Remember the Alamo? Remember the Maine? These famous --- some would say infamous --- rallying cries mobilized our nation against a common foe.

We have always been very good at that, whether it was the tyranny of an eccentric English king or the demagoguery of Hitler.

Remember Katrina? Not enough people in the Federal government apparently do. Since the hurricane hit in late August, many of the cries for help are still going unanswered. Consider the following:

---To pay for disaster recovery (estimated at $70 billion), Congress proposed cuts in food stamps, foster care, Temporary Aid to Needy Families, child support, Medicaid and other social programs along with a tax cut (estimated at $70 billion). The poor are being asked to sacrifice to help those who are poorer.

Even some of the staunchest partisans in Washington couldn't swallow Congress's proposition. Following Federal budget moves is often like trying to watch the classic con game, three-card monte. This time, however, the slight of hand was just too transparent.

---Estimates are that as of the end of November as many as 6,000 people were still missing. Most, thankfully, are "lost" in the paperwork; but many bodies have not been recovered yet.

Catholic Charities USA's volunteer of the year --- Helen Brown --- a New Orleans resident, missed her award ceremony in September because it took weeks to locate her in a Kalamazoo, Michigan, shelter.

---Our first line of defense --- FEMA --- was completely overwhelmed. Politics played a crucial role in FEMA's inability to meet the needs of the victims.

The US Catholic Conference of Bishops publicly stated that FEMA gave them the "run-around" when asked for information on forthcoming aid.

---Evacuees are spread across the United States. Many do not want to return to their impoverished former homes, finding opportunities more abundant in other states like ours.

The list of bizarre twists and turns, unfortunately, could go on.

Does our nation have the will to mobilize to help the millions of who are suffering? We cannot forget them, particularly since so many are the poor, elderly and ill.

"The moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members," says Economic Justice for All. "The poor have the most urgent moral claim on the conscience of the nation. We are called to look at public policy decisions in terms of how they affect the poor."

By those standards --- and by many more --- our government failed in the Gulf Coast, and by extension so did we as United States citizens.

It is not just a failure to support those impacted in August by the hurricane, but a failure of years and decades in which we allowed poverty to fester and grow in this nation despite our enormous resources, our wealth and our ingenuity.

It's a failure in where we've placed our priorities as a nation. Are we not outraged?

Faith communities, fortunately, have responded to the challenge. Parishes, Catholic Charities, and the equivalent organizations from other faiths are responding. From San Diego to Redding, thousands of families are being assisted. And the pattern is repeated in almost all other states.

Donations for relief of hurricane victims have topped $100 million at Catholic Charities USA. Add to that, local parishes across our state who have established partnerships with parishes in the effected area.

Unfortunately, this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Our Federal government needs to step up, too.

Decisions by any democratic form of government start with the electorate. You hear a lot about special interests --- definitely an important issue --- but the biggest special interest is "we the people."

Our individual decisions --- and eventually our national and local priorities --- are shaped by the personal choices we make daily - by our fears, our hopes, and the concern for our well being and that of others.

That concern needs to extend to our neighbors --- the people in our own communities who suffer from the "violence" of poverty; as well as the people who are abandoned in the Gulf States.

People of faith will make a difference in this disaster, but we will need our government's total commitment to make the Gulf States whole again. It will take years and require massive mobilization but it can be done if we "remember Katrina!"

Steve Pehanich is the executive director of Catholic Charities of California. For more information on Hurricane Katrina --- including state and national relief activities --- visit www.cccalifornia.org.