[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 46 (Tuesday, April 25, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3494-S3498]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIP TO COLOMBIA, PERU, BRAZIL AND DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, during the period of April 7-16, 2006, my
colleague on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Jeff Sessions, and
I traveled to Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic for a
firsthand view on issues of immigration, drug enforcement, and trade.
On April 7, 8, and 9, we traveled to Bogota and Cartagena, Colombia.
Upon exiting the plane, we immediately met with Ambassador William
Wood, who has been U.S. Ambassador to Colombia since August 13, 2003,
and is a graduate of Bucknell University.
I was looking forward to returning to Colombia in that I had not had
an opportunity to visit there since December 1999. At the time,
President Pastrana was the President of Colombia, and I had the
opportunity to discuss with him my concerns about the forcible
eradication of the supply of narcotics and the status of peace talks
between the Colombia Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, FARC.
Traveling to Colombia this time, I was aware that Colombia was still
facing many serious challenges. Many of these suspicions were
corroborated by Ambassador Wood. Ambassador Wood stated that the United
States sent Colombia $600 million in aid in 2005. The purpose of this
aid is to assist Colombia against various drug cartels and guerilla
groups which threaten Colombia's security. Colombia faces two leftist
and one rightwing insurgent group that wage guerilla warfare, carrying
out kidnappings, hijackings, attacks on civilians, and political
assassinations. The primary threat that Colombia faces is from FARC.
Ambassador Wood estimated that FARC is composed of 17,000 members and
operates in approximately 40 percent of Colombia.
Senator Sessions and I were also made aware of some recent changes
that have occurred to Colombia's justice system. Ambassador Wood stated
that the new Colombian Justice system has instilled in the Colombian
people a new level of confidence in the prosecution of criminals. The
new system provides for live testimony through the implementation of an
oral accusatorial system, whereas the previous system was
nonadversarial and operated almost exclusively on the basis on written
testimony. Ambassador Wood stated that the new system is now in Bogota
and three other municipal areas. Over 17,000 prosecutors and judges
have received intensive training in the new accusatory system in 2005
from various U.S. agencies. The implementation of this new justice
system demonstrates that the Colombian Government is serious about
cracking down on crime and will no longer serve as a kangaroo court for
the benefit of the cartels.
Ambassador Wood also noted several other significant areas where the
Colombian Government has improved in the area of law enforcement.
Specifically, Ambassador Wood noted that the number of annual homicides
were at their lowest number in 18 years. The number of kidnappings is
down 39 percent, and terror attacks are down 42 percent under President
Uribe's administration.
Later during the trip to Colombia, we had the opportunity to meet
President Alvaro Uribe and Colombia's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Camilo Reyes. I came away extremely impressed with President Uribe and
his agenda for Colombia. President Uribe is a true Colombian patriot
who has elected to take the battle to FARC and to try to eliminate the
cultivation of illegal narcotics in his country. Based primarily on his
success against narcotic groups, President Uribe was reelected
President of Colombia on March 12, 2006, on a platform to defeat
guerillas, eliminate paramilitary organizations, end narcotrafficking,
and enhance Colombia's domestic security.
The first issue that Senator Sessions and I broached with President
Uribe was the issue of narcotics. Approximately 90 percent of the
cocaine that enters the United States and 80 percent of the heroin east
of the Mississippi comes from Colombia. President Uribe agreed with us
that the biggest problem in the war on drugs was lowering the
consumption of drugs. President Uribe believes, as do I, that so long
as
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there are consumers of drugs, people will keep producing it. Despite
this concern, President Uribe was adamant that Colombia, with continued
assistance from the United States, would be able to win the war on
drugs. President Uribe felt that so long as the United States supplied
financial aid to Colombia for another 5 years, they will have taken
significant steps towards eliminating cocaine production from his
country.
