[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1066 Engrossed in House (EH)]

H. Res. 1066

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                     February 23, 2010.
Whereas the recent crisis in Haiti was caused by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, the 
        worst the nation has experienced in over two centuries;
Whereas the disaster wrought by this earthquake has been catastrophic, 
        destroying ports, infrastructure, hospitals, schools, homes, and 
        businesses, making many roads impassable and incapacitating air travel, 
        and severely hampering the efforts of disaster relief organizations;
Whereas one week after the earthquake hit, electricity was still down, running 
        water was not available, and food supplies were quickly dwindling;
Whereas the cities of Port-Au-Prince, Jacmel, Gonaives, Petionville, and 
        surrounding areas have been devastated, affecting an estimated 3,000,000 
        Haitians;
Whereas the United States Coast Guard was the first to represent the United 
        States in Haiti after the catastrophic earthquake and was an integral 
        part of the initial relief efforts;
Whereas the ability of the Coast Guard to act quickly and efficiently set the 
        foundation for the quickly escalating international response;
Whereas within the first 10 days, 24 United States Navy and Coast Guard vessels, 
        thousands of international United States Army Reserve rescue workers, 
        over 14,000 members of the United States Armed Forces, 71 United States 
        helicopters, and 26 Department of Health and Human Services personnel 
        arrived or were en route to provide logistical support, secure aid 
        distribution, and set up temporary housing;
Whereas after just one week, Joint Task Force Haiti (JTF-Haiti) had established 
        multiple forward operating bases throughout Haiti and immediately 
        started passing out thousands of meals and bottled water;
Whereas in just one day, JTF-Haiti was able to deliver 396,808 water bottles, 
        238,585 meals, and 4,900 lbs. of medical supplies to Haitian survivors;
Whereas the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and the United States 
        Coast Guard have managed the safe arrival and departure of military and 
        humanitarian flights at Port-Au-Prince Airport;
Whereas within the first 10 days, more than 11,000 United States citizens were 
        evacuated;
Whereas the USNS Comfort hospital ship arrived in less than a week providing 600 
        medical personnel and the ability to treat more than a 1,000 patients;
Whereas the USNS Comfort has already treated 1,427 patients from 10 different 
        hospital sites;
Whereas within the first two weeks, Department of Defense personnel distributed 
        1,820,463 bottles of water, 1,465,569 meals, and 57,083 lbs. of medical 
        equipment;
Whereas these operations delivered life sustaining food, water, and medical 
        supply packages to Haiti's displaced;
Whereas during coordinated relief efforts by the United States Agency for 
        International Development (USAID), members of the United States Armed 
        Forces, including members of the Army Reserves, the Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Defense, the Department of 
        State, and the United Nations, personnel and equipment to manage 8 
        hospitals were delivered to provide crucial emergency medical services, 
        and 6 field hospitals were set up, resulting in thousands of lives 
        saved;
Whereas the first responders teams that readily responded to the call for 
        assistance for the Haitian people within the first 24 hours after the 
        disaster include the Miami-Dade Search and Rescue Team of Miami-Dade 
        County, Florida, Fairfax County Search and Rescue Team of Fairfax 
        County, Virginia, U.S. Urban Search and Rescue Teams (US&R) of Los 
        Angeles County, New York City Firefighters, the BATAAN Amphibious 
        Readiness Group (ARG)/Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and the NASSAU 
        ARG/MEU;
Whereas the coordinated relief efforts of the United States, international 
        agencies, and the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti 
        (MINUSTAH) in the first week resulted in 122 courageous rescues of 
        Haitians trapped beneath rubble, including a 2-year-old girl who had 
        been trapped for 6 days;
Whereas during the ongoing relief efforts, USAID, members of the United States 
        Armed Forces, including members of the Army Reserves, FEMA, the 
        Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the United Nations 
        coordinated teams that delivered 1,910 short tons of humanitarian aid in 
        the first week; and
Whereas additionally, 954 Department of Defense, private, and commercial airlift 
        sorties have been successfully conducted: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the efforts of the United States Armed Forces, local 
        first responders, and other members of Operation Unified Response for 
        their swift, compassionate, and courageous action to meet the needs of 
        Haiti's citizens and government and facilitate the evacuation, safety, 
        and medical attention for United States citizens impacted by the 
        earthquake in Haiti;
            (2) recognizes the remarkable response by the men and women in the 
        United States Armed Forces for their ability to deploy such a sizeable 
        force in such a short amount of time while also engaged in two separate 
        conflicts; and
            (3) recognizes the dedication and sacrifice put forward by United 
        States public servants to procure and deliver the enormous amounts of 
        food, water, medical and hygienic supplies, and shelter and for their 
        tireless effort to repair and rebuild critical infrastructure for the 
        benefit of all Haitians.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.