(Arlington)—In a visit to New Orleans over the weekend, Senate Democratic candidate Jim Webb toured areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and called for full funding of a program to rebuild New Orleans’ levees to tighter federal standards. The program, announced on Friday, would cost $6 billion more than initial estimates of $3.5 billion, and appears to lack the support of the Bush Administration.

Donald E. Powell, the Bush Administration’s rebuilding coordinator, cast doubt upon the future of the levee restoration effort late last week. Stating that the original $3.5 billion plan would make the levees at least as strong as they were before Hurricane Katrina hit last August, and that additional funding might be excessive, Powell said that the levee issue would be scrutinized "to make sure we make the right rebuilding decisions, not just for the residents but for the American taxpayers."

But Webb noted that the $3.5 billion effort would not provide levee systems that meet insurance standards necessary for housing and office space rebuilding, and called for full funding. "Six billion dollars is about what we’re paying every month in an unnecessary war in Iraq," said Webb. "For that amount, we can build the kind of levee system that should have been in place before Katrina, if national leaders had given America’s infrastructure needs their proper priorities. Without a levee system that meets the standards now being discussed, the people of New Orleans will remain hostages to slip-shod planning."

Webb was critical of what he called "the half-measures of inattentive leaders”" before, during and after Katrina. "I’ve been to the Netherlands," he pointed out, "and I’ve visited the incredibly engineered facilities that country uses to protect its vast lowlands. This is the United States. We have no business abandoning one of our most vital and historic regions simply because poor prior planning brought on this tragedy."

Webb, in New Orleans to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law, spoke of the "enormous sadness" he felt when touring the devastated and abandoned housing areas. "You have to personally drive through these areas and speak to people who’ve lost their homes and their way of life in order to understand the extent of the damage. It’s tragic to drive mile after mile past empty homes and quiet neighborhoods still waiting for national leaders to make decisions that will allow New Orleans to move into the future," said Webb. "This great city’s port system is vital to our commerce and our national security. Its cultural traditions help define us. We need leaders who will stop talking about putting billions into bases in places like Iraq, and start focusing on rebuilding America."