During our meeting with President Uribe, Senator Sessions and I also
discussed the recent actions that the U.S. Senate and House of
Representatives have taken on the issue of illegal immigration to the
United States. I was very curious to hear President Uribe's opinion on
how we might deal with the issue. President Uribe stated his belief
that it was important for the United States to legislate carefully in
this area in order to maintain a positive relationship with Colombia.
President Uribe noted that the United States needed friends in South
America in order to serve as a counterweight to Venezuela and President
Chavez. The comprehensive Senate bill that originated in the Judiciary
Committee, President Uribe noted, appears preferential to the House
bill.
Senator Sessions and I also asked President Uribe about the problem
of seasonal workers that emigrate from Colombia to the United States in
order to work temporarily on farms and don't return to Colombia once
their appointed working time period has elapsed. I was interested to
hear President Uribe state that he understood the concerns that the
United States has with seasonal workers that overstay the work period
in the United States. President Uribe stated that Colombia currently
has a good working relationship with both Canada and Spain and that he
would like to implement that same system with the United States. I
asked President Uribe to explain how Colombia was able to get their
seasonal workers to return from Canada and Spain after their designated
work period had elapsed. President Uribe stated that whenever Colombia
sends seasonal workers to Canada or Spain, they keep very close track
of where the temporary worker is working and for what time period he is
permitted to stay. Seasonal workers also have learned that if they
don't return to Colombia at the conclusion of the seasonal work period,
then they will never be permitted to participate in an overseas work
program again.
Despite President Uribe's approach on this topic, I still expressed
grave concerns whether this incentive of returning to seasonal work
would be enough to have seasonal workers return from the United States
at the conclusion of their work period. President Uribe said he would
consider having Colombian workers have microchips implanted into their
bodies before they are permitted to enter the United States to work on
a seasonal basis. I doubted whether the implantation of microchips
would be effective since the immigrant worker might be able to remove
them.
I also asked President Uribe what new policies he would like to see
the United States enact. President Uribe stated that the five nations
of the Andean community, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, and
Bolivia, are going through trying times. President Uribe felt that it
was important that the United States maintain a good relationship with
Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia to combat the anti-American
influence of Venezuela's President Chavez. I had the opportunity to
visit President Chavez in December of 2005 and agree that he does pose
a threat to U.S. interests in South America. I still believe, however,
that it would be prudent for the United States to deal directly with
President Chavez in order to reach an understanding on some of our
Nation's differences.
Finally, President Uribe discussed with us a recent vote that had
just taken place concerning the protection of intellectual property
rights among the Andean nations. By way of background, in 2003,
President Bush announced the intentions of the United States to begin
negotiating a free-trade agreement, FTA, with Colombia, Peru, Ecuador,
and Bolivia. Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru currently benefit
from the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, ATPDEA. This
trade pact, which is set to expire on December 31, 2006, authorizes the
President to grant duty-free treatment to certain products, with more
than half of all U.S. imports in 2004 from the Andean countries
entering under these preferences.
In a recent vote which just took place in the Andean community, the
community voted three to two to protect intellectual property rights in
trade agreements with the United States. Colombia, along with Peru and
Ecuador, voted in favor of the protection of intellectual property
rights, whereas Venezuela and Bolivia voted against the protection of
these rights. President Uribe is concerned about whether or not Peru
will still support the protection of intellectual rights once they
elect a new President in the summer of this year.
Later in Colombia, Senator Sessions and I met Susan Reichle, Deputy
Director of the USAID mission in Bogota, and Guillermo Del Coilitto,
Jorge Droujo and Rosano de Riccardi, board members on Project Unidad
Pedagogica Productiva Agroindustrial de Turbaco. During our visit to
the project, we were told that the project was started in order to
teach 300 displaced Colombian families how to generate income and
garner employment through agricultural and agribusiness activities in
Northern Bolivar, Colombia. This and other USAID projects in Colombia
provide income and employment opportunities to rural communities which
agree to give up the growth of narcotic crops and for those that are
displaced by the country's continued conflict. These projects serve to
instill these employment skills which they can market outside of the
cultivation of narcotics. I left Project Unidad Pedagogica Productiva
Agroindustrial de Turbaco with a favorable opinion of the work that
USAID is performing in Colombia.
