[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 186 (Monday, November 20, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H13347-H13348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 HAITI

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Goss] is recognized during 
morning business for 3 minutes.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, we all have some breathing space today, and it 
is welcome, and we are very happy for the successful efforts that took 
place over the weekend while we worked here to avoid this Government 
shutdown, and I am pleased that that has happened.
  We all now have a chance to stand up and look around a little bit 
about what is happening elsewhere in the world. I think it is important 
that we do that, because our responsibilities do in fact have a whole 
range.
  I expected to hear some crowing from the White House about now, about 
the crown jewel of their foreign policy success, which is Haiti. I have 
not heard much, and I have been curious about the silence.
  I have not heard much in the press, either, so I just checked and I 
found that one of the observers who was there for the last election, 
for the parliamentary elections in June, was there last week and 
reported back to me this morning on a trip that she had there. And 
sorry to say that things are not going very well.

  I say that for three reasons. First of all, the taxpayers of this 
country have got almost $3 billion invested in Haiti right now, in the 
Aristide government. I am sad to say that democracy is not building. It 
is in fact going down the drain, despite that heavy investment to try 
to help that nation out.
  I am also sorry to say that U.S. troops are still there and subject 
to harm in the civil unrest that is unyielding, and we have seen 
unfortunately an escalation of violence. We will hope that nobody gets 
hurt, and particularly not our troops.
  And finally, I am particularly sorry that democracy under the 
Aristide administration is not working, because he was truly a 
democratically elected President, and if the Government cannot operate 
that way, that means we are going to be in for a longer haul in Haiti 
and things are not as well as we hoped.
  That, of course, affects us in Florida. We have the refugee problem, 
we have many Haitians in Florida, many in my 

[[Page H 13348]]
district, a matter of great concern. It is also sad that a friendly 
neighboring nation that is so close to our shore is having such a 
difficult time coming to grips with the development of democracy.
  We will not have a full, fair election there on December 17, if the 
election comes off, because the legitimate opponents who would run have 
been intimidated. They have been threatened with being burned to death 
if they even registered and showed up. Most of the opposition offices 
are closed. There is no campaigning going on.
  Fear is throughout the countryside. This is not the ingredient of a 
democratic election. Businesses are closed. Business is worse. The 
economy was bad. The economy is even worse than bad now. People just 
simply do not want to open their stores. They are afraid of mob 
violence.
  The privatization effort that the Government was supposed to 
introduce has not worked. In fact, not only has it not worked, the 
Prime Minister who was its champion has resigned in protest. A new 
Prime Minister has come in and is going to a different policy.
  So those agreements toward privatization, getting that country back 
on an economic footing, are not working out either. Apparently the 
government of President Aristide is going the wrong way on that.
  The most important point is stability. Mobs are driving people into 
refuges, including Americans. When it gets to that state, it is time to 
reexamine.

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