Assessing Progess in Haiti Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of this bill, the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act. A year and a half ago, on January 12, 2011, the world for the Caribbean island of Haiti and for too many of my constituents changed forever. An earthquake measuring an incredible 7.0 on the Richter scale shook the Earth in Haiti. It killed elected officials, toppled the President's palace, the Senate, and all of the Cabinet buildings. People are still missing. The effect of this earthquake is still being felt today. Basic needs such as food, water, clothing, shelter, and health services are lacking.
Thanks to our military--the U.S. Coast Guard, which performed thousands of hours of rescue in the first 24 hours of the earthquake; the U.S. Marine Corps, which provided stability and protection; the U.S. Army, which helped to establish logistics and additional protection; the U.S. Navy, with floating hospitals and surgeons; and the U.S. Agency for International Development--this disaster was not the total disaster it could have been. USAID worked then and continues to work coordinating and implementing programs with other international organizations.
Adding further hurdles to the recovery operation has been the widespread outbreak of cholera last October. Cholera, a disease caused due to the lack of access to clean, clear water, has killed hundreds of Haitians and has further set back progress in one of our closest Caribbean neighbors. The people of Haiti deserve the opportunity to live in a clean, safe, and economically thriving country. The people of America deserve and want to know how their tax dollars are being spent, and need to know that the $1.8 billion invested in Haiti will speedily facilitate Haiti's transition to a bastion of comfort and economic stability. That is why I support House bill 1016, the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act.
This bill provides for one of the first times a strong, fair, and objective accountability of how the people's money is being spent in Haiti. This report will also analyze how well the United Nations and other organizations and groups are coordinating their efforts to reduce duplication. Finally, this bill thanks the heroic efforts of Miami-Dade County's urban search and rescue teams, which hail from the 17th Congressional District of Florida, who volunteered their time, effort, and energy to save lives. These people saved lives and helped find loved ones for those trapped in the rubble of the earthquake and for those who were worried about the safety and well-being of their loved ones.
I also would like to thank respectively the chairman and ranking minority members of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Connie Mack and Eliot Engel, and their staff for making this happen. Representative Engel was kind enough to carry the language of my amendment during subcommittee consideration, and Chairman Mack and both the Democratic and Republican staff worked tirelessly toward a compromise that worked for both sides. I also want to thank our full committee chairman, and one who I am so proud of, my Florida colleague, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, for managing this language in her amendment during full committee consideration of this bill.
Perhaps a bright spot in this ongoing calamity is that Haitians recently elected a new President, Michel Martelly, with whom we expect to work arm-in-arm with to help rebuild Haiti. His inauguration is next weekend. On Saturday, I traveled to Haiti. I met with Mr. Martelly. I met with the senators as they debated their new constitution. I'm hoping that that constitution will help guide them towards the next centuries in Haiti.
There are 1,400 tent cities--not tents; tent cities--that house 850,000 residents in the streets of Haiti. No running water and one porta-toilet for every 80 residents. Families are huddled under the tents--mostly women and children. And because the national prison was destroyed during the earthquake, armed bandits roam the tent cities and sexual abuse against women and girls is rampant. The police force is extremely compromised and not trained. The army is nonexistent. And many bodies have not been found from this earthquake. It is inhumane to send anybody back to such conditions. We must help rebuild Haiti. We must support Haiti. We must support the new President from this moment on. We must include the peasants and the agricultural community at the table of negotiation.
Mr. Speaker, this legislation is an affirmation of the generosity and will of the American people to come to the aid of a country in our neighborhood that desperately needs our help. The report required by this bill should help us channel our assistance efforts to make them as effective and efficient as possible. The Haitian people deserve nothing less.
I strongly urge passage of this legislation.
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Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity this past Saturday to go to Haiti and take a helicopter ride to survey all of the damage on Haiti and all of the hope for Haiti, all of the islands and the connecting islands of Haiti to see what was happening.
The African diaspora, which is mostly members of District 17, they all want to help rebuild Haiti. They will apply for contracts; and if dual nationality is granted, they will also run for office and lend their expertise to the recovery of Haiti.
We all know that TPS expires in June. TPS, temporary protected status, was extended to the Haitian nationals. We, along with the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and Congressman Payne, were working on trying to extend that deadline for at least another year. Haiti is in no disposition to accept any further deportations.
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