With the eyes of the world on the catastrophe in earthquake-stricken Haiti, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden traveled to the site of a domestic disaster last week, unveiling a program offering financial assistance to Gulf Coast communities devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Speaking at New Orleans' St. Bernard Community Center on Friday, Biden announced a plan to allow local governments in Louisiana and Mississippi that received Special Community Disaster Loans (CDLs) following the storms to apply for loan forgiveness.

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