipton will hold press conferences in New Orleans, Louisiana, Gulfport, Mississippi, and San Jose, California today with the Mississippi and Louisiana NAACP to announce a “national call to students” to participate in Louisiana Winter in January, 2007. During Louisiana Winter, teams of 20-40 students will spend five days organizing in towns and cities throughout the Gulf Coast, culminating in a mass rally in New Orleans. Students will also collect opinions and ideas from Louisiana residents to submit to Congress for use in drafting legislation. Myers-Lipton has proposed the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project with the goal of working with Congress to create 100,000 jobs for Gulf Coast residents to rebuild their communities.