When we visited the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, on April 8,
2006, we reviewed the incident of February 13, 2003, when a small U.S.
plane crashed in Colombia resulting in FARC taking hostage Marc
Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, and Tom Howes, who were under contract with
the Department of Defense in the war against drug traffickers. Despite
the best efforts by President Uribe to rescue these hostages, all
efforts, as of now, have been unsuccessful. During our visit to the
Embassy we were told that, if there were sufficient Department of
Defense resources applied, the hostages could be located. As a result
of this meeting, Senator Sessions and I sent a letter to Secretary of
Defense Rumsfeld on April 10, 2006, requesting that he allocate
additional resources toward the location of these men. In discussing
this matter with the personnel at the Embassy, it was obvious that they
wanted more resources for this effort as a successful outcome would
clearly have a positive impact on morale and national credibility. One
of the men at the Embassy said he thinks about the hostages every day.
The Embassy people talk about these men as POW and MIA and there are
plaques and signs displayed throughout the Embassy.
Senator Sessions and I also met with Robert Taylor, Assistant
Regional Director in the Drug Enforcement Agency, DEA, and Admiral
Alfonzo Diaz of the Colombian Navy. Mr. Taylor and Admiral Diaz
discussed the methods by which the Colombian cartels use to smuggle
cocaine and other drugs out of the country. We were advised that the
primary way that drugs are shipped out of Colombia is via the use of
go-fast boats. Go-fast boats can carry up to 3 tons of cocaine and can
reach high rates of speed. They are frequently used to transport drugs
to Mexico, Central American and Caribbean transshipment countries,
using refueling vessels to extend their range. Despite the advent of
go-fast boats, the Colombian navy, in conjunction with U.S. agencies,
was able to intercept $25 billion in cocaine in 2005 as a result of
their own faster go-fast midnight express boats, which can reach speeds
in excess of 60 knots.
Both Admiral Diaz and Mr. Taylor stated that Colombian law
enforcement has an excellent working relationship with the United
States and all of its agencies. One of the primary examples of this is
the sharp increase in the number of extraditions of Colombians to the
United States. Since President Uribe took office in 2002, Colombia had
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extradited 304 Colombian nationals and 11 non-nationals to the United
States. In early 2005, Colombia extradited FARC leader Nayibe Rojas
Valderama and Cali Cartel leader Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela. The zeal
with which President Uribe's administration is waging the war on drugs
left little doubt that it is in the interests of the United States to
continue to assist him.
Senator Sessions and I arrived in Peru on April 10, 2006. I have had
the opportunity to travel to Peru on four previous occasions, the last
of which was on January 4, 2002. This was an optimum time to be in
Peru, as they are in the midst of Presidential elections which had
taken place the day before our arrival. We first met with Ambassador
Curtis Struble, who was confirmed as Ambassador to Peru on December 9,
2003. He and his staff gave us a country briefing and informed us that
Peru's poverty rate is approximately 50 percent, but that Peru's
economy is starting to rebound and per capita growth rate rose in 1
year from $2,100 a year to $2,800.
Soon after our meeting with Mr. Struble, we were met by Oscar
Marutua, Peru's Foreign Minister, and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Peru's
Prime Minister. I was especially impressed with Mr. Kuczynski, who is a
graduate of Princeton University and worked in New York City for 20
years. He reminded me of our squash match 4 years earlier and commented
on my ``drop'' shots.
One of our primary concerns was the status of Peru's recent
Presidential elections. Prime Minister Kuczynski advised us that there
were a total of 23 separate candidates running for President in Peru.
