IV 111th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 1160 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 10, 2010 Mr. Meeks of New York (for himself, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Towns, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Butterfield, Ms. Norton, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Ms. Clarke, Mr. Payne, Mr. Honda, Mr. Kingston, Mrs. Christensen, Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan, Mr. Cummings, Ms. Fudge, Ms. Watson, Mr. Clay, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Faleomavaega, Ms. Waters, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Bachus, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, and Mr. Engel) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Financial 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 Calling for the establishment of a Haiti Marshall Plan Committee to coordinate aid and development initiatives from multilateral development banks, international financial institutions, United States bilateral aid programs, and major international charities and nongovernmental organizations in response to the earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, and encouraging them to work in a coordinated manner and to do even more to support Haiti as it recovers and rebuilds following the greatest natural disaster to hit this nation in over 200 years.

Whereas Haiti was devastated by an earthquake on January 12, 2010; Whereas the establishment of a Haiti Marshall Plan Committee to coordinate aid and development initiatives from multilateral development banks, international financial institutions, United States bilateral aid programs, and major international charities and nongovernmental organizations will help Haiti rebuild, avert an economic and humanitarian catastrophe, and sustain a long-term reconstruction effort; Whereas the nation of Haiti suffered widespread destruction caused by 4 major hurricanes in 2008, further putting pressure on the nation’s infrastructure and resources; Whereas the major multilateral development banks and international financial institutions hold the majority of Haiti’s external debt and have been working with the nation on debt relief and infrastructure development; Whereas the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund forgave $1,200,000,000 of Haiti’s debts in 2009 following the country’s completion of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) process; Whereas the United States is a major shareholder of the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, to which the United States board representation is managed by the Department of the Treasury; Whereas the majority of United States bilateral aid is managed by and delivered through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State; Whereas the Department of Defense has worked in close collaboration with USAID to deliver emergency humanitarian relief to the people of Haiti; Whereas major international charities and nongovernmental organizations can help channel the donations of United States citizens to the people of Haiti; Whereas the International Monetary Fund has announced plans to provide at least $100,000,000 in emergency financing to Haiti in response to the earthquake devastation; Whereas the Inter-American Development Bank has announced plans to expeditiously approve $128,000,000 in new grants to Haiti, in addition to redirecting $330,000,000 in existing program resources to earthquake relief and reconstruction efforts; Whereas the World Bank has announced plans to expeditiously approve $100,000,000 in new grants to Haiti, in addition to existing interest-free loans and grant facilities already provided to Haiti; and Whereas a failure to effectively coordinate efforts between these various initiatives is likely to lead to waste, replication of work, and significant delays in the recovery and reconstruction efforts in Haiti: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1)extends heartfelt condolences to the millions in Haiti, the United States, and around the world who have lost family and loved ones in the devastation of the January 12, 2010, earthquake; (2)calls for the establishment of a Haiti Marshall Plan Committee to include representatives from the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Defense, the Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and selected members of civil society to develop and propose a coordinated strategy for the recovery and reconstruction of Haiti that prevents the duplication of effort and uses all available resources; (3)encourages the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund to seek to provide additional resources to Haiti through the various facilities at their disposal to relieve the great financial strain which the country now faces without adding to the nation’s existing debt burden; (4)encourages the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund to seek to provide additional resources to Haiti through the various facilities at their disposal to enable the reconstruction of the nation’s infrastructure and economic and governance capacity; and (5)encourages the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund to explore further options for Haiti debt relief in light of the catastrophic damage inflicted by the January 12, 2010, earthquake.