[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 1, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6258-S6260]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 HAITI

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, last week, my wife and I had the 
opportunity to spend 3 days in the troubled country of Haiti. I want to 
take a couple of minutes to report to my colleagues about the situation 
in Haiti. I believe it is particularly of importance because the United 
States still has troops in Haiti, and we had the opportunity to visit 
with a number of these wonderful young men and women.
  Our trip coincided with the horrible flooding that occurred last week 
in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In fact, I had the chance to fly 
out with our troops to a village in Haiti, Fonds Verettes, about 35 
miles east of Port-au-Prince. I saw our troops doing a tremendous job 
to take food and water and shelter to the Haitians who had been 
devastated by this flooding.
  Our trip was also timely because it is during this period of time 
that our troops are beginning to leave Haiti, or were scheduled to 
begin to leave Haiti,

[[Page S6259]]

and the U.N. troops are scheduled to start to come in. The country in 
this endeavor will be Brazil.
  Let me make a few observations first, starting with the flooding. As 
I said, I went out to this village, Fonds Verettes. What I saw when I 
got there was just an absolutely unbelievable sight. I saw a village 
that was in ruins. I had the opportunity to talk to several of the 
victims. I talked to a man who told me he had lost four of his 
children. Absolutely unbelievable. He lost four of his children, and he 
was still in a state of shock and could barely talk above a whisper. It 
is hard to believe that someone could lose four kids. We talked also to 
a woman by the name of Luciani Joseph. She was just sitting on a box 
when we saw her. It was the only possession I think she had left in the 
world. We walked up to her and talked to her. She had lost her 6-year-
old son. I know in that village there were dozens and dozens of other 
stories. Well over 100 people had lost their lives, and hundreds and 
hundreds of people lost every possession they had.
  The only good news, I guess, is that U.S. troops were in the country. 
The only way you could reach this village was because U.S. troops were 
there. We had helicopters, and that is how they were able to reach the 
village because nobody could have reached the village any other way. I 
believe it is important that our troops stay in Haiti until enough food 
and goods and relief is delivered to these small villages that have 
been impacted by this flood. There is no other country that has the 
resources down there. Nobody has the airlift capabilities besides the 
United States.
  Again, what an inspiration it was to talk to our young men and women 
who were assisting in this flood. The seriousness of the flood that hit 
Haiti is indicative to us and the international community as to the 
problems Haiti faces. We have all read, I believe, that Haiti is a 
country that is 97 to 98 percent deforested. This didn't come up 
overnight; it is something that has happened over the years. This 
deforestation has exacerbated the seriousness of the flooding.
  I had the opportunity to talk to the village leader of this community 
I visited, Father Pierre Etienne Belneau. I said: Father, what 
happened? Have you had floods before? He said: Yes, but never as 
serious as this. Each time a flood comes, each time the water comes, it 
is more serious. He said: There is the reason. He pointed up to the 
hills, the mountains. He said: They keep cutting down the trees. As 
recently as just after President Aristide left, people--sometimes not 
even from our area--came up and went into the national forest and cut 
down more trees.
  When the water comes, he says, it just goes right down the mountain; 
there is nothing to stop it. It washes everything down into their 
village. This priest in this rural village understood what has happened 
to Haiti--that Haiti is an ecological disaster.
  So as we and the international community look to help the new 
Government of Haiti, if we are serious about long-term help for Haiti 
and the people of Haiti, reforestation of this country has to be part 
of that help. A sustainable agriculture is essential to the assistance 
of Haiti.
  One of the great problems we find in Haiti is malnourishment. My wife 
Fran and I held children in our arms in Haiti on this past trip and 
previous trips, some of whom could be saved and some of whom, 
tragically, were not going to live. They were simply not getting 
nutritious food. They were not getting protein.
  There are children all over Haiti who are not well fed, who are not 
getting enough to eat, who are not getting enough nutritious food. This 
is due to the fact that this country, which at one time was the crown 
jewel of the French empire as far as food production, today cannot 
produce a fraction of the food for its own people.
  If we are talking about long-term assistance, what the United States 
and other countries have to do is help them develop a sustainable 
agriculture. It is one thing to give them food--and we should do that--
but in the long run, what we really need to do is help them help 
themselves through better agricultural practices.
  Now I will turn to another issue that we talked about when we were in 
Haiti. I had the opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Latortue. We 
had a very good conversation. The day I arrived the United States had 
just announced an additional $100 million in assistance for the new 
Government of Haiti. This money will assist this Government to survive.
  I think it is so very important for the new Government to show 
results to the people. The people are looking for results. In the short 
term, they are looking to have the lights on. They only have the lights 
on in Port-au-Prince 2 hours a day. They need the lights on and the 
garbage picked up. The Government needs to show that people who commit 
serious crimes will be arrested, they will be held accountable, and 
they will be brought to justice.
  In the long run, Haiti must have good judicial reform. The police 
must be trained. A new police force must be stood up. They must develop 
good land titling so that people will know the land they own is truly 
theirs. They will not have good international investment until people 
know that if they invest in property, invest in land, they will be able 
to sustain that investment.
  Another issue that was talked about a lot while I was in Haiti--I was 
approached by many business people, many political leaders--was their 
support for a bill that I have introduced in the Senate and that has 
been introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Clay 
Shaw, and that is the bill we call the Hero bill, a bill that would 
give Haiti some trade preferences, a bill that would create tens of 
thousands of jobs in Haiti.
  I cannot tell my colleagues how many people came up to me and said: 
Senator, please tell your colleagues we appreciate the aid, we 
appreciate the assistance, but if they really want to help Haiti and 
the Haitian people, what we need is jobs, and the way you can help us 
get jobs is to pass the bill that you have introduced. The Haitian 
people want to work. This bill will give us the opportunity to work.

