[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 11 (Friday, January 22, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S924-S925]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 3--CONDEMNING THE IRREGULAR INTERRUPTION 
       OF THE DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL INSTITUTIONAL PROCESS IN HAITI

  Mr. DeWINE (for himself, Mr. Graham, Mr. Helms, and Mr. Coverdell) 
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

[[Page S925]]

                             S. Con. Res. 3

       Whereas, in 1991 at Santiago, Chile, the Organization of 
     American States (OAS) approved Resolution 1080 to deter 
     irregular interruptions of the democratic political 
     institutional process within countries having democratically 
     elected governments;
       Whereas the OAS invoked Resolution 1080 (1991) and called 
     for a meeting of the foreign ministers in 1991 to determine 
     appropriate actions in response to the coup d'etat against 
     Haiti's elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide;
       Whereas the legacy of fiat and abuse of the Duvalier 
     dictatorship led the framers of the 1987 Haitian constitution 
     to provide for clear separation of powers;
       Whereas the 1987 Haitian constitution permanently vests all 
     legislative authority in the National Assembly and does not 
     provide for rule by decree by the president;
       Whereas on January 11, 1999, President Preval seized 
     dictatorial powers by effectively dissolving Haiti's 
     parliament and announcing he will rule by decree; and
       Whereas this irregular interruption of the democratic 
     political institutional process requires immediate 
     international attention and action to bring about a return to 
     democracy in that country: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the irregular interruption of the democratic 
     political institutional process and considers that 
     interruption to be a serious blow to democracy in Haiti and a 
     serious threat to democracy in the Caribbean region and the 
     Hemisphere;
       (2) calls on the Government of Haiti forthwith to fully 
     restore the legitimate exercise of power by a democratically 
     elected National Assembly and to ensure full respect for 
     internationally recognized human rights;
       (3) urges the Organization of American States (OAS) to send 
     a fact-finding mission headed by the Secretary General to 
     Haiti and, under Resolution 1080, to call a meeting of the 
     foreign ministers of the OAS member countries in order to 
     consider joint actions to bring about a return to democracy 
     in that country.
       Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy 
     of this concurrent resolution to the President of the United 
     States with the request that he further transmit such copy to 
     the Secretary General of the Organization of American States.

 Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, today, it is with distress that I 
rise to submit and seek the Senate's approval on a concurrent 
resolution to express the deep concern of Congress over the 
deteriorating situation in Haiti. My colleagues from Florida, Senator 
Graham; North Carolina, Senator Helms; and Georgia, Senator Coverdell 
have joined me in co-sponsoring this important and timely resolution. 
The Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Benjamin 
Gilman and Chairman of the House Select Intelligence Committee, Porter 
Goss intend to introduce this same resolution in the House very soon.
  Mr. President, twelve days ago, Haiti's drawn out crisis took a very 
troubling turn when Haitian President Rene Preval announced that the 
Haitian National Assembly's term had expired and he would proceed to 
install a government by ``executive order.'' What he means, of course, 
is to ignore Haiti's parliament and rule by decree.
  To understand the present situation, one must first comprehend the 
series of events in the past year and a half which have led to this 
unfortunate circumstance. The seriously flawed April 6, 1997 elections, 
which attracted less than 5 percent of the Haitian electorate, provoked 
the resignation in June 1997 of Prime Minister Rosney Smarth. For 
twenty months, a political deadlock has existed between President 
Preval and the majority party in parliament over the contested April 
elections and recently over President Preval's nominee for Prime 
Minister, Jacques Edouard Alexis. The political crisis has virtually 
paralyzed the government and delayed millions of dollars in 
international aid to Haiti.
  During this period, the President dispatched a series of high-level 
emissaries, including the Secretary of State and the First Lady, to 
help defuse the crisis. Former National Security Advisor Anthony Lake 
has undertaken many missions to help mediate among the parties; most 
recently in the days leading up to the January 11 announcement.
  Only on December 16 did the Haitian Senate ratify Mr. Alexis' 
credentials. On December 18, the Chamber of Deputies followed suit. 
Negotiations for the final approval of Mr. Alexis as Prime Minister, 
however, proved fruitless. President Preval and Mr. Alexis either 
failed or refused to secure agreement on a cabinet that would allow the 
prime minister to present his program to parliament for a vote of 
confidence.
  This much is clear: Despite the extraordinary efforts of the 
Administration's emissaries, President Preval refused to accept any 
solution to this crisis that left Haiti's parliament in place. The 
present moment in Haiti is fraught with danger. Micha Gaillard, a 
Haitian social democrat who was closely associated with the internal 
efforts to restore then President Aristide to power in the early 1990's 
following the coup attempt against him wrote on January 16 that:

       What is going on today, according to those who were there, 
     is the same as happened in the years 1963-64 when Francios 
     Duvalier was maneuvering to be proclaimed president-for-life. 
     [This] . . . formula has been reviewed and updated. Here it 
     is important that we . . . disavow and condemn far and wide 
     the means employed--usurpations of power, intimidation, 
     violence, and corruption--to subvert the functioning of all 
     the democratic institutions, which are the sole guarantee 
     against dictatorship.

  The resolution I submit today puts the United States Congress on 
record that the irregular interruption of the democratic political 
institutional process in Haiti must, without further delay, be 
addressed through Organization of American States Resolution 1080.
  In 1991 at Santiago, Chile, the Organization of American States 
approved Resolution 1080 specifically to deter irregular interruptions 
of the democratic political institutional process within countries 
having democratically elected governments. When invoked, a meeting of 
the Permanent Council of the OAS and the foreign ministers of the OAS 
member countries is in order to consider joint actions to bring about a 
return to democracy in that country.
  Resolution 1080 has been invoked several times in the past decade. 
The OAS invoked the resolution in 1991 to determine appropriate actions 
in response to the coup d'etat against Haiti's elected President 
Aristide. It was also invoked in Guatemala in 1993 when Guatemala 
President Jorge Serrano dissolved the Parliament and the courts; in 
Paraguay in 1996 when a Paraguayan general attempted a coup d'etat 
against Paraguayan President Wasmosy; and in 1992 in Peru after 
President Alberto Fujimori announced the dissolution of the Congress 
and the courts.
  Mr. President, I have visited Haiti seven times in the past three 
years. I am extremely concerned about the current situation there. Mr. 
President, I urge my colleagues to support and pass this important 
resolution.

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