[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 135 (Friday, September 23, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                 HAITI IS A HEMISPHERIC RESPONSIBILITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Farr] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FARR of California. I rise under special orders, Mr. Speaker, to 
express my concern for our committee in Haiti. As of last night, Mr. 
Speaker, we had 10,000 troops in Haiti. Fourteen thousand troops will 
be assembled shortly. These troops will remain in Haiti at least 
through December.
  Reports put the cost of maintaining the troops at least an additional 
$250 million, which will require a supplemental appropriation. The 
Secretary of Defense, Mr. Perry, said yesterday it is unlikely that we 
would lessen that force before the December elections. At some 
unspecified point 2,000 troops from 23 other nations will also become 
involved. After this, once the President determines that Haiti is safe 
and secure, the responsibility will be firmly transferred to the United 
Nations peacekeeping forces. The operation will then become a U.N. 
mission in Haiti. The force will then be 6,000 strong. The United 
States is expected to contribute half of this number.
  My concern with our commitment in Haiti is this: We do not need to 
put in more than our fair share of manpower or payment. I believe that 
Haiti is a hemispheric responsibility.
  No single nation in this hemisphere should be forced to bear the 
brunt of the responsibility. I believe that all nations should help pay 
for the operations--the peacekeeping operations--in Haiti. It just 
makes sense that our payment levels should coincide with the manpower 
levels that we contribute.
  Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I will be introducing next week a resolution 
which will support this sense of equity. It will resolve that the 
United States should, while acting in a multinational U.N. mission in 
Haiti, commit a troop level not to exceed the level of funding we are 
contributing to the peacekeeping effort.

                          ____________________