  Finally, if the new Haitian Government is to succeed, it can only 
succeed if there is security in the country. The U.S. Armed Forces who 
are in Haiti today will be phasing out over the next few weeks. They 
will be replaced by U.N. forces. It is imperative that the U.N. forces 
be at least as strong in their actions as the U.S. troops have been.
  The U.N. troops will be tested. They will be tested by the thugs. 
They will be tested by the shamirs. They will be tested by Aristide's 
gangs. They will be tested by the rebels. In essence, they will be 
tested by both sides in what would have been a civil war. Let's keep in 
mind that the U.S. troops that came in and have done such a wonderful 
job for the last several months prevented a blood bath in Haiti. They 
prevented a civil war. The U.N. troops will have to be equally as 
strong, and when the U.S. forces leave and the U.N. troops come in, the 
U.N. troops will be tested.
  The U.N. troops will have to be equally as strong, they will have to 
be tough, and they will have to fire back. If they do not, then Haiti 
will revert to chaos. So the next several months will be a very crucial 
time for these U.N. troops and a very crucial time for Haiti.
  The one very good piece of news forthcoming during our trip was on 
the AIDS front. Haiti has been for some time a country that has had the 
highest incidence of AIDS. The good news is there have been doctors in 
Haiti who have been at the forefront in the battle against AIDS. Dr. 
Paul Farmer in the rural area and Dr. Bill Pape in Port-au-Prince have 
been at the forefront in the battle against AIDS, not just in Haiti but 
throughout the world.
  We had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Pape on our most recent 
visit. He shared with me a statistic. The statistic is this: The 
incidence of AIDS in Haiti has now been cut in half. That is an 
astounding figure. It has been the result of some very aggressive work 
by a number of people.
  I will come back to the Chamber sometime in the next few weeks to 
talk about this issue of AIDS in more detail because I think it is of 
such great importance. I think Haiti can be looked at as a model for 
the rest of the world as to how to dramatically cut the incidence of 
AIDS.
  This poor country that certainly has not been governed very well in 
the last few years still managed in spite of that

[[Page S6260]]

to dramatically cut the incidence of AIDS. There is a lot to be learned 
from what has been going on in Haiti.
  In addition to cutting the incidence of AIDS, we have also seen in 
Haiti the dramatic increase in the use of antiretroviral drugs.
  So when my wife Fran and I walked into an orphanage run by the 
Sisters of Charity, whereas just a year ago none of the children who 
had AIDS were on antiretroviral drugs, this year when we came back and 
walked in we would see some of the children who were HIV positive, who 
were in need of drugs, who actually this time were on antiretroviral 
drugs.
  We saw one little boy who we were told had come in just a few months 
before. He was very critically ill and he would have died but the 
sisters, because of Dr. Pape and because of good assistance coming in 
to Haiti, were able to get that child antiretroviral drugs and we saw a 
very healthy, chubby little boy running around this orphanage. Because 
of very good care from the nuns and because he has antiretroviral 
drugs, that boy is going to make it.
  That is the type of miracle we are now beginning to see in Haiti, and 
I think it is something for which we can be very proud. That is what we 
want to see replicated around the world.
  So when I come to the Senate floor and ask my colleagues to vote for 
more money for AIDS assistance around the world, it is that little boy 
I am going to be citing. It is this type of little boy who we can save 
around the world because if it can be done in a poor country such as 
Haiti, it can be done in other countries as well.
  That is very good news coming out of Haiti from our last trip.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. ALLARD. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 
the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Chafee). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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