Out of these 23, only 3 were viewed as serious candidates. Ollanta
Humula, a leftwing candidate who had been receiving significant
monetary support from President Chavez, was leading in the early
election return with 30 percent of the vote. The other two primary
candidates, Ms. Lourdes Flores Nano and Alan Garcia, were characterized
by Mr. Kuczynski as moderates and were in a dead heat, each capturing
about 25 percent of the votes.
Mr. Kuczynski explained that under Peru's political system, if no
candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, then a run-off vote between
the top two candidates occurs on May 7, 2006. Without question, it will
be in the interest of the United States that either Ms. Flores Nano or
Mr. Garcia prevails in Peru's election for President.
Foreign Minister Maurtua stated that there are approximately 1
million Peruvians living in the United States. Of these, he estimated
that 50 percent were residing in the United States illegally. Kuczynski
suggested breaking the issue of immigration down into two parts: what
to do with the people already in the United States and what to do with
those who would like to go there.
Senator Sessions and I also met with Susan Keogh, Director of
Narcotics Affairs in Peru. Ms. Keough discussed the current
difficulties the Peruvian Government was having in combating narcotics
and the deleterious effect that narcotic cultivation has on the
environment. Ms. Keough stated that approximately 400,000 acres are
being deforested annually for the cultivation of coca and other plants.
On average, there are approximately 40,000 to 100,000 coca plants per 2
acres, which require about 2 tons of chemicals to be used for their
production. Since coca is very vulnerable to diseases, coca growers
cover the coca with pesticides which are very deleterious to the
environment. Some portions of these chemicals almost always find their
way into rivers and streams, as coca must be cultivated close to a
water supply.
I asked what efforts the Peruvian Government is taking to combat
these problems. Ms. Keough remarked that the Peruvian Government hardly
focuses on this issue and that the growth of cocaine and the effects on
the environment was rarely mentioned during the current Presidential
campaign. We suggested to Ms. Keough that she and her colleagues, who
were concerned about protecting the environment, should write letters
to the editor of respected Peruvian newspapers expressing their concern
over the growth of cocaine in Peru and the deleterious effects that
this cultivation is having on the environment.
Senator Sessions and I arrived in Brazil on April 12, 2006.
Immediately upon our arrival, we met with acting U.S. Ambassador and
Deputy Chief of Mission to Brazil, Phillip Chicola, a Cuban-American
who came to the United States in 1961 and graduated from Florida
Atlantic University. Mr. Chicola stated that, although Brazil views the
United States as an ally, the Brazilian administration has made
building relations with neighboring countries in the southern
hemisphere its first priority. He said that Brazil is seeking to
redress U.S. influence by strengthening ties with nontraditional
trading partners such as India and China.
Senator Sessions and I also asked Mr. Chicola about narcotics
trafficking throughout South America. Mr. Chicola stated that, although
Brazil is not a significant drug-producing country, Brazil does serve
as a conduit for cocaine moving to Europe and Africa. Specifically,
both Colombian and Bolivian drug smugglers attempt to transport cocaine
over the Brazilian borders. Although Colombian drug smugglers have had
some success in bringing narcotics across the border, the Amazon rain
forest and various rivers provide natural boundaries against drug
smuggling. As a result of these natural boundaries, drug smugglers have
attempted to fly drugs out of Colombia and into Brazil. Mr. Chicola
stated that the majority of drug smugglers now ship their cocaine
through Venezuela as a result of Brazil's shootdown law, which
authorizes the Brazilian Air Force to use lethal force in the
interdiction of aircraft suspected of involvement in drug trafficking.
Later during the trip we met with Under Secretary for South American
Affairs Ministry for External Relations, Jose Eduardo Felicio. Mr.
Felicio was an articulate, impressive man, who spent several years of
his life working in New York City. One of the first questions we asked
Mr. Felicio was how the United States can limit the destabilizing
effect that President Chavez has been having on South America. Mr.
