[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 23, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H3660]
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 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I am not going to address the subject of the 
environment today, but I happen to be a Republican. I believe that the 
environment knows no partisanship and it should know no extremism.
  I think the environment is something we are all concerned about. I am 
proud as a Republican that under Republican leadership we have finally 
gotten some kind of relief for the Florida Everglades in my home State 
under Republican leadership, something we have been trying long to do. 
So there are indeed many sides of the story about who is doing what to 
help out the environment.
  Mr. Speaker, I return to the floor to talk about Haiti today because 
I want to be certain that all of my colleagues are aware of the staff 
delegation report on Haiti that was issued last week. Although I hoped 
for good news for both the American taxpayers who footed the $2 billion 
plus bill for United States operations in Haiti and for the Haitian 
people, there doesn't seem to be much. In fact, more than anything, 
this report reinforces the idea that the White House has been glossing 
over the rough spots in Haiti--hailing it as a success--and hoping that 
no one would dig deep enough to know the difference. The staff 
delegation concluded that little progress, if any, is being made on 
compliance with the Dole amendment regarding political murders in 
Haiti. In fact, they see little chance of those conditions being met in 
the foreseeable future. These investigations may in fact be irreparably 
tainted because the Haitian special investigative unit has been 
colonized by three American lawyers working for the Government of 
Haiti.
  Whether or not these individuals will be more interested in 
protecting their meal ticket or in getting to the bottom of the killing 
remains open for question, but it is a question that should be asked.

  Beyond these specific investigations, the report also notes that the 
United States embassy in Haiti continues to have a passive policy on 
human rights violations. One might ask why the White House does not 
seem to understand the actions they decried during the coup are no less 
unacceptable in post-Cedras Haiti.
  The report also finds that there are probably more rough spots than 
smooth ones with regard to law and order. The Haitian National Police 
are not always readily accepted by the Haitian people, but nothing can 
excuse the heavyhanded responses we have seen from them in places like 
Cite Soleil.
  In addition, the staff delegation reports that there are at least 
four other armed governmental security units with unclear chains of 
command, but about whom there are credible reports of serious human 
rights abuses.
  On the economic front, the news is little better. More than 60 
percent of the Haitian national budget is still sustained by foreign 
dollars and Haitians still rely heavily on food aid and remittances 
from abroad. The lack of tangible progress on privatization and other 
reforms, added to the pervasive breakdown in law and order, continues 
to act as a damper on investment. Ultimately, the staff delegation 
concluded that private investment in Haiti is unlikely to even reach 
the low baseline level of 1985 before this century ends.
  In terms of United States development projects in Haiti, the 
delegation found that the majority of the projects they reviewed failed 
to meet the one test that matters: Sustainability. In other words, we 
are feeding Haitians fish today but we are not teaching them to catch 
their own for tomorrow.

  There are many more issues raised in the report, but I want to draw 
attention to the section entitled ``Clinton Administration 
Politicization of Haiti Policy.'' The Congress has long been frustrated 
by the lack of good information from the administration regarding 
United States operations in Haiti, but that is only half of the story.
  The staff delegation found that the administration is going beyond 
mere stonewalling to scapegoating and what they called a sustained and 
coordinated interagency effort designed to blame the legislative branch 
for the shortcomings of its own policies in Haiti.
  This finding is based on numerous instances when incomplete, 
inaccurate, and intentionally misleading information about the role 
that this Congress has played in Haiti was provided by the White House 
to staff, the AID mission, officials of the Government of Haiti, and to 
the Haitian business community.
  This just adds to the evidence to suggest that of all of the items on 
the list of things the Clinton administration's policy in Haiti has 
lacked over the past 3 years, the most important item is candor. 
Whether we are fibbing to ourselves about what is happening in Haiti or 
to the Haitians about what is happening in Washington isn't the issue. 
Either way, the net effect has been to undercut genuine efforts to 
bring peace, prosperity, and democracy to that small Caribbean nation.
  That, Mr. Speaker, is the real tragedy here and we should begin 
hearings based on the staff report.

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