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Haiti

August 4, 2009
Floor Statement
Rep. Maxine Waters [D-CA]: I'd first like to thank my colleagues, Yvette Clark, Donna Edwards and Kendrick Meek, for taking the time to go to Haiti to be able to document and identify devastation that has taken place, and to bring that information back to the House of Representatives, to the Congress of the United States of America, so that all of us public policymakers can understand in the most profound way what is needed, what has taken place there, and what we can do to be of immediate assistance.

I would also like to take a moment to say to FEMA and to the elected officials in the gulf coast, who too, have been involved in dealing with the ravages of the recent hurricanes and storms, that we appreciate that you have demonstrated that you have learned so much from Katrina, and that you have done a great job in giving assistance to the victims of the recent storms in the gulf coast. I say that with all sincerity, because it is important for us to know and understand that magnificent work was done in giving assistance to the victims of the gulf coast. And I've watched very carefully what has been taking place in not only Galveston and in parts of Texas, but also as far as in Bay City of Mississippi.

So our hearts are with the people who have been the victims of the storms in that area, and we're very proud, and I'm very proud and pleased that the United States of America is able to do what it does and have learned so much from Katrina and are able to be of assistance in the way that they have been.

And having said that, we're generous people. We're people who not only have learned to deal with devastation in our own country, but we are a people who are forever ready to give a helping hand in other parts of the world. And certainly, what we have demonstrated in recent weeks right here in our own hemisphere in the Western Hemisphere for one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere is to be commended. But we've got to do more.

As I understand it, and having listened to my colleagues and having followed as closely as I possibly can, what has been taking place, we have spent about $20 million just from USAID alone. And then to listen to the stories about the armed services and the help that they're giving and the work that they're doing, I'm proud of my country. I'm proud of the assistance and the hand that we're extending to Haiti as we wrestle with the work that we must do in our own country and in the Gulf Coast.

Having said that, I have spent much of my time in the Congress of the United States paying attention to Haiti. I paid attention to Haiti because I know the history of Haiti, and I understand what the people of Haiti have been through historically. I have spent a lot of time in Haiti. I was there for the bicentennial and I flew up to Gonaives, where I watched a people who have been through so much celebrate its history and its independence, and I know the price that has been paid for that independence.

I also know that this is a people who have had to survive the dictatorships of Papa Doc and Baby Doc, and I know that this is a people who have seen a democratically elected president removed, and I know the history of our own country as we have restored the leadership to Haiti in recent history. And I also know the history of a coup d'etat, and a history of a people who have wrestled and fought and tried very hard to stabilize their country, despite all of the political unrest.

But, you know, we're at a time when it doesn't matter what position you took, whether some people thought that the democratically elected government of President Aristide should have remained or not. It's not about partisan politics at this time. This is about the people of Haiti.

It is not about even remembering what happened under Papa Doc and Baby Doc and La Tortue, none of that. This is about a people who have suffered far too much. My heart just goes out to the people of Haiti, people who work very hard, who get up every day and just scuffle and work hard to survive, a people who are not very literate. Only 53 percent of the people in this country can read or write. But they work hard. And whenever they are confronted with one more disaster, with one more disruption, and you think they possibly just cannot make it, they just keep going and they keep going.

Over the past month Haiti has been devastated by four deadly storms in rapid succession, Tropical Storm Fay, Hurricane Gustav, Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike. And over 15,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed. And as of a week ago, they already documented that over 154 people had been killed. And today, I hear my colleague say that number may be up to about 600. And as the flood waters begin to recede, additional bodies continue to be found and buried. And tragically, the real death toll just may never be known.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, up to 800,000 people in Haiti are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. As of September 6, more than 100,000 people had taken refuge in temporary shelters, and this was before the onslaught of Hurricane Ike. Many roads and bridges were damaged or destroyed, and crops have been lost. There is now a desperate need for food and water and health services.

And I'm so sorry to hear about what has happened to the rice fields. Haiti, at one time, grew rice for its people. They exported rice that was grown in Haiti. They lost that over the years for a lot of reasons. Some of it was political. But to know that they had gotten back on the road to raising and growing rice again was extremely important. And to have these pictures that were shown to us today where now all of that has been destroyed is just almost too much to take, too much to endure.

I immediately asked my colleagues to join with me in requesting at least $300 million in appropriations for disaster assistance for Haiti following these devastating hurricanes. I did not know what the assessment would be, and we still don't know how much will be needed. But I knew immediately that it was going to be massive and that we needed to move very quickly, and that we need to appropriate substantial sums for Haiti.

And we will probably have an assessment in the very near future, but we need to get started right away to not only support Haiti through USAID, as is being done, but we have to add to it. You heard about the devastation. You heard about the destruction. I am just hopeful and prayerful that Haiti can survive as an island nation. The destruction is mammoth. And I believe that everything that we do and everything that we can think of doing must be done.

I know that the people of Haiti will get up every day, people who are sleeping on those rooftops, and they will fight to survive, they will fight to stay alive, and they believe, no matter what happens between the United States and Haiti, that we're their friends and that we will do whatever we can do to be of assistance to them.

So I would just, again, thank my colleagues for taking time to go there and to do this documentation and this eyewitness of what has taken place.

I would like to thank our ambassador there. Sanderson is a wonderful representative who has worked very hard. I would like to thank President Preval because he has been handed a task just as President of putting that nation back together and to stabilizing that government and to reorganizing and building that infrastructure. It's an awesome task even without experiencing these hurricanes.

So my prayers and my heart go out to President Preval and the government, and I would hope that we move very quickly to appropriate additional dollars.

And I will yield back the balance of my time.

Thank you very much.

 

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