[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 89 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 89

             Relating to restoration of democracy in Haiti.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                April 1 (legislative day, March 3), 1993

    Ms. Moseley-Braun (for herself and Mr. Feingold) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
             Relating to restoration of democracy in Haiti.

Whereas the Republic of Haiti is the second oldest republic in the Western 
        Hemisphere;
Whereas in their 188-year history the people of Haiti have long suffered under 
        the yoke of tyranny and dictatorship;
Whereas in 1986 the Haitian people rose up against injustice to overthrow 
        President-for-Life Jean Claude Duvalier;
Whereas the people of Haiti have repeatedly demonstrated their desire for full 
        participatory democracy and economic opportunity for all Haitians;
Whereas these yearnings culminated in the December 16, 1990 election of 
        President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the first free, fair, and open 
        elections in the history of the Republic;
Whereas a military junta subsequently seized power illegally and forced 
        President Aristide into exile;
Whereas the people of Haiti have suffered anew under the brutality and 
        oppression of the current military-backed regime;
Whereas conditions in Haiti are forcing record numbers of Haitians to flee their 
        country under the most dangerous of conditions;
Whereas the flood of Haitian refugees threatens to overwhelm the ability of the 
        United States and other nations in the region to pursue a constructive 
        long-term policy toward Haiti;
Whereas the trade embargo imposed on Haiti by the Organization of American 
        States (OAS) on October 8, 1990 has to date proven largely ineffective;
Whereas the movement toward democracy which has recently swept the Western 
        Hemisphere has greatly benefited the peoples of the Caribbean and Latin 
        America; and
Whereas the continuing terror and oppression in Haiti are inimical to democracy 
        in the Western Hemisphere, and the refugee crisis caused thereby 
        contributes to regional instability: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That (a) it is the sense of the Senate that the highest 
priority of United States policy toward Haiti should be to restore 
democratic government without further delay.
    (b) The Senate urges the President--
            (1) to join with the Senate in expressing the outrage of 
        the American people over the Haitian regime's brutal attempt to 
        deny the hard-won fruits of democracy to its people;
            (2) to review immediately the compliance of United States 
        persons and corporations with the OAS-sponsored embargo of 
        Haiti;
            (3) to implement promptly whatever measures are necessary 
        to ensure maximum compliance with the embargo;
            (4) to give special priority to preventing oil from evading 
        the embargo;
            (5) to request that the United Nations Security Council 
        join with the OAS in sponsoring an embargo against the Haitian 
        regime;
            (6) to assist the United Nations in expanding the number of 
        its human rights observers in Haiti from 40 to the 500 
        originally proposed by United Nations special envoy Dante 
        Caputo;
            (7) to establish as the policy of the United States that 
        Haitian refugees will be granted the same consideration and 
        protection afforded to those fleeing other oppressive regimes 
        around the world;
            (8) to urge other Caribbean nations to share the burden of 
        sheltering and accepting Haitian refugees;
            (9) to offer humanitarian assistance to the people of 
        Haiti; and
            (10) to develop a long-term United States policy toward 
        Haiti which places a priority on building and supporting the 
        institutions of a civil and democratic society.
    Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this 
resolution to the President.

                                 <all>