What a lot of people forget is that the first faith-based initiatives were signed into law by President Clinton -- in both the welfare reform act and then in a bill that Congressman J. C. Watts and Congressman Tony Hall and Congressman [Jim] Talent at that time did on community renewal. That was the first faith-based initiative. I think it got politicized in the [2000] presidential election, where both -- it was President Bush, and then Vice President Gore talked about it a lot. But I think because of the comments on who George Bush [said his favorite philosopher] was [Jesus Christ], I think a lot of people did start politicizing it.

But, you know, there's really no room for politics when you've got seven feet of flood water in your home. I think that's where it's going to break down. I do think that there is a bipartisan push now for this partnership that can exist. Even if we do it on a debate and a conversational level, just the fact that we can have faith-based people at the table now, that's a big step.

I think it's Bob Woodson [president of the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise] who talked about -- you really can't administer compassion and care by telephone. It's got to be in the same zip code; you've got to be right there. The government's not really good at hugging people. When you talk about real live compassion work, it's not just federal. I mean, it has to happen on the local level. And it's funny, when you get down to the local level, often, whether it's a rabbi, a priest, an imam, they're very involved at the local level and very welcome. It's when we get beyond the local level, and sometimes even at the state level in a larger state and the federal level, that it kind of disintegrates.

My personal preference would be to see the faith-based initiative embedded at the local and state level and then the federal level. I think that's where you're going to see real, live, hands-on products delivered, and also that's where you're really going to see the results.

The faith-based initiative as it currently stands right now -- there are, like, nine agencies that have faith-based offices. FEMA doesn't have one. And I think that's the kind of thing -- Homeland Security doesn't have one; Department of State doesn't have one. You could say, well, it's over at USAID, but it's still not, you know, in Condoleezza Rice's office. And yet until the real partnership transcends all agencies, I think there's going to constantly be this kind of confusion. Part of that is because of the bumper-sticker debate that goes on about this. Somebody could just throw up "separation of church and state," and people go running and screaming from the room, "I don't want to accept that money." And yet, on the other hand, it is okay -- and it has been said over and over, a person can choose to use services. I think everybody needs to take a deep breath on that debate and recognize that there are people in New Orleans, and there are people in Mississippi, and there are people in Alabama that got help and only got help from faith-based organizations. And they got help because some of the government agencies were saying, "Hey, we need a hand here. Can you step in?"

As far as regulations, I think we need to kind of make some of that up as we go along. I mean, this is new territory for all of us. Who knew that the levees would break? I know there's a debate on that, too, but we didn't know how devastating this was going to be. The fact that we're reimbursing private schools for the first time -- I think desperate times call for desperate measures, and it needs for us to be creative as a government, and look at ways that we really can partner with faith-based organizations. But there needs to be a sane dialogue about this that doesn't always go to the bumper-sticker mentality.

I think you need to look at who's doing the work. Something like only about 10 or 15 percent of the public schools are back up and running right now. I don't think because the government reimburses private schools right now, stepping in and filling the gap, really standing in the gap, that says they no longer believe in public schools. The bedrock -- I mean, I've never heard someone who is a proponent of school vouchers or school of choice say that all public schools should be done away with. I think the whole point is, let's get our schools working. But those private schools did step in, and they filled a vacuum. And again, I don't see this as changing the landscape forever. This is probably just an emergency measure. I think we need to evaluate how that has affected the public schools in the area of the Gulf Coast and also how it affected the students, because how the students achieve really should be the measure of our success there.

When the White House by executive order created these faith-based centers in the [federal] agencies -- there is not a faith-based center at Homeland Security, and there is not a faith-based center at FEMA. I think this just shows the need for coordinating with those folks, for having a clear definition of regulations. Right now people are out there just making it up on their own. I don't think that's a good way to run a government or a faith-based organization.