[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 29 (Tuesday, March 9, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H905-H907]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BUSY TIME IN WASHINGTON
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, it has been a busy 14 days here in
Washington. We began with the President of the United States, according
to the Los Angeles Times, explaining how the export of jobs is
beneficial to the economy. Two days later, he was followed up by the
chairman of the President's Economic Advisory Council, Mr. Gregory
Mankiw, who explained to the other body that we have to face that in a
global economy, it is inevitable that there will be a loss and shortage
of jobs. I am not able to give the precise details of the reaction of
the committee that heard that testimony.
And then thereafter the distinguished chairman of the Federal Reserve
Board, Mr. Alan Greenspan, explained that even though we are
hemorrhaging money, the deficit is growing, the surplus has
disappeared, and we have to do something about it, that this
legislative body is going to have to put its foot down.
Where, the question arose, should we end the tax cuts for the upper 1
percent in our American system? No, he said, not only was that probably
good, but that it should be made permanent. Then pray tell us, Mr.
Greenspan, where would this reduction come from? Well, it would come
from looking into Social Security. It is time we realized that perhaps
these benefits are excessive and that they are being paid out too
early. Well, thank you very much, Chairman Greenspan.
My dear colleague, who is unfortunately not on the floor, the
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Burns), touted the benefits of the Leave No
Child Behind Education Act, a bill that I thought was pretty important.
It was explained to me by Members on my side of the aisle in both the
Senate and the House, the same provisions that he described that were
going to be so excellent. But the problem, we are underfunding the bill
by $8 billion a year.
Mr. Speaker, at this point I move to the recent problems in the
western hemisphere, and I will include for the Record a number of
statements about Haiti and what we ought to do about it.
The long and short, of course, is that we have an obligation to
support the resolution introduced by the gentlewoman from California
(Ms. Lee) to determine what the truth is about Haiti and that we have
an independent bipartisan commission on Haiti to find out whether we
impeded democracy or indeed contributed to the overthrow of a
democratically elected government; what were the circumstances that
brought about the alleged resignation and what was the role of the
United States Government in bringing about the departure; and to what
extent did the United States impede efforts by the international
community, and especially the Caribbean community, CARICOM, to prevent
the overthrow of an elected government in Haiti.
{time} 2045
What was the role of the United States in influencing decisions
regarding Haiti at the United Nations Security Council, and was there
U.S. assistance provided in the personnel or weapons for the forces
that were used against Haiti?
These are just a few very important questions that kind of coincide
with some destabilization efforts going on in Venezuela, where the
democratically-elected President is undergoing a very serious set of
difficulties, that it looks like, it is said, it is being reported,
that the United States, believe this or not, is having a role and
something to do with the destabilization.
I yield to the distinguished member of the Committee on International
Relations, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt).
Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, I just want to applaud the gentleman for
his leadership over the years in terms of issues surrounding Haiti. Let
me just conclude by asking a question. I know the gentleman does not
have time to respond.
Presumably elections are going to be held in Haiti. Has Secretary of
State Powell or the White House communicated to the gentleman when they
anticipate those elections to be held? And if so, is there anything in
the gentleman's knowledge that would impede President Aristide from
returning from wherever he is and running once more for the President
of that devastated, poor country with such a tragic history?
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the documents I
referred to earlier.
March 9, 2004.
Truth Commission--The Responsibility to Uncover the Truth About Haiti
Dear Colleagues: Today we will introduce a resolution
calling for an independent commission to uncover the facts
about the Bush Administration's involvement in the recent
coup d'etat in Haiti. There are questions that Members of
Congress need answered regarding this Administration's
involvement:
1. Did the U.S. Government impede democracy and contribute
to the overthrow of the Aristide government?
2. Under what circumstances did President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide resign and what was the role of the United States
Government in bringing about his departure?
3. To what extent did the US impede efforts by the
international community, particularly the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) countries, to prevent the overthrow of the
democratically-elected Government of Haiti?
