The legislation (H.R. 1227) is designed to bring nearly $1.2 billion in immediate relief to Gulf Coast families displaced as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and seeks to resolve the affordable housing crisis that has plagued the region since fall of 2005.

"All I can say is that it's about time Congress did something to spur the Gulf Coast recovery process that has been brought to a standstill by bureaucracy, miscommunication and incompetence on so many levels by so many parties," Morial said.

The measure expressly forbids the Federal Emergency Management Administration from holding up $1.175 billion of previously allocated aid for Louisiana because of concerns over the state's embattled Road Home program. It also requires the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to reopen public housing and to provide 4,500 new affordable housing vouchers for seniors, the disabled and homeless. In addition, it would free up rebuilding funds for homeowners and provide greater oversight of state housing assistance plans, among other provisions.

"For far too long, Gulf Coast evacuees have been left adrift with nowhere to go - many of them hundreds of miles away from their homes. This legislation takes a few positive steps forward in helping them reclaim their former lives and restore the region's faded luster," the NUL president said.