III 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 213 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 9, 2009 Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of Congress for and solidarity with the people of El Salvador as they persevere through the aftermath of torrential rains which caused devastating flooding and deadly mudslides.

Whereas, on November 9, 2009, parts of El Salvador were decimated by floods brought on by Hurricane Ida; Whereas Hurricane Ida caused the death of over 190 people in El Salvador, and made over 14,000 homeless, with both of those numbers likely to rise; Whereas over 1,800 homes have been destroyed by the mudslides; Whereas the small coffee growing town of Verapaz, population 7,000, has almost been completely destroyed; Whereas reports have stated that up to 10,000 Salvadorians may need emergency food assistance; Whereas Hurricane Ida also left about 13,000 people homeless in Nicaragua and damaged about 100 homes in Guatemala; Whereas neighboring nations of El Salvador have provided relief to the people of El Salvador; Whereas the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development and U.S. Southern Command, has provided significant emergency relief and assistance to the people of El Salvador in the wake of Hurricane Ida; and Whereas El Salvador has begun the process of recovering from this natural disaster: Now, therefore, be it

That Congress— (1)expresses solidarity with all people affected by Hurricane Ida; (2)commends the brave efforts of the people of El Salvador and Central America as they recover from Hurricane Ida; (3)applauds the coordination between the countries of Central America during the relief effort in providing relief to the people of El Salvador; (4)acknowledges the efforts of the government of El Salvador to work closely and promptly with the United States to assist the affected population; (5)recognizes the progress made by El Salvador on disaster preparedness capacity and their efforts to invest in disaster risk reduction; and (6)urges the President to continue to make available assistance to help mitigate the effects of the recent natural disasters that have devastated El Salvador.

Passed the House of Representatives December 8, 2009. Lorraine C. Miller, Clerk