[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 94 (Wednesday, July 19, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7283-S7284]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                SUPPORT FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS IN HAITI

  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 657, S. Con. 
Res. 126.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the concurrent 
resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 126) expressing the 
     sense of Congress that the President should support free and 
     fair elections and respect for democracy in Haiti.


[[Page S7284]]


  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to this 
resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 126) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 126

       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 an independent National Assembly;
       Whereas national and local elections were held in Haiti on 
     May 21, 2000, which were intended to restore the independent 
     legislature which was dismissed by Haiti's President, Rene 
     Preval Garcia, in January 1999;
       Whereas the Haitian people are to be congratulated for 
     patiently and peacefully voting in large numbers on May 21, 
     2000, despite an unfavorable electoral environment;
       Whereas the legitimacy of the May 21, 2000, elections has 
     been compromised by organizational flaws, political murders, 
     the involvement of the Haitian National Police in the arrest 
     and intimidation of opposition figures, manipulation of the 
     independent Provisional Electoral Council by the Government 
     of Haiti and the ruling Fanmi Lavalas party, and the 
     publication of fraudulent results;
       Whereas the Provisional Electoral Council has been 
     compromised by Fanmi Lavalas partisans operating within the 
     Council and inappropriate pressure and threats made against 
     members of the Council from the highest levels of the Haitian 
     government to induce the Council to issue fraudulent results;
       Whereas Leon Manus, President of the Provisional Electoral 
     Council, was forced to flee Haiti in fear for his life and in 
     a statement released June 21, 2000 noted that the opposition 
     had made ``legitimate'' challenges to the credibility of the 
     electoral process and that the Council ``was often plagued 
     with traps and attacks'' and fought ``slanders and threats'' 
     that came ``most often from state actors'' and received 
     ``from the highest level of the government, unequivocal 
     messages on the consequences that would follow if [he] 
     refused to publish supposed final results'';
       Whereas the Provisional Electoral Council is no longer 
     viewed as credible or independent by a broad spectrum of 
     political parties and civil society groups in Haiti;
       Whereas Haitian organizations, including the Chamber of 
     Commerce, political parties, the Association of Haitian 
     Industrialists, the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference, and 
     the Protestant Federation have strongly protested the 
     publication of election results that do not correspond to the 
     provisions of Haiti's electoral law and generally accepted 
     norms and which have also been contested by the president of 
     the Provisional Electoral Council;
       Whereas the international community, including the United 
     States, Canada, France, the United Nations, and the 
     Organization of American States, has condemned attempts to 
     manipulate the May 21, 2000, electoral process in Haiti; and
       Whereas the absence of free and fair elections and the 
     resultant failure to constitute a duly elected legislative 
     body in Haiti constitutes a major setback for the Haitian 
     people's aspirations for peace and democracy, could result in 
     instability in Haiti, and directly jeopardizes United States 
     anti-narcotics objectives in Haiti and the region: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) condemns the electoral fraud being perpetrated against 
     the Haitian people and the continuing interruption of 
     democratic institutions in Haiti;
       (2) calls on the Government of Haiti forthwith to end its 
     manipulation of the electoral process and take immediate 
     steps to reverse the fraudulent results announced by the 
     remaining members of the Provisional Electoral Council;
       (3) calls on the Government of Haiti to immediately engage 
     in a thorough and verifiable process involving the National 
     Observation Council (CNO), all concerned Haitian political 
     parties, as well as private sector and other civil society 
     organizations, to review all reported irregularities and 
     allegations of fraud and authenticate the true results of the 
     election so that a legitimate, democratically-elected 
     National Assembly and local councils can be seated;
       (4) urges the Organization of American States (OAS) to 
     consider joint actions by its members states to bring about a 
     return to democracy in Haiti; and
       (5) calls on the President of the United States to--
       (A) terminate United States assistance to the discredited 
     Provisional Electoral Council;
       (B) review and modify as appropriate United States 
     political, economic, and law enforcement relations with 
     Haiti, if Haitian authorities persist in their current path; 
     and
       (C) work with other democracies in the Western Hemisphere 
     and elsewhere toward a restoration of democracy in Haiti.
       Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy 
     of this concurrent resolution to the President.

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