[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 20 (Thursday, February 4, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1266-S1268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Coverdell, Mr. 
        Domenici, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Frist, Mr. 
        Mack, and Mr. Hagel):
  S. 371. A bill to provide assistance to the countries in Central 
America and the Caribbean affected by Hurricane Mitch and Hurricane 
Georges, to provide additional trade benefits to certain beneficiary 
countries in the Caribbean, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Finance.


         the central american and caribbean relief act of 1999

 Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the 
Central American and Caribbean Relief Act of 1999. I am joined in this 
by my colleagues Senators DeWine, Coverdell, Domenici, Landrieu, Dodd, 
Hatch, Frist, Mack, and Hagel. This bill is a comprehensive disaster 
relief package that will help our Caribbean and Central American 
neighbors recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Georges and 
Hurricane Mitch.
  This past fall, two hurricanes ravaged our neighbors in Central 
America and the Caribbean, causing death and destruction that has not 
been seen in this hemisphere in over 200 years. First, Hurricane 
Georges hit the Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, the Florida 
Keys, and the Gulf Coast of the United States in September of 1998, 
with a ferocity that resulted in 250 deaths and more than $1 billion in 
damage. Only a month later, Hurricane Mitch attacked Central America, 
killing more than 10,000 people and leaving 3 million homeless. 
Hurricane Mitch unleashed a series of destructive forces--floods, 
mudslides, disease--that have affected the lives of 3.2 million 
residents in five nations. In Honduras alone, over 30 percent of the 
population was displaced by Mitch. To put this in perspective, had the 
U.S. suffered comparable levels of damage, 80 million of our citizens 
would have been displaced. The scale of this disaster is truly 
astounding.
  I had the opportunity to see this destruction for myself when I 
visited the region in January. I witnessed whole villages that were 
completely washed away, families crammed into open-air shelters, and 
children playing among the concrete remanents of bridges and buildings. 
I saw field after field destroyed by the heavy rains. The losses in the 
agricultural sector were staggering. In Honduras alone, an estimated 
70% of the crops were destroyed, including 90% of the country's banana 
and grain crops. Because agriculture employs approximately half of the 
regional workforce, these losses have resulted in tremendous economic 
disruption.
  The Central American and Caribbean Relief Act is a comprehensive plan 
that will help these struggling nations get back on their feet and 
rebuild their economies. First, the bill will expand the current trade 
benefits provided under the Caribbean Basin Initiative. During my 
recent visit to the region their was unanimous agreement, from the 
Presidents of the countries to members of the private sector, the CBI 
enhancement is the number one priority of their economic recovery plan. 
History shows that expanding trade with the Caribbean Basin helps our 
own economy, expanding U.S. exports to the region at the same time that 
we build important trading relations with our closest neighbors. Any 
disaster relief package that does not include CBI enhancement falls far 
short of the mark.
  The second part of this package will continue and expand current 
humanitarian and disaster assistance activities in the region. This 
will help to rehabilitate agricultural production, rebuild bridges and 
roads, provide much needed housing, clear landmines, restore safe water 
and health care, and help prevent similar disasters in the future. This 
is a continuation of the heroic efforts that the U.S. Government has 
already undertaken in response to these hurricanes. U.S. forces have 
been there since the day the disaster struck, rescuing hundreds from 
certain death, moving 30 million pounds of relief supplies, and helping 
rebuild the regions critical infrastructure.
  By working to improve economic development of the region, we will 
help prevent needless environmental damage, strengthen the development 
of democracy in the region, and protect against the proliferation of 
narcotics trafficking. An investment in the long-term recovery of the 
region, which is so important to the United States both economically 
and politically, will produce benefits for the entire Western 
Hemisphere.
  The bill includes the following initiatives:
  $600 million to expand funding for humanitarian efforts to meet needs 
for health, water/sanitation, road reconstruction, agricultural 
restoration, agricultural microcredit, food, shelter, disaster 
mitigation and other emergency relief;
  Enhancement of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) to give the 
nation of Central America and the Caribbean the opportunity to quickly 
expand their economies and expand the manufacturing sector while they 
rebuild their agricultural base;
  $16 million for bilateral debt forgiveness for Honduras;
  A micro-credit initiative targeted at reviving agricultural 
production in the region;
  $150 million to replenish Defense Department funds depleted in the 
immediate aftermath of the disaster, including the humanitarian relief 
fund that supports landmine detection and removal;
  $70 million to expand New Horizons, a Department of defense program 
in the region that builds housing and roads, provides medical care, 
health services, and clean water to affected areas;
  Authorization of an OPIC direct equity pilot program to assist U.S. 
businesses in the region, develop low income housing, and rebuild 
damaged infrastructure; and
  $25 million for the Central American Emergency Trust Fund to be 
applied against multilateral debt and provide external financing needs.