4. What was the role of the United States in influencing
decisions regarding Haiti at the United Nations Security
Council and in discussions between Haiti and other countries
that were willing to assist in the preservation of the
democratically-elected Government of Haiti by sending
security forces to Haiti?
5. Was US assistance provided or were US personnel involved
in supporting, directly or indirectly, the forces opposed to
the government of President Aristide, and/or United States
bilateral assistance channeled through nongovernmental
organizations that were directly or indirectly associated
with political groups actively involved in fomenting
hostilities or violence toward the government of President
Aristide?
[[Page H906]]
There are many more questions that must be answered. We
believe this Administration has, in essence, carried out a
form of ``regime change,'' a different variation than it took
in Iraq, but still regime change. Accordingly, we must
uncover their actions. The American people and the
international community deserves to know the truth, and the
people of Haiti deserve a fair shot at democracy.
We call on all of our colleagues to support this resolution
calling for a bipartisan independent commission. I apologize
for the short notice; however, if you would like to be an
original cosponsor of this bill or have any questions, please
call Aysha House (Lee) at 225-2661. The deadline for original
co-sponsorship will be 7:30 p.m.
Sincerely,
Barbara Lee,
Member of Congress.
John Conyers,
Member of Congress.
____
Haiti: Immediate Demands
--Freedom of movement and association for Pres. Aristide,
and disclosure of the terms obtained by the U.S. for his stay
in Bangui.
--Recognition that as Pres. Aristide was forced out through
the improper use of force to compel him to leave Haiti, he
should be free to return to Haiti as president to implement
the OAS/CARICOM agreement he accepted, especially now that
peacekeepers are in the country.
--Sanctions should be imposed against the leaders of the
coup d'etat against Pres. Aristide, and their arrest should
be ordered. Assurances should be obtained by the Congress
that the U.S. intelligence community is not providing
assistance to the insurgents.
--An investigation should be carried out by the GAO into
the use of U.S. funds to train and establish opposition
coalitions and opposition media committed to ousting Pres.
Aristide from power and to rejection of the constitutionally
mandated elections process in Haiti.
____
A delegation from the United States met twice today with
overthrown Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in
Bangui, Central African Republic. Following the first
meeting, President Aristide held a news conference at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then conducted a 30-minute
phone interview in English with Pacifica Radio's Democracy
Now.
The delegation includes Kim Ives from Haiti Progress and
the Haiti Support Network, and Johnnie Stevens and Sara
Flounders from the International Action Center. Ives,
Flounders and Stevens are representing former U.S. Attorney
General Ramsey Clark. Also on the delegation are Brian
Concannon, acting in the capacity of President Aristide's
lawyer; and Katherine Kean, a friend of President Aristide.
Aristide's press conference today and his meeting with the
U.S. delegation constituted a remarkable turnabout from the
day before when the delegation was barred by the Central
African Republic government from meeting with Aristide.
Following the refusal to give the delegation access to meet
with the ousted Haitian president, a press release entitled
``Aristide Under Lock & Key'' circulated around the world.
Thousands of individual activists and organizations submitted
the press release and statement to local media throughout the
United States in a high-visibility emergency mobilization to
tell the truth. The Central African Republic officials have
made it clear that their country is under severe pressure
from the United States and France.
The Curtain of Silence that has surrounded President
Aristide since the February 28/29 coup has now been
significantly opened as a consequence of this political
intervention. The world, and especially the Haitian people,
has been anxious to hear from President Aristide. It is
precisely for this reason that the U.S. State Department and
the French Foreign Ministry have applied so much pressure to
the Central African Republic to prevent him from having
access to the media, and to his attorneys, friends and
supporters.
