[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 6 (Tuesday, February 1, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       RESTORE DEMOCRACY IN HAITI

                                 ______


                        HON. JOHN JOSEPH MOAKLEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 1, 1994

  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw the attention of my 
colleagues to remarks by Representative Joseph P. Kennedy II at the 
recent conference in Miami convened by Haitian President Aristide. 
Representative Kennedy has been a leader in Congress in the effort to 
restore democracy in that country and return its elected President. His 
recommendations for action by the United States and the international 
community deserve our careful attention. The text of his speech 
follows.

 Remarks by U.S. Representative Joseph P. Kennedy II--Miami Conference 
                       on Haiti: January 15, 1994

       Good evening. It is a tremendous honor for me to have an 
     opportunity to participate in this weekend's conference. I 
     want to thank this surprisingly large and very patient 
     audience for your interest and your commitment. I share your 
     hopes that the efforts here will help provide a turning point 
     in the struggle to restore democracy in Haiti.
       President Aristide, ministers of your government, and 
     members of the Haitian parliament, Ambassador Casimir--it is 
     a pleasure to be with you. I think it is very important that 
     Ambassador Larry Pezzullo is here representing President 
     Clinton and the United States. I always look forward to 
     talking with Larry about how we can move things ahead.
       I'm pleased to join here in Miami with my colleagues who 
     have led the fight in Congress to keep a focus on Haiti, and 
     never let up the pressure. Representatives Meek and Brown, 
     Rangel and Owens--we all owe them a debt of gratitude for 
     their determination.
       I would also like to extend my greetings to Sherly David of 
     the Haitian Information Center and the poet Jean-Claude 
     Martineau, both living in Boston, And I'd like to thank 
     Dorothy Smith-Patterson, President of the Unitarian 
     Universalist Service Committee--also based in Boston--for 
     leading a delegation to Haiti this past week that included a 
     member of my staff.
       One of the goals of our gathering is to reinvigorate and to 
     expand the coalition committed to the restoration of 
     democracy in Haiti. It is essential that we succeed in this 
     task in the weeks and months ahead. The courageous Haitian 
     people fighting against brutality and oppression need the 
     assistance of friends of democracy everywhere in their battle 
     for justice.
       As you all know, today is the anniversary of the birth of 
     Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As President Aristide said this 
     morning, Dr. King is still with us as we try to summon the 
     serenity and the courage and the steadfastness needed to face 
     a world with too little peace and too little justice.
       When Dr. King said, ``A threat to justice anywhere is a 
     threat to justice everywhere,'' he was talking about the 
     challenge of ending American apartheid.
       But what he wrote from his jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama 
     30 years ago resonates deeply as we gather here today to 
     rededicate ourselves to the struggle for justice in Haiti.
       The threat to justice in Haiti is indeed a threat to 
     justice everywhere, but particularly to justice in our own 
     hemisphere. The brutal exploitation of Haiti by a heartless 
     elite is an affront to the aspirations of all the Americas 
     for social and economic justice.
       As the United Nations Security Council has expressed in 
     resolutions, and President Clinton has underscored, the 
     current injustice in Haiti is also a threat to the security 
     of other countries in this region and to the sanctity of 
     democracy in our hemisphere.
       I commend those gathered here for their efforts on behalf 
     of Haiti. But let us not be satisfied until the forces 
     arrayed against the oppressors become so unified that the 
     heirs of the Tonton Macoutes know they have no choice but to 
     step aside and, in Martin Luther King's words, ``let freedom 
     ring.''
       Six months ago, an important step toward freedom was taken 
     on Governors Island with the signing of an historic agreement 
     that provided a blueprint to turn the Haitian peoples hopes 
     and dreams for democracy into reality.
       But the pact, signed in the shadow of the State of Liberty, 
     has not been respected by the leaders of the military coup.
       Half a year later, the drug lords of Haiti are still in 
     power. The rule of law is openly flouted while the champions 
     of democracy are driven underground in fear of their lives.
       The illegal government in Haiti has proven it will take any 
     steps to stay in power. Not even the sanctity of a church is 
     respected as we saw when Antoine Izmery was dragged from a 
     holy sanctuary and shot in the street.
       Guy Malary, Haiti's brave justice minister, was murdered in 
     cold blood for daring to raise a voice against tyranny and 
     for the rule of law in the land he loved.
       This flagrant disregard for justice on our doorstep cannot 
     be tolerated and we must do what we can to ensure that it is 
     not repeated.
       One of the tragedies of the death of minister Malary was 
     that the dangers that he faced along with other members of 
     the Aristide government were foreseen. I was at Governors 
     Island, taking part in the negotiations in July.
       In the middle of night, after days of gruelling 
     negotiations, and under strong pressure to conclude an 
     agreement or risk abandonment, President Aristide spoke of 
     his fears. He said that if his government were installed and 
     the embargo lifted before General Cedras and Colonel Francois 
     were removed from office, then the military would sink its 
     bloody talons even deeper into Haitian society, determined 
     never to let go. He said that his ministers would be in 
     danger.
       I applaud President Aristide for the initiative this 
     weekend to build the political support needed for his return. 
     In the weeks ahead there will be talk of a new Prime Minister 
     and discussions over the composition of the cabinet.
       But we must never forget for a moment who it is that stands 
     blocking the path to democracy in Haiti. They must go and 