  As we move forward to address the devastation of this event, the 
choice facing the United States is clear: we can continue to provide 
emergency assistance to the region for the foreseeable future and 
prepare for waves of refugees, or we can act to implement a 
comprehensive disaster recovery program that will rebuild the economies 
of the affected nations, allowing them to provide for themselves. The 
choice is simple, because helping these nations recovery is in our own 
interest. Failure to act will hurt ourselves and our neighbors. The 
Central American and Caribbean Relief Act is an important opportunity 
for the United States to lend a hand to neighbors in need and help them 
get back on their feet.
   Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, today, the Senator from Florida, 
Mr. Graham and I are introducing The Central American and Caribbean 
Relief Act of 1999. We are joined in this effort by the following 
original co-sponsors: Mr. Coverdell, Mr. Domenici, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. 
Dodd, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Mack, Mr. Frist, and Mr. Hagel. This important 
legislation is both timely and vital. I urge my colleagues to join us 
as co-sponsors and to work with us to pass it as soon as possible.
  Last year, several of our neighboring countries suffered serious 
catastrophic natural disasters. First, Hurricane Georges struck Puerto 
Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti resulting in hundreds dead and 
billions of dollars in damage. These countries were just starting to 
recover when Hurricane Mitch rolled through various countries in 
Central America.
  Hurricane Mitch left unspeakable devastation with over 9,000 dead, 
another 9,000 still missing, and millions homeless. The physical 
devastation will take decades to repair in Honduras and Nicaragua. And 
these countries are not alone: Guatemala, El Salvador, and Belize have 
suffered as well.
  Mr. President, many senior officials in our government have visited 
these devastated regions--and I applaud their

[[Page S1267]]

interest and exhaustive efforts. I have visited this region numerous 
times within the past year and I plan to go back.
  I applaud the extraordinary displays of teamwork, compassion, and 
generosity exhibited by the citizens of Ohio, as well as all Americans, 
in their effort to help the victims of Hurricane Mitch. Their unselfish 
donations to organizations such as the Northeast Ohio Salvation Army 
and the Ohio Hurricane Relief for Central America as well as the many 
other national and local relief agencies serve as an inspirational 
reminder of the global human community spirit we Americans so often 
display. And we certainly do not want to forget the quick response 
provided by our men in uniform, including Ohio's own 445th Air Reserve 
Wing, in saving lives and tackling the daunting task of helping to 
rebuild that region's infrastructure.
  My concern, however, is that once Hurricane Mitch fades out of the 
headlines, there's a risk that this vitally important region itself 
will also disappear off America's sometimes limited radar screen of 
foreign policy attention. The time has come not to address the 
devastation that has passed, but to begin the development that is 
important to our hemisphere's future.
  That is why the Central America and Caribbean Relief Act is so 
important. This act would provide (1) trade opportunities to help the 
region restore itself economically; (2) emergency assistance--feeding 
programs, and important and necessary infrastructure improvements; and 
(3) limited bilateral and multilateral debt reduction.
  Mr. President, let me take a moment to comment on the highlights of 
this bill. First, this bill would provide several trade and investment 
initiatives. It will afford current beneficiaries of the Caribbean 
Basin Initiative similar treatment already afforded Mexican products 
under the North American Free Trade Agreement. It is important that 
these countries become more fully integrated into the international 
trading system, which also would benefit the U.S. through expanded 
export opportunities. The bill also would authorize additional funding 
for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to enhance the ability 
of private enterprise to make its full contribution to the region's 
rebuilding and development process.
  Second, this bill would provide bilateral assistance. I fully support 
the replenishment of funds exhausted by the Department of Defense in 
their humanitarian relief efforts. It is very important that our 
military's efforts in this area continue and that they maintain 
sufficient resources to effectively deploy against future natural 
disasters. We also included language based on the innovative ``Africa 
Seeds of Hope'' law, which I wrote and Congress passed last year. This 
language would authorize a micro-credit initiative targeted at reviving 
agricultural production in the region. This means that financial tools 
and resources would go directly to farmers and small businesses and 
bypass Government middlemen.
  Finally, this bill would provide much needed debt relief. This debt 
relief clearly makes sense especially when keeping in mind that in many 
cases, the infrastructure these countries are paying for is precisely 
what has been destroyed by Hurricane Mitch--they are paying for what no 
longer exists.