The delegation arranged for President Aristide to be
interviewed by Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now. Amy Goodman of
Democracy Now introduced today's interview with these
words:
``Moments before the Democracy Now! interview, Aristide
appeared publicly for the first time since he was forced out
of Haiti in what he has called a US-backed coup. The
authorities in the Central African Republic allowed Aristide
to hold a news conference after a delegation of visiting U.S.
activists charged that the Haitian president was being held
under lock and key like a prisoner. The delegation included
one of Aristide's lawyers, Brian Concannon, as well as
activists from the Haiti Support Network and the
International Action Center, representatives of former U.S.
Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Shortly after they arrived in
Bangui on Sunday, the delegation attempted to meet with
Aristide at the palace of the Renaissance. The CAR government
rebuked them.
``Shortly after, the country's foreign minister held a
press conference in Bangui. Armed men threatened journalists
in the room, warning them not to record the minister's
remarks. Mildred Aristide, the Haitian First lady, was
brought into the room, but was not permitted to speak. The
CAR foreign minister told the journalists that President
Aristide would hold a news conference within 72 hours. Hours
later, Aristide was allowed to address journalists.
``In his interview on Democracy Now!, Aristide asserted
that he is the legitimate president of Haiti and that he
wants to return to the country as soon as possible. He
details his last moments in Haiti, describing what he called
his `kidnapping' and the coup d'etat against him.''
In his press conference and in the direct meetings with the
delegation, ``President Aristide was very forceful about the
fact that he was kidnapped, and that his government is being
replaced by a U.S.-sponsored government of occupation,'' said
Sara Flounders of the International Action Center. President
Aristide also said that ``only his return to Haiti can bring
peace, and he stated that the people who carried out this
campaign against his government are internationally
recognized criminals.
``President Aristide said that he had been lied to by the
U.S. ambassador, who assured him that he was being taken to a
press conference to talk with international and Haitian
media. He was instead forced onto a plane and taken out of
the country in a U.S. coup d'etat,'' according to Flounders.
``President Aristide also pointed out the irony that Haiti,
which only has 1.5 doctors for every 11,000 people, now has
seen the closing of its primary medical school and that
school is now being used to house U.S. Marines and other
foreign soldiers.''
President Aristide expanded on this point both in the press
conference and in his interview on Democracy Now!: ``In my
country, after 200 years of independence--we are the first
Black independent country in the world--but we still have
only 1.5 Haitian doctors for every 11,000 Haitians. We
created a university, we founded a university with the
faculty of medicine that has 247 students. Once U.S. soldiers
arrived in Haiti after the kidnapping, what did they do? They
closed the faculty of medicine and they are now in the
classrooms. This is what they call peace. This is the
opposite of peace. Peace means investing in human beings,
investing in health care, respect for human rights, not
violations of human rights, no violations for the rights
of those who voted for an elected President, and this is
what it means. . . . How can you imagine that you come to
me, you want to be in peace, and you close my university
and you send out 247 students of medicine in the country
where you don't have hospitals and you don't have enough
doctors. God, this is an occupation. When you protect
killers, when you protect drug dealers like Guy Philippe,
like Chamblain, when you protect the citizens of the
United States in violating the law of the United States,
Mr. Andy Apaid is a citizen of the United States,
violating the Neutral Act, the way with this act will
destroy our Democracy, and once we do that, then this is
an occupation.'' (quotation from Democracy Now!)
Kim Ives, who is with the Haiti Support Network and is a
journalist with the newspaper Haiti Progres, is a member of
the delegation and had an opportunity to speak to President
Aristide in Creole during the meeting following today's press
conference. Ives states that Aristide's account of the events
of February 28-29 stand in sharp contrast to the account
given by Colin Powell and other U.S. officials to the
Washington Post on March 3. The U.S. ``Story'' was that
Aristide was ready to leave the country and that they simply
facilitated his departure at his request. Colin Powell and
other U.S. officials later said that Aristide's assertion
that he had been the victim of a U.S. coup were ``absurd''
and ``not true.''
