16143: Blanchet: Fw: U.S. Senate Hearing on Haiti Calls for More Assistance to the Haitian Govt... (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

> CBS MARKETWATCH
>
> U.S. Senate Hearing on Haiti Calls for More Assistance to the Haitian
> Government and More U.S. Involvement to Resolve Nation's Political
Stalemate
>
> 7/15/2003 8:31:00 PM
>
> WASHINGTON, Jul 15, 2003 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The United States
Senate
> Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing today entitled "Successes
and
> Challenges of U.S. Policy Toward Haiti." The panel heard testimony from
Bush
> Administration officials, Undersecretaries Marc Grossman and John Taylor
from the
> Departments of State and Treasury respectively, and covered a range of
topics
> from the internal political stalemate between the governing party and some
> opposition political parties to the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on
Haiti's
> population of eight million people. Senator Richard Lugar, committee
chairman,
> set the theme by saying that "the hard part is translating vision into
reality
> [and] to find common ground on the way forward in Haiti." Other Senators
> expressed specific concerns about the objectives of U.S. policy and urged
the
> Administration to make changes in policy so that the U.S. is working more
closely
> with the Government of Haiti on political and economic matters.
>
> Senator Bill Nelson of Florida expressed his deep concern for what he
> described as a harsh and discriminatory U.S. immigration policy that seems
to
> differentiate treatment of Haitian illegal immigrants compared to those of
other
> nationalities. Senator Nelson also expressed his frustration with U.S.
policy
> regarding the disbursement, or lack thereof, of humanitarian and
development loans
> from the international financial institutions designated for Haiti.
Several
> other Senators including Senator Chris Dodd and Senator Lincoln Chaffee
joined
> Senator Nelson in his criticism of the U.S. policy of withholding loans as
> political leverage. Moreover, the Committee was unified in its support for
the
> news from Undersecretary Taylor that all the International Financial
> Institutions (IFIs) are now moving forward with new lending commitments to
the Government
> of Haiti.
>
> On the political front, several Senators urged the Administration to work
> more closely with the Government of Haiti to move the political process
forward
> and to hold elections as soon as practical. Senator Dodd was explicit in
his
> criticism of U.S. policy and the role of the OAS Special Mission to Haiti
and
> called on both institutions to seriously engage all parties to find a
solution
> to the political crisis. "It is not clear to me that either the U.S.
> administration or the OAS leadership has any game plan for helping Haiti
resolve the
> political impasse it finds itself caught in -- namely wanting and needing
to have
> elections either by the end of the year or shortly thereafter -- but not
> being able to get all the players to join with the government in those
elections."
> Senator Dodd questioned the purpose of Saturday's march into Cite Soleil
by
> the Group of 184 referring to the provocative nature of the event as not
unlike
> Protestants in North Ireland marching through Catholic areas of Belfast
every
> July.
>
> The hearing's three additional witnesses from the private sector included
Dr.
> Paul Farmer, a Harvard physician who operates an HIV/AIDS clinic in Haiti,
> Mr. Steven Forester, an immigration attorney who represents Haitian Women
of
> Miami, and Dr. Rudolf Moise, a Haitian American physician and CEO of the
Haitian
> Broadcasting Network, also from Miami, Florida. Each panelist expressed
hopes
> that the U.S. administration can work with the Haitian Government to
address
> the massive development and political challenges facing the nation. In
response
> to many questions regarding healthcare and IFI lending to Haiti, Dr.
Farmer
> assertively summarized that public /private partnerships were the only
means
> for addressing the health crises in Haiti, and the "Government should have
a
> central role in healthcare [and] should not be placed into an untenable
position
> of depleting 90% of its national reserves to simply to pay IDB arrears
caused
> by US policies that prevented humanitarian lending for nearly two and one
half
> years."
>
> Global Market Solutions is a marketing communications firm and is also a
> registered agent of the Government of Haiti.
>
> SOURCE Global Market Solutions
>
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>
> Copyright (C) 2003 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
>
>