[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 131 (Monday, September 19, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         PEACEFUL TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY NOW EXPECTED IN HAITI

  (Mr. GEPHARDT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, in the past 24 hours, we have witnessed a 
remarkable triumph of diplomacy and democracy in America's backyard.
  Thanks to the unwavering leadership of President Clinton--thanks to 
the tough negotiating tactics of President Carter, General Powell, and 
Senator Nunn--America stood up for its own interests, and we stood up 
for the rights of the Haitian people, without sending our soldiers into 
combat.
  The people of Haiti, and the people of America, owe a tremendous debt 
of gratitude to President Clinton. He was willing to push for a 
peaceful solution--to rid Haiti of its military dictators through 
reason, not force. And in so doing, he saved American and Haitian 
lives.
  But President Clinton also understood that when a government is built 
on fear, and not on the faith of its people, when a government 
practices torture and oppression, and smothers the voices and the votes 
of its fledgling democracy; when a government exports its people, and 
its problems, throughout our hemisphere; then the United States must 
use every ounce of its resolve to restore the promise of democracy and 
peace.
  With yesterday's agreement, we have done that. We now expect a 
peaceful transition to democracy in Haiti.
  Today, every American has reason to be proud--whether or not they 
supported the use of force in Haiti. For today, America has stood up 
for the basic rights and liberties we fought so hard to achieve for 
ourselves, more than 200 years ago.
  And we told the world that when it comes to those rights and 
liberties, there can be no compromise--and America will not back down.

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