30534: Karshan re: 30528 on Haiti's Debt (news) Boston Haitian Reporter (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: MKarshan@aol.com


U.S. Congress and Legislative Priorities for Haiti
by Brian Concannon


Boston Haitian Reporter
June 2007
Many people had hoped that the new U.S. Congress, with a Democratic majority,
 would afford opportunities for legislation to help Haitians in Haiti and the
 United States. But halfway through the 110th Congress’ first year,  Haiti
has not been able to compete with the Iraq War, and the various scandals 
coming
out of Washington for our legislators’ attention. There are currently  three
bills currently before the U.S. House of Representatives, and a fourth on  the
way. One, the Haitian Protection Act, may be incorporated into the larger
immigration bill currently before Congress (and is discussed in Steve 
Forester’s
 article). The other three- the “Haiti Debt Cancellation Resolution,” the 
“
Haiti  Truth Act,” and the “Next Step for Haiti Act”- will have to stand 
on
their own  to become law.

1. Haiti Debt Cancellation Resolution:
Haiti will make loan payments of over $56 million this year to International
Financial Institutions (IFIs) like the World Bank the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and the Inter-American Development Bank, institutions established
to  fight poverty. Over half of the loans in question were made to the
dictatorships  of “Papa Doc” and “Baby Doc” Duvalier (1957-1986). The 
Duvaliers
diverted  hundreds of millions of dollars to finance their extravagant
lifestyles-  including fur coats and enough air conditioning to make wearing 
the furs in
 Haiti comfortable- and to pay for the infamous tonton macoutes, who
terrorized the population. The IFIs and the U.S. government knew what the 
Duvaliers
were doing with the loans, but looked the other way as long as Haiti  provided
a reliable vote against Cuba in international organizations.
Haiti’s debt is literally killing people. Most Haitians scrape by on $1 a day
 or less, and have no room to tighten their belts. Life expectancy for men is
 below 50, one half of Haitian children are malnourished. Less than half have
 access to clean water. Every dollar sent to the IFIs is a dollar not spent
on  the government healthcare, sanitation and nutrition programs necessary to
address Haiti’s grinding poverty.
The Haiti Debt Cancellation Resolution, H.Res. 241, addresses this injustice
by directing the U.S. representatives to the IFIs to use our country’s voice,
 vote and influence (the U.S. is the largest shareholder of all three) to
obtain  the immediate cancellation of Haiti’s debts. As soon as the debts are
cancelled,  Haiti could immediately invest the payments- $6.19 million in May
2007 alone- in  saving lives and teaching kids.
H.Res. 241 has the best chance of any Haiti bills to pass Congress.  The
Resolution was filed with the U.S. House of Representatives on March 13 by 
Rep.
Maxine Waters of California. It now has 45 co-sponsors, including Rep.  William
Delahunt of Massachusetts. The bill has been referred to the House  Committee
on Financial Services Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Barney Frank  (D.
Newton), and includes Massachusetts Representatives Michael Capuano and
Stephen Lynch. The Resolution’s supporters are looking to find more 
co-sponsors,  to
demonstrate that it has enough support to justify a vote in the Financial
Services Committee, followed by a vote of the full House of Representatives, 
and
 ultimately, the Senate.
2. Haiti Truth Act
The “Responsibility to Uncover the Truth about Haiti Act,” H. Res. 351, 
also
 known as the Haiti Truth Act, was filed on January 9 in the U.S. House of
Representatives by Rep. Barbara Lee of California. The Haiti Truth Act would
appoint a bi-partisan, independent commission charged with investigating 
Haiti’
s  February 2004 coup d’état, and determining whether the U.S. contributed 
to
the  overthrow of Haiti’s Constitutional President, directly or by channeling
aid to  groups that helped the overthrow.
The Haiti Truth Act’s commission would resemble the Iraq Study Group that
released its report last December. Commission members would be appointed by
Congress (half by Republican leaders, half by Democrats), and would be 
entrusted
with reviewing all the evidence, and submitting a final, public report,
including findings, conclusions, and recommendations of corrective measures, if
needed.
The Haiti Truth Act has been referred to the Subcommittee on the Western
Hemisphere of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Rep. Delahunt, who led
Congressional inquiries into U.S. support for the coup d’état immediately
afterwards, is a member of the Subcommittee. The Act currently has a single
co-sponsor, which implies that it is not very high up on anyone’s priority 
list.  Its
best chance for gaining momentum would be for House Democrats to decide that 
an
inquiry into U.S. support for Haiti’s coup d’état is an effective vehicle
for  exploring potential illegal activity by the Bush Administration. But for
now,  Haiti appears to be behind the Iraq War, the firing of U.S. Attorneys,
lying to  Congress and outing a CIA agent, among other issues, as a potential
scandal.
3. Next Steps for Haiti Act
Rep. Lee has been working on another bill, called the Next Steps for Haiti
Act, which she expects to introduce in the coming weeks. The bill is based on
the Haiti Economic and Infrastructure Reconstruction Act, a bill introduced in
 the last Congress. It would establish a program that sends experts from the
United States - especially Haitian-Americans- to assist Haitian government
agencies and ministries. The bill would also authorize grants to
nongovernmental  organizations working in healthcare, provide support for 
literacy and
education  programs, and provide scholarships for Haitians to study in the U.S.
The Next Steps for Haiti Act would also increase Congressional oversight over
 U.S. development assistance to Haiti, to prevent a recurrence of the
diversion  of aid from legitimate poverty-fighting programs to political groups
working to  undermine the government, as happened in 2003-2004.
It will be hard to assess the Next Step for Haiti Act’s support until it is
filed, but it does have several political advantages. First, the Act has a
natural constituency among Haitians in the United States, who would be first in
line to be sent to Haiti. Second, it is the most tangible of the three bills
before Congress: it is much easier to visualize its programs, and understand
the  impact that improved health and education programs would have. Third, the
Act is  less “political,” in that it does not directly confront past U.S.
policies in  Haiti, but instead looks for ways to remedy past errors, which
would make it  more palatable to Republicans.
Congress is busy- with the Iraq War, immigration reform, and the various
scandals. The Democratic leadership is under pressure from constituent groups 
to
address their favorite issues that were neglected during the years of
Republican  control. That pressure will only increase as the 2008 legislative 
and
Presidential elections approach. Therefore, the fate of the Haiti bills in
Congress may not be determined in Washington as much as in the Congressional
districts: if the voters tell their representatives that the Haiti legislation 
is
important to them, the members will treat the bills with importance.





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