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

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1066

Recognizing the bravery and efforts of the United States Armed Forces, 
local first responders, and other members of Operation Unified Response 
  for their swift and coordinated action in light of the devastation 
    wrought upon the nation of Haiti after a horrific 7.0 magnitude 
earthquake struck Port-Au-Prince and surrounding cities on January 12, 
                                 2010.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 3, 2010

 Mr. Meek of Florida (for himself, Mr. Skelton, Mr. Mack, Mr. McKeon, 
Mr. Berman, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Hastings of Florida, 
 Mr. Andrews, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Cooper, Mrs. Davis of 
 California, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Langevin, Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Tim Murphy of 
 Pennsylvania, Mr. Payne, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Rush, Mr. Snyder, 
Mr. Spratt, Mr. Taylor, Ms. Waters, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Smith 
 of Washington, Mr. Kissell, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, Mr. Bartlett, Mr. 
Conaway, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Wilson 
 of South Carolina, Mr. Nye, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mr. Platts, Mr. Lamborn, 
Ms. Pingree of Maine, Mr. Boren, Mr. Owens, Ms. Tsongas, Mr. Burton of 
Indiana, Mr. Thornberry, Mr. Loebsack, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Murphy of New 
 York, Mr. Massa, and Mr. Wittman) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition 
 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the bravery and efforts of the United States Armed Forces, 
local first responders, and other members of Operation Unified Response 
  for their swift and coordinated action in light of the devastation 
    wrought upon the nation of Haiti after a horrific 7.0 magnitude 
earthquake struck Port-Au-Prince and surrounding cities on January 12, 
                                 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.
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