[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 17 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 17
Expressing the sense of Congress with regard to providing humanitarian
assistance to countries of the Caribbean devastated by Hurricanes
Gustav and Ike and Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 9, 2009
Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Payne,
Mrs. Christensen, and Mr. Rush) submitted the following concurrent
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress with regard to providing humanitarian
assistance to countries of the Caribbean devastated by Hurricanes
Gustav and Ike and Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna.
Whereas in May 2008, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
predicted that 2008 would be an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season;
Whereas from August 15, 2008, to September 7, 2008, Hurricanes Gustav and Ike
and Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna devastated countries of the Caribbean
and many Southern and Eastern States of the United States;
Whereas the people of the United States have similarly faced the harsh
consequences of the recent hurricanes and tropical storms and can
empathize with the countries of the Caribbean as they begin the recovery
process;
Whereas in the Dominican Republic, Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storms Fay and
Hanna displaced 16,715 people, of whom 5,348 remained in official
shelters;
Whereas Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna damaged 3,343 houses
and destroyed 46 houses in the Dominican Republic;
Whereas Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna damaged
infrastructures in the Dominican Republic, including 9 of the country's
water systems;
Whereas the storms isolated 96 communities and negatively affected 9 roads and
12 bridges in the Dominican Republic;
Whereas the storms caused mudslides, resulting in 8 deaths in the Dominican
Republic;
Whereas the storms Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike affected 850,000 people in Haiti;
Whereas flooding in Haiti has led to nearly 600 deaths and displaced an
estimated 151,072 people, including over 111,391 living in shelters;
Whereas flooding in the port city of Gonaives, Haiti alone led to nearly 500
deaths, left over 37 people missing, left 40,000 people in shelters, and
left 250,000 people in need of assistance;
Whereas the storms destroyed 10,842 houses and damaged an additional 35,125
houses in Haiti;
Whereas according to the Government of Haiti, the series of storms may have left
as many as 1,000,000 Haitians homeless;
Whereas flooding and landslides cut off land routes and hindered delivery of
humanitarian assistance in Haiti;
Whereas in Haiti, Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Hanna destroyed the bridge
linking the devastated region of Gonaives to St. Marc on the country's
mainland;
Whereas in Haiti, extensive agricultural areas of the Artibonite Valley are
flooded, and many crops remain underwater;
Whereas in Jamaica, Hurricane Gustav alone directly affected more than 4,000
people;
Whereas in Jamaica, the storm caused substantial damage to infrastructure and
caused flooding in at least 72 communities, rendering 120 roads
impassable, and affecting 65 percent of the country's water supply,
causing 12 deaths, and putting 248 people in shelters;
Whereas the storms contributed to heavy losses in Jamaica's agriculture sector,
decimating the banana crop, a primary export commodity in Jamaica;
Whereas in Turks and Caicos, Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike affected
12,000 people in the islands and destroyed nearly 90 percent of the
buildings on Grand Turk;
Whereas Grand Turk and South Caicos, the 2 islands most dependent on tourism,
were the worst hit by Hurricane Ike;
Whereas Hurricane Ike damaged almost 80 percent of the houses on Great Inagua
Islands in the Bahamas;
Whereas Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna also
impacted the people of Cuba;
Whereas Hurricane Gustav alone severely damaged an estimated 53 percent of the
houses in Cuba;
Whereas Hurricane Gustav was the worst hurricane to hit Cuba in over 50 years;
Whereas Hurricane Gustav displaced over 400,000 Cubans and damaged or destroyed
130,000 homes and caused severe damage to infrastructure;
Whereas Hurricane Ike affected the people of Cuba, causing 4 deaths, displacing
55,700 people, and forcing over 2,600,000 people to evacuate;
Whereas the financial burden of providing emergency and reconstruction
assistance to the devastated countries is much greater than the
Caribbean community can sustain by themselves;
Whereas the cost of providing emergency humanitarian assistance to the Caribbean
continues to increase with each passing natural disaster;
Whereas in addition to needing disaster relief, Caribbean governments are under
pressure to secure their communities and prevent looters and other
criminals from causing further harm to their citizens who are struggling
to recover from the devastation caused by the hurricanes;
Whereas the United States Agency for International Development Office of United
States Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) is coordinating with the
United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC), the United
Nations World Food Program, and the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), to provide urgently needed
food, potable water, temporary shelter, and other basic commodities;
Whereas the series of hurricanes and tropical storms, which have ripped through
the Caribbean, have again demonstrated that properly promulgated and
consistently enforced building and housing codes significantly reduce
the human and financial toll that natural disasters wreck on countries;
Whereas the Caribbean region is recognized as the third border of the United
States, and the economic turmoil caused by the series of hurricanes and
tropical storms in the Caribbean will have an effect on the United
States; and
Whereas the countries of the Caribbean will need significant assistance from the
international community for relief and reconstruction efforts: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress--
(1) expresses solidarity with all people affected by the
2008 hurricane season;
(2) commends the governments of the countries of the
Caribbean for their efforts to respond and assist the people of
the region after the devastation caused by Hurricanes Gustav
and Ike and Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna from August to
September 2008;
(3) commends the efforts of the Caribbean-American
community to provide relief to family and friends suffering in
the region;
(4) supports the efforts of the Administration to assist in
coordinating international humanitarian assistance to help the
people of the Caribbean region, assess the damage, and provide
relief to affected communities, particularly in the Dominican
Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Cuba, and Turks and
Caicos;
(5) urges the international community to take all necessary
steps to provide emergency relief and support reconstruction
efforts in the Caribbean region;
(6) urges the President to continue to make available to
nongovernmental organizations, private volunteer organizations,
United Nations agencies, and regional institutions the
necessary funding to help mitigate the effects of the recent
natural disasters that have devastated the countries of the
Caribbean; and
(7) urges the President, acting through the Administrator
of the United States Agency for International Development, to
provide assistance in coordination with other donors to begin
the reconstruction of the Caribbean countries that suffered
heavy damage from the natural disasters of 2008 and to provide
assistance for the governments of recipient Caribbean countries
to promulgate and enforce relevant housing and building codes.
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