  Mr. President, let me explain why America should take the lead on 
this relief. Before the hurricanes, the people of Central America were 
emerging from a decade of civil war. Democracy has finally taken hold, 
but is not yet irreversible. The United States invested billions in the 
1980s to expel communism from Central America. We succeeded. That 
investment--that partnership for democracy in Central America now hangs 
in the balance.
  In the 1980s, it was fundamentally important to the entire hemisphere 
that Central America be a seedbed of reliable trading partners--not 
revolutionaries or brutal autocrats. The President's National 
Bipartisan Commission on Central America, chaired by Henry Kissinger, 
released a detailed report in 1984 that expressed our basic challenge. 
We needed then, and still need today, a comprehensive Central America 
policy--one that responds not to fleeting crises but to the basic needs 
of the region and the United States.
  These needs do not change. They are the same three principles that 
formed the core of the philosophy of the Kissinger report: ``Democratic 
self-determination * * * encouragement of economic and social 
development that fairly benefits all * * * (and) cooperation in meeting 
threats to the security of the region.'' This report recognized how 
free markets and free societies work to strengthen each other.
  U.S. policy has made excellent progress on all of these counts, but 
Hurricane Mitch provides a pointed reminder of how fragile--and 
reversible--the progress can be. History offers us a sober reminder 
that from misery, despair, and joblessness springs oppression. We must 
not forget that the seeds of the 1979 Sandinista Revolution in 
Nicaragua sprouted from the wreckage of the 1972 Managua earthquake. 
Indeed, it is only now that the old city center is being rebuilt where 
mangled, vacant buildings still stand as witness to Somoza's failed 
dictatorship.
  Mr. President, today Nicaragua faces a new natural disaster--greater 
than that of 1972. The infrastructure in the northern provinces, the 
locus of revolutions throughout this century, is washed away. In 
Honduras, the government is confronted with thousands of miles of roads 
where not one bridge is left undamaged or undestroyed. At the 
devastated banana plantations of Honduras, 12,000 jobs hang in the 
balance. The tax base is non-existent because the businesses that 
provided the jobs are destroyed. The task facing these governments is 
enormous, and the resources to address these problems are meager.
  People who cannot feed their families will turn to any source for 
assistance. Unless we partner with the people of Central America in the 
name of progress, the alternatives are clear. The pressure to emigrate 
to the United States could increase. Colombia's drug traffickers could 
oblige by putting dollars into their hands. And anti-democratic 
elements could use the devastation to serve their self-interests.
  A peasant who has seen his home blown away and his employment gone 
will look for work wherever it is available. We saw a massive upsurge 
in migration during the tumultuous 1980's. The same is beginning to 
happen now. The number of Central Americans detained and expelled at 
Mexico's southern border has doubled recently. Mexican officials worry 
that this increase could be the beginning of a prolonged, large scale 
migration of Central Americans through Mexico to the United States.
  Furthermore, a farmer who has seen his crop destroyed, and the only 
road to his markets washed away, will be liable to support 
revolutionary demagogues who vow convincingly that they can repair it. 
If the current elected governments are unable to repair the roads and 
give temporary assistance, that same farmer could become part of the 
next popular insurgency.
  Central America is full of former revolutionaries who are capable of 
exploiting Mitch's misery to rebuild new insurgencies that will tax the 
resources of the current governments. Promises easily made by fast-
talking demagogues can lead to future problems of the kind that we 
addressed and resolved in the 1980s.
  Mr. President, the challenge we face in Central America remains the 
same as that posed by the Kissinger report: Do we want Central America 
to be our partner in building up a prosperous hemisphere--or a hotbed 
of revolutionary unrest? The choice is not entirely our own, but we 
can--and should--have a huge influence on behalf of freedom, 
prosperity, and stability. We must send an unmistakable signal to our 
Southern neighbors that our regional commitment is not tentative or 
fleeting. The U.S. has to seize the initiative over the long-term 
future of Central America--because if we don't, events will.
  Mr. President, the Central American and Caribbean Relief Act is in 
our economic and national security interests. We must act and we must 
act now.
 Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, just weeks after the calamity hit 
Central America last year, Senate Majority Leader Lott asked me to lead 
to bipartisan fact-finding mission to the region. The objective of our 
trip was to assess Mitch's impact on the region's economy, priorities 
for U.S. aid, and the potential ramifications of this disaster on 
future trade with the region.

