[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 67 (Wednesday, May 25, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                          U.S. HAITIAN POLICY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Owens] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I think it is time for a brief review of our 
policy in Haiti. I would like to begin by stating that it is as 
desperate a situation now as it has ever been.
  Just a few days ago a new wave of killing resulted in the destruction 
of a group of supporters of President Aristide. The military thugs who 
are in charge of Haiti are not impressed at all by the new imposition 
of sanctions by the United Nations. The United Nations sanctions have 
come much too late, and they are well prepared for them. Their 
stockpiles are higher. They have built a new highway which crosses the 
border into the Dominican Republic. The very rich and the military have 
no fears at all of being inconvenienced by this new embargo and set of 
sanctions imposed by the United Nations.
  Mr. Speaker, we have never seriously enforced sanctions, so they do 
not believe we will seriously enforce them now. The situation 
deteriorates each day, and the only solution is a more affirmative 
policy by this Nation.
  If we are serious about enforcing sanctions, one of the things that 
must be done immediately is to seal the border with the Dominican 
Republic. The Dominican Republic border is an open sieve through which 
flows everything that is on the list of the sanctions and the embargo. 
If we are serious, it seems to me that the United Nations resolution 
allows for the United Nations or any nations participating to take any 
necessary actions to see to it that the embargo is enforced.
  We have ships which are on the seas around Haiti, and those ships are 
empowered to stop other ships, to search other ships, to turn back 
ships that have the wrong cargo. We are involved very much on the seas 
in enforcing the embargo that has been imposed, I do not see why we 
cannot seal the border with the Dominican Republic on the Haitian side 
and consider that also a part of our duty to enforce the embargo.
  Mr. Speaker, this is the kind of forceful step that ought to be taken 
if we are serious about the embargo.
  We should also stop the flights going into Haiti carrying all kinds 
of cargo in the form of private passenger ships or commercial 
passengers. We have not lifted the visas of the Haitian elite who have 
supported the coup. We have not lifted the visas of all of the 
military. We have not frozen assets. There are a number of things still 
left to be done. I think we should do all of these things seriously and 
wait for 30 days to see what effect we are having, and then we should 
seriously consider the implementation of a military solution. We mean 
by a military solution what the Congressional Black Caucus voted on 
last October. Last October we voted for protective military 
intervention.

  Here is the situation. In the case of Haiti we have an elected 
president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, who was elected by 70 percent of the 
voters. It is not the chaos of Somalia, it is not the chaos of Rwanda, 
it is not the breakup into organized factions of Bosnia and Yugoslavia. 
It is the situation where the recognized head of government, elected by 
70 percent of the people, sits here in Washington. We can take him back 
with protective troops. It is not an invasion if you take the elected 
government back. It is not an invasion if you protect everybody who is 
elected, all of the Cabinet members, all of the members of the 
opposition. Everybody who has been elected by the people should be 
protected by this protective force.
  If there are any forces in Haiti which choose to attack the protected 
forces, then they have to be repelled, they have to be dealt with. But 
it is not an invasion. It is interference with those who have been sent 
in to protect the legally elected government.
  Aristide is the people's choice. Aristide is a unified force in 
Haiti. Aristide can give a new birth to the country. The country has 
been poor for a long time, the country has been wracked by an unstable 
government for a long time. But in the 7 months that Aristide served as 
president some unusual things happened.
  There was no great input of foreign aid from the United States or any 
other country. However, the people had hope for a change, and because 
they had hope, and because they looked forward to an honest government, 
because they looked forward to order, because they looked forward to an 
atmosphere in which investment would be made, there were people not 
only not leaving Haiti, but many Haitians were returning from the 
United States and countries all over the world.
  So the hope of Haiti, the future of Haiti lies in the men they have 
chosen, the elected leader of Haiti, Jean Bertrand Aristide, and we 
should take whatever means necessary in the next 60 days to ensure that 
Jean Bertrand Aristide is returned to Haiti.

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