Felicio stated that the Brazilian Government views Chavez as the
legitimately elected President of Venezuela even though they do not
approve of everything he says publicly. Mr. Felicio stated that,
despite Chavez's harsh rhetoric against the United States, Brazil does
not believe there is sufficient proof that Chavez is a disrupting force
in South America.
I also asked Mr. Felicio what steps the United Nations Security
Counsel should take in regards to Iran's attempts to develop nuclear
arms in violation of the nonproliferation treaty. Mr. Felicio stated
that, while Iran should cooperate with requests made by the
International Atomic Energy Association, Brazil does not believe that
Iran is being treated fairly because there is a double standard against
Iran. While certain countries like Israel, Pakistan, and India are
permitted to develop nuclear programs in violation of the Nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty, Iran has been unfairly singled out.
The next portion of the CODEL took us to Manaus, where we spoke with
Mr. Francisco Ritta Bernardino, the owner of many hotels throughout the
Amazon and noted author of several books dealing with the importance of
the Amazon ecosystem. A lawyer and entrepreneur, Mr. Bernardino told us
of his meeting with Jacques Cousteau, the famous diver and undersea
explorer who documented life in the Amazon from December 1981 to
November 1982. Mr. Bernardino stated that it was during this time
period that Jacques Cousteau convinced him that the greatest threat to
mankind was not nuclear war, but the destruction of nature. Cousteau
believed that if the destruction of the Amazon was not halted, mankind
would be sacrificing the future of their children and grandchildren.
Soon after Mr. Bernardino's meeting with Mr. Cousteau, he set about
the construction of the Ariau Amazon Towers. Mr. Bernardino stated that
he built the hotel in the middle of the Amazon in order to help people
become acquainted with the Amazon in a region untouched by people. The
Ariau Amazon Towers are built upon seven wooden towers interconnected
by raised walkways over portions of the Amazon River. These walkways
connect the towers with various docks and paths that lead throughout
the Amazon.
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During our meeting with Mr. Bernardino, we inquired about the origin
of the Amazon River flow. Mr. Bernardino explained that the Amazon
River is created at the junction of the Negro and Solimoes Rivers near
Manaus. He stated that the water of the Negro River runs approximately
3,200 kilometers, originating from the various tributaries that spill
out of the Andes Mountains of Colombia and Peru. The water of the Negro
River is completely black, colored from the collection of minerals and
organic materials that it collects from hundreds of tributaries that
empty into it from the rock beds of the Andes. Mr. Bernardino explained
that, although the Negro River is full of acid and poor in oxygen, it
fertilizes the surrounding shores with its rich minerals. In contrast
to the Negro River, Mr. Bernardino stated that the water of the
Solimoes River is colored light blue and flows from the Brazilian-
Peruvian border. The Solimoes River runs for about 1,600 kilometers,
until it meets the black Negro waters where it merges to form the
Amazon River in a floodplain about 80 kilometers wide.
The Amazon River runs 5,904 kilometers in length; its basins widening
during the rainy seasons to as much as 100 kilometers. Mr. Bernardino
explained that approximately 1,100 tributaries empty their waters into
the Amazon and that the Amazon average width ranges from 2 to 30
kilometers, until it reaches a width of 230 kilometers when it empties
into the Atlantic Ocean. The flow of the Amazon river is so forceful
that the waters of the Atlantic Ocean are pushed approximately 2 to 5
kilometers away from the shoreline of the Amazon basin by its free-
flowing fresh water.
We also met with the National Aeronautical Space Administration,
NASA, Project Liaison to Large Scale Biosphere Atmosphere Experiment,
Josefine Durazo, about the effects the deforestation of the Amazon is
having on global warming. Ms. Durazo explained that the Large Scale
Biosphere Atmosphere Experiment, LBA, is an international cooperative
research program led by Brazil and dedicated to the study of
International Geosphere-Biosphere studies regarding the deforestation
of the Amazon. She further stated that she worked with the LBA-ECO,
which is a subproject operating under the LBA, funded entirely by NASA.
The LBA-ECO is dedