15467: Karshan: Let Haiti Lives Says CBC Special Congressional Session on Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: MKarshan@aol.com

"LET HAITI LIVE!"

The following are excerpts from Congressional Black Caucus's Special Order on
Haiti before the House of Representatives on April 30, 2003:

Ms. Barbara LEE (California): ...While our government levies our political
weight with the international financial institutions and the Organization of
American States, Haitians continue to suffer. Further, this delayed delivery
of international humanitarian aid to Haiti is fostering instability and
anarchy in their struggling democracy. Haiti's miserable poverty is
indisputable. We can no longer bury our heads in the sand on this
issue....This is just morally unacceptable. Together, we must urge the
President to do the right thing in Haiti. Jared Johnson, the IDB branch
director for Haiti, said you cannot run a country through non-governmental
organizations. What does this mean? It means we cannot continue to funnel
money into USAID and then blame the government of Haiti for lack of resources
and poor social services.

Our government and the international financial institutions should not
continue to raise the political bar in order for Haiti to receive basic
humanitarian assistance. It is unacceptable to simply stand by and watch a
season of misery inflict pain, suffering and death on human beings right here
in our own neighborhood...We must address this injustice. We must release the
IDB funds to Haiti and direct the international financial institutions to
reengage and reengage now. It is our moral imperative, and it is our
commitment.

...There is no way with these kinds of numbers and this kind of data, this
kind of human misery and tragedy right next to us, that our efforts should be
about blocking the release of loans that had been negotiated 3 years ago.
That is outrageous. I do not even understand how we can believe that could
even be half way right to do.

Mr. MEEK (Florida) ...I know that many of us in this Congress feel very
strongly about U.S. involvement as it relates to the way of life in Haiti.
What I can tell you is what this Bush administration has done is it has
created an atmosphere of conflict.

… we are saying we want Haitians to stay in Haiti, but we are not creating an
environment for Haitians to be in Haiti with a democracy that is functional
because it has the resources to be able to work towards providing the kind of
services that Haitians need...If we want Haitians to stay in Haiti, if we
want to be able to have a strong government in Haiti, if we want to be able
to provide drinking water and humanitarian efforts in Haiti, then we should
not be standing in front of these dollars.

On the other hand, we should not have unfair immigration policies when
Haitians are trying to seek political asylum due to the fact that Haiti is
struggling right now, and we have conflict there, political conflict in
Haiti.

General Ashcroft, the U.S. Attorney General, put forth a decision just this
past week saying that when Haitians are migrating to the United States, that
they would be indefinitely detained...I just want to share tonight with my
colleagues that being on the Committee on Homeland Security, being on the
Committee on Armed Services, I have not yet heard or seen an FBI report or a
CIA report to show any level of or any indication of terrorism in Haiti, or
any member of its government that condones terrorism in Haiti, or the Haitian
people in general. …  We should be very careful as a country when we start
using homeland security against individuals who cannot harm this government.
I think it is very important for not only the Attorney General's office to
hear this, but the Bush administration to hear this, that we cannot do
nothing on both ends. We must do something on one of the ends, and provide
aid now for Haiti, humanitarian efforts for Haiti...These are not new
dollars, the dollars that have already been committed to Haiti.

General Ashcroft's decision did more than stop those dollars that should have
been going to Haiti years ago. He has also put questions in the minds of the
humanitarian community that has been doing work there. They may feel Haiti is
a terrorist state, which is not true. It is important that we fight against
those forces.

Mr. MEEKS (New York): ...We cannot ignore that our immigration policy treats
Haitians differently from other immigrants seeking to escape political
violence. We cannot ignore that our foreign policy regarding Haiti has become
tied to partisan politics. We cannot ignore that Haiti faces an HIV/AIDS
epidemic and this administration has played a role in hindering international
economic assistance to Haiti because we cannot come up with a policy approach
that balances the needs of the Haitian people with our requirement that
assistance be used properly.

So, Mr. Speaker, I stand here today to say that if America can muster the
political will and mobilize billions of dollars in resources to wage a war
thousands of miles away from our shores, what about Haiti? When will America
mobilize the same kind of resources and political will to wage a war against
poverty, against disease, against human suffering right here in our
hemisphere? If such rights and values are truly universal, Haitians deserve
nothing less. We can do more to support the people of Haiti so that they can
reclaim their human dignity. We can and we must.

Ms. WATSON (Southern California):  ...I am appalled by the unsubstantiated
allegations made by the United States Attorney General, John Ashcroft, with
respect to Haiti. He claimed that the Pakistanis, the Palestinians, and
others are using Haiti as a staging point for trying to get into the United
States. What a ridiculous statement. I would ask him, has he been there, Mr.
Attorney General? If not, he needs to go. He needs to scour every single part
of that island nation. After what he is going to see he will be declaring
another war, and that is on poverty, on starvation, on the fact that the
people there have nothing; and we are allowing that to continue in this
hemisphere.

Even the State Department's consular officers and officials are puzzled by
his remarks. Jorge Martinez, a spokesman for Ashcroft's office, could not
immediately say where the Attorney General got the information. Martinez then
directed inquiries to the Department of Homeland Security, and a Homeland
Security spokeswoman redirected questions right back to Martinez.

Mr. Speaker, according to the State Department, Haiti is not on the United
States' terrorist watch list. Why is, then, the Justice Department and the
State Department,
amending its list?

The current U.S. policy towards Haiti is one that discourages travel between
the two countries. There is a de facto embargo on loans and grants from the
multilateral development banks. Assistance from the United States Government
has been put on hold in order to leverage change in the present political
structure of the Haitian Government.

…It is time to stop this war on Haiti. External aid is essential to the
future economic development of this nation. Comparative social and economic
indicators show Haiti falling behind other low-income developing countries
since the 1980s. Mr. Speaker, we cannot let our neighbor continue in this
downward spiral.

Mr. CUMMINGS (Maryland): ...The people of Haiti are suffering and dying. They
are suffering and dying because of the seemingly sheer indifference to their
plight. In just the last week, the United Nations reported that only 46
percent of Haiti's population has access to clean drinking water, and 56
percent of the Haitian population suffers from malnutrition in 2003.
Fifty-six percent of 8.3 million people is 4,648,000 human beings, nearly as
many people as the populations of Idaho, Mississippi, and the District of
Columbia combined.

Mr. Speaker, denying the most basic human needs, such as food and water, is
almost the equivalent of a death sentence by a judge or a jury.
Unfortunately, for several years now the United States Government has made
this situation worse. Our government, Mr. Speaker, has unfairly and
unnecessarily linked humanitarian assistance to Haiti with trying to change
and to pressure the current government in Haiti to make concessions to the
opposition party as it relates to domestic politics.

How can we allow over 4 million people in that country to live in utter
poverty while we play politics? Is not the argument about the suffering of
the people the same argument that many of my colleagues on the other side of
the aisle made as it relates to Iraq? It is imperative that we release the
humanitarian assistance for the people of Haiti so they may simply just live
another day.

Mr. Speaker, last week the United Nations also made a plea that I will second
tonight and I know all the Members of the Congressional Black Caucus would
second, too. The plea is that the international community immediately make
funds available to help stem this humanitarian crisis in Haiti. Mr. Speaker,
the United States of America is the richest country in the world and must
answer that plea. We must help our neighbor, and we must help our neighbor
now.

How will future generations judge our country when the history of our
relationship with Haiti is written? We know the suffering.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN (Virgin Islands):
… our country, the United States of America, has stood in the way of allowing
the people of Haiti to grow, to thrive and to actually allow the democracy
that we so are so honored to thrive in this country of poor but proud,
hard-working and spirited people of African decent.

We are here tonight again to say let Haiti live, first, by releasing the
loans that are needed to build their sanitation, transportation, health and
educational infrastructure, and also by fully supporting the OAS mission
there, whose responsibility it is to ensure the changes that we claim to seek
in their judiciary and their police system and in their electoral
process...There is no excuse for what this country is doing by holding back
these so badly needed funds

Mr. CONYERS (Michigan):  ...Tonight, I also rise with the rest of the
Congressional Black Caucus to encourage my colleagues in Congress to support
the Haitian people as they struggle to rebuild their nation. Not only does
Haiti play an important role in the world community, but it is also
strategically significant to the United States; particularly because it is
located only 410 miles from the nearest U.S. shores…

Although Haiti is located in our backyard, we continue to endorse a policy
that prevents the return of economic stability and democracy of Haiti.
Instead of supporting the flow of aid to Haiti in order to resolve the
political impasse,
the U.S. has adopted a policy of embargos to punish the Haitian government
and people. The U.S. government has the power to veto the disbursement of
loans to Haiti from financial institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, and
Inter-American Development Bank. To the detriment of the people of Haiti, the
U.S. government, specifically the Departments of Treasury and State, has
exercised this authority. For example, the Inter-American Development Bank
has not released $146 million in aid to Haiti, which was initially approved
by the IDB Board of Directors. It is more distressing that in the interim,
Haiti has been forced to pay arrears payments to maintain its status with the
IDB.

Ms. WATERS (California):  ...The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is
denying Haiti any access to loans for development assistance. Haiti has
already had $145.9 million in development loans approved by the IDB. These
loans include $50 million for rural road development, $22.5 million for
reorganization of the health sector, $54 million for potable water and
sanitation and $19.4 million for basic education programs. Haiti could also
qualify for an additional $317 million in new loans for development projects,
as well as a $50 million investment sector loan. However, the IDB is refusing
to consider Haiti for any additional loans and has not even disbursed the
loans that have been approved.

The IDB is effectively denying Haiti access to critical development
assistance. Furthermore, Haiti is deeply in debt and has also been denied the
opportunity to receive any debt relief for its existing debts. The reasons
provided by the IDB and the U.S. government concerning the suspension of
lending and assistance to Haiti shift from day to day. None of the purported
explanations provide any justification for withholding this vitally needed
aid. While the IDB and the Administration dither, the people of Haiti suffer
and continue to live in poverty.

On March 5, 2003, I introduced H.R. 1108, the Access to Capital for Haiti's
Development Act. This bill would require the United States to use its voice,
vote and influence to urge the Inter-American Development Bank to immediately
resume lending to Haiti, disperse all previously approved loans, assist Haiti
with the payment of its existing debts and consider providing Haiti debt
relief. The Access to Capital for Haiti's Development Act would allow Haiti
to build roads and infrastructure and provide basic education and health care
services to the Haitian people. This bill currently has 24 cosponsors. …

Haiti is a deeply impoverished country on an island just off our shores. We
cannot provide assistance to countries all over the world while ignoring the
needs of people so close to our border. It is time for the United States and
the Inter-American Development Bank to resume lending to Haiti and provide
debt relief and development assistance to this impoverished country.

Ms. JACKSON-LEE (Texas):  The United States government owes Haiti substantial
funds in foreign aid. Substantial loans have been negotiated for the people
of Haiti. Some estimates have the loans valued at as much as $146 million
dollars. The United States government is delaying the disbursement of these
funds to advance their political aims. While the U.S. government stubbornly
maintains these restrictive policies the people of Haiti are suffering and
dying.

… it is a disgrace that our Congress stands by while the people of Haiti
suffer and die. I join my colleagues on the Congressional Black Caucus in
imploring the U.S. government to let Haiti live.