20168: White: Fwd: Congresswoman Barbara Lee Introduces TRUTH (The Responsibility to Uncover the Truth about Haiti) Act (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Randall White <raw@haitiaction.org>


NEWS from

CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA LEE - 9th District, California

For Immediate Release: March 9, 2004

Contact: Stuart Chapman 202-225-2398


Congresswoman Barbara Lee Introduces TRUTH (The Responsibility to
Uncover the Truth about Haiti) Act

Bill Would Establish Independent Commission

Washington, DC - Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), Congressional
Black Caucus Haiti Task Force Co-Chair, today introduced the TRUTH
(The Responsibility to Uncover the Truth about Haiti) Act today,
which calls for an independent bipartisan commission to uncover the
facts about the Bush Administration's involvement in the recent coup
d'etat  in Haiti.  The bill was co-sponsored by CBC Haiti Task Force
Co-Chair John Conyers and 23 other Members.

The TRUTH Act calls for the commission to investigate, among other
questions, the following: 1) Did the U.S. Government impede democracy
and contribute to the overthrow of the Aristide government? 2) Under
what circumstances did President Jean-Bertrand Aristide resign, and
what was the role of the United States Government in bringing about
his departure?  3) To what extent did the U.S. impede efforts by the
international community, particularly the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) countries, to prevent the overthrow of the
democratically-elected Government of Haiti? 4) What was the role of
the United States in influencing decisions regarding Haiti at the
United Nations Security Council and in discussions between Haiti and
other countries that were willing to assist in the preservation of
the democratically-elected Government of Haiti by sending security
forces to Haiti? 5) Was U.S. assistance provided or were U.S.
personnel involved in supporting, directly or indirectly, the forces
opposed to the government of President Aristide? 6) Was U.S.
bilateral assistance channeled through nongovernmental organizations
that were directly or indirectly associated with political groups
actively involved in fomenting hostilities or violence toward the
government of President Aristide?

Following the makeup of the WMD commission called for in H.R. 2625
legislation by Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) last year, the TRUTH
commission would be made up of ten members, five chosen by the
Democratic congressional leadership and five by the Republican
congressional leadership.

"The Bush Administration's efforts in the overthrow of a
democratically-elected government must be investigated," said Lee.
"All of the evidence brought forward thus far suggests that the
Administration has, in essence, carried out a form of 'regime
change,' a different variation than it took in Iraq, but still regime
change. The American people and the international community deserve
to know the truth, and this bill will offer the opportunity to
investigate the long-term origins of the overthrow of the Haitian
government and the impact of our failure to protect democracy."



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