Ives stated, ``The Washington Post and other U.S. media
coverage gives the impression that the sequence of events
leading to Aristide's departure at 6 a.m. on February 29
began around 4 or 5 a.m. when Aristide allegedly called U.S.
officials and asked for their assistance in leaving the
country. President Aristide told me that in fact `armed
Americans and diplomats' came to his residence the day
before--that is, on the evening of February 28. Aristide
reported that U.S. officials told the 19 security guards that
have functioned as a presidential security detail that they
should abandon their posts. These 19 security guards were on
assignment from the Steele Foundation and are mostly former
members of the U.S. Special Forces. They were told by U.S.
officials that they `wouldn't be protected, the gig was up.'
President Aristide asserts that these Steele Foundation
security guards basically obeyed the orders from their former
employers (the Pentagon). They were flown by helicopter on
Saturday night away from the presidential palace, leaving
Aristide with no armed protection.''
A recent Miami Herald article on the subject reported that
another 25 reinforcement security guards from the Steele
Foundation, who were supposed to arrive Saturday, February
28, received a call Friday night telling them that the U.S.
would block their deployment.
Mr. Ives also stated that ``President Aristide was told by
U.S. Ambassador James Foley that the U.S. officials and
armed forces would take him to a press conference with the
international and Haitian press, where President Aristide
could make his case. President Aristide agreed to go on
the condition that he could speak to the media, and also
that his home would be protected from any attack or
looting. The fact is, the press conference never took
place and his home was looted almost immediately after he
left.
[[Page H907]]
``President Aristide was instead driven to a plane. Upon
arriving at approximately 5 a.m. on February 29, he found his
19 security guards already there. They were all flown--
including the one-year-old child of one of the guards--to the
Central African Republic. After spending 20 hours on a plane
flying to a destination unknown to them, the security guards
were then flown back to the United States. The trip prevented
them from revealing the details of the coup until after
Aristide was out of Haiti and in the Central African
Republic.
``In the course of the discussions with President Aristide,
it became clear that the timing of the coup coincided with
several international developments that could have shifted
the relationship of forces in the Haitian government's favor.
While the U.S. government escalated pressure on Aristide to
resign in that last week, the government of South Africa had
sent a planeload of weapons that was set to arrive on Sunday,
February 29. Venezuela was in discussions about sending
troops to support Aristide. There was also gathering
international support and solidarity for the maintenance of
constitutional democracy in Haiti. African American leaders
were receiving increasing media attention as they denounced
the efforts towards a coup. Two prominent U.S. delegations,
one led by members of the Congressional Black Caucus and
another led by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark,
were set to arrive within days. We can see that there were
various converging influences of aid about to come. This
accounts in large part for the timing of the coup, it
explains why the U.S. had to rush in and remove Aristide,''
concluded Ives.
Johnnie Stevens of the International Action Center stated,
``Today, as a consequence of strong international pressure,
the people of Haiti and the rest of the world have had a
chance to hear President Aristide refute the lies and
slanders of the U.S. government and its henchmen from the
former Haitian military who are behind the coup. We believe
that the U.S. has tried to muzzle or silence President
Aristide, not simply to stop one man from speaking out. The
goal is to discourage the people of Haiti from continuing the
growing struggle demanding President Aristide's return. It is
really an effort to muzzle, silence and pacify the people in
order to impose U.S. regime change.''
Stevens continued, ``The people of Haiti have been a source
of inspiration for two centuries. Their struggle for freedom,
independence and sovereignty is part and parcel of the
struggle of oppressed people everywhere. We must continue to
do everything in our power to stand up against the racist
designs of the Bush administration.''
In his interview with Democracy Now! President Aristide was
asked if he planned to return to Haiti. His response: ``If I
can go (to Haiti) today, I would go today. If it's tomorrow,
tomorrow. Whenever time comes, I will say yes, because my
people, they elected me.''
____________________