[[Page S1268]]

  Senator Frist joined me on this trip. His knowledge of health care 
and medicinal needs was a valuable addition to the trip. We were 
fortunate also to be joined by three individuals form the 
Administration: Secretary Andrew Cuomo, the Honorable Harriet Babbitt, 
Deputy Administrator at USAID, and the Honorable Josh Gotbaum, Office 
of Management and Budget.
  I believe this tour was invaluable to all who participated. First, 
because of what we learned about the region and the devastation caused 
by Mitch. Second, because it expressed the spirit of bipartisanship 
that I hope will carry through in our efforts to help Central Americans 
rebuild and flourish as democratic neighbors.
  As unlikely as it might sound, the ravages of Hurricane Mitch in 
Central America may have a silver lining. But the United States and 
other countries must act quickly and decisively. This is the message we 
heard form Central Americans themselves, as well as relief workers and 
American government officials, when we visited that storm-torn region 
in December. That's also the message I would like to convey to my 
Senate colleagues.
  This relative optimism is remarkable. More than 10,000 lives were 
lost to the storm; 40 percent of the GDP in Nicaragua and Honduras was 
swept away; 3 million persons in the region now live in temporary 
shelters or without shelter at all. And, that's in a region with fewer 
people than the state of California!
  Yet, even those 1,000 persons we saw crowded into a single small 
school, those 104 jammed in a cemetery chapel, agreed that a golden 
moment now exists to move forward in this historically troubled region.
  The response from the United States already has been both effective 
and generous, with the first 30 days of the relief efforts exceeding 
the Berlin airlift. Our 6,000 military personnel have performed 
heroically, in a relatively unheralded but extraordinary operation. The 
military and other agencies delivered two thirds of the world's 
donations already in-region and have helped avoid the disease and 
starvation that usually takes root within a few weeks following such a 
calamity.
  The response from Central American governments has been heartening, 
too. Don't forget that the United States has worked for more than a 
quarter of a century to help develop democratic movements in this 
region. If we fail to move quickly now, elements that oppose democracy 
could gain a foothold, rendering the sacrifices of money and arms of 
the past 25 years useless. Thus, we were gratified to hear all 
important government agencies and relief groups emphasize over and over 
again, ``We want your help, not forever, but so we can begin to help 
ourselves and continue building stable and democratic societies.''
  As the initial relief phase of the effort comes to a close, and a 
period of reconstruction and rebuilding begins, the United States faces 
some tougher decisions about the nature of our assistance. These 
decisions are not simply whether we help our friends rebuild the 
bridges, houses, roads and towns they lost. We must also decide how we 
assist them in rebuilding the young and fragile institutions which are 
the products of the region's remarkable shift to democracy and 
functioning, growing economies.
  Our policy must first offer debt relief under which these governments 
struggle. Nicaragua's government spends $220 million a year to pay its 
creditors and Honduras pays $341. Freeing up those resources, even 
temporarily, is more valuable to them than a simple infusion of cash.
  Second, we must expeditiously pursue a reasonable option to allow 
these countries to strength mutually beneficial trade relationships. 
Relief and reconstruction are meaningless without an expectation of 
sustaining their benefits through the growth such trade will 
undoubtedly foster.
  Third, we must push the European Union to uphold their promise to aid 
these countries by ending their discrimination against Central American 
bananas and other agricultural exports in favor to those from their 
former colonies.
  Fourth, Central American governments must continue creating 
incentives for new investment and broader credit availability to the 
people through their own domestic legislation and regulation. The began 
on such a path before Mitch, and we must push and assist them in 
redoubling those efforts.
  Finally, the need to rebuild the devastated infrastructure of the 
region cannot be underemphasized. Over 70 percent of the roads in 
Honduras were washed away. Crops cannot be harvested without roads to 
carry the produce. Poor water sanitation has brought about a public 
health nightmare. In addition to the direct assistance, we can offer 
the technology, financing and expertise at a level which these 
countries simply do not have at their disposal.
  In pursuit of these goals, we commend the Administration for acting 
quickly and for using their authority to reprogram already enacted 
funds for the relief efforts. However, we must remember that the work 
is not done when the news cameras move to the next story, and a 
sustained, bipartisan effort with Congress will be required. This bill 
builds on the bipartisan necessary to formulate effective assistance to 
our neighbors in Central America and the Caribbean.
  Carinal Obando y Bravo of Nicaragua best summed up for us the hope of 
the Central American people. Over 30 years they lived through natural 
disasters, wars, totalitarian governments, and now Mitch. Like before, 
he said the people will ``rise like a phoenix form the ashes.'' If we 
are committed and resourceful in that shared goal, we can help 
guarantee that the mythical image is not simply a myth.
                                 ______