     their power must be broken before the Aristide government can 
     exercise its full responsibilities in a climate of security.
       The events tearing Haiti apart stand in stark contrast to 
     the promise of a new day that dawned with the election of 
     Jean-Bertrand Aristide in December of 1990. Two months after 
     that historic day, I had the privilege of witnessing his 
     inauguration in Port-au-Prince.
       I have vivid memories of that occasion--the long and joyous 
     church service, the festive ceremony, and, most of all, the 
     thousands and thousands of people who jammed the streets. A 
     jubilant Haitian people was so filled with pride and joy that 
     every avenue was swept, every wall and building decorated in 
     honor of the day that their choice, a man of the people, 
     was taking office to represent their hopes and dreams.
       What those faces said to me was that the Haitian people had 
     won. In the face of grinding poverty and exploitation by 
     interests foreign and domestic, they had come together in the 
     fields, workshops, schools, and churches to case a vote for 
     liberty and democracy.
       That ceremony on February 7, 1991 was one of the most 
     inspiring moments of my political life.
       The tragic end of Haiti's seven-month experiment in 
     democracy is well known, as is the slow response of the Bush 
     Administration to the crisis in Haiti.
       While President Clinton has taken stronger steps to respond 
     to the military coup, the reality is that our government's 
     policy has not succeeded in attaining the desired goal--the 
     restoration of democracy and the reinstatement of President 
     Aristide.
       At the same time, it has grown increasingly untenable to 
     maintain a refugee policy of throwing into U.S. jails Haitian 
     men, women and children who are fleeing a military 
     dictatorship, while greeting as heroes those who flee 
     Castro's Cuba. We must be willing to denounce both types of 
     dictatorships and open our hearts and arms to both types of 
     refugees.
       We've listened to the voices of reason. No one wishes to 
     provoke a massive exodus of desperate people onto dangerous 
     seas. But neither can we continue to tolerate an immigration 
     policy that is absolutely morally untenable.
       The challenge before us today is to formulate a new 
     strategy for implementing the Governors Island agreement that 
     will stand up to any challenge. The time has passed when a 
     few revolver-waving thugs can turn back a U.S. ship and 
     thwart the will of the international community.
       To begin with, the burden of leadership must not fall on 
     President Clinton alone. Leaders from the highest level of 
     government in France, Canada, Venezuela, the U.N. and O.A.S. 
     must continue to speak forthrightly and consistently on 
     Haiti.
       From the U.S. side, the White House must undertake a very 
     clear escalation, both in word and deed, to pressure the 
     military to step down and accept civilian rule.
       This can be accomplished in several ways. First, President 
     Clinton should publicly state he intends to increase economic 
     pressure on those responsible for the military coup and its 
     civilian supporters.
       This could be followed by:
       (1) Freezing the assets and revoking the visas of the 
     entire 925-member officers corps and of the coup's civilian 
     supporters.
       (2) Freezing all financial transactions between the United 
     States and Haiti--as we have done with Cuba.
       (3) Urging the United Nations to impose a worldwide freeze 
     on assets and visas of military officers and coup supporters.
       (4) Urging the United Nations to impose a total commercial 
     embargo against Haiti, including financial transactions and 
     air traffic. In essence, we should have the same type of 
     comprehensive embargo that President Kennedy considered 
     against Cuba.
       (5) Putting additional pressure on the Dominican Republic 
     to cut the flow of goods across the border with Haiti. This 
     would have an important psychological as well as material 
     impact. It will say to Haiti's poor majority that we are 
     serious about closing the loopholes used by the military and 
     elite.
       (6) Increasing radio and television broadcasts to Haiti to 
     break the military's control of information.
       (7) Working with other countries to set the groundwork for 
     the reintroduction of the U.N. and OAS technical mission and 
     human rights mission as soon as possible.
       (8) Making clear that the United States will not rule out 
     the use of military force to implement the Governors Island 
     accord.
       These actions would send a clear signal to all Haitians 
     that support for the coup is a dead-end path and will not be 
     tolerated by the Clinton Administration and the international 
     community.
       The United States owes a tremendous debt to Haiti. Haitian 
     soldiers came to our shores during the American Revolution to 
     help realize our hopes for independence. We cannot now turn 
     our backs in their hour of need.
       In President Aristide, the Haitian people have their best 
     hope ever to realize the promise of the slave revolt that 
     turned back Napoleon's army and won independence from France.
       I have come to know President Aristide as a political 
     leader and a friend. He has shown tremendous courage and 
     leadership in the face of unrelenting and vicious attacks on 
     his integrity.
       This man of peace represents the best of Haiti--its 
     profound spirituality, quiet pride and, most of all, 
     unshakable conviction in what is right.
       The comparisons between President Aristide and other 
     revolutionary leaders of our century are not overstated. The 
     spirit of King and Gandhi and Mandela is with us today.
       Finally, let me say that I commit myself once again to do 
     all I can to bring human and civil rights to Haiti, a land 
     that has suffered so long and so much. It is a land that in 
     many ways has much in common with the land my family came 
     from, with its own sad history of economic exploitation and 
     brutal political repression.
       The lesson for all of us here today, as we remember Dr. 
     King and look to the future with hope, is that suffering is 
     universal and that our mission is to listen to the voices of 
     the unheard and fight for what is just. Thank you very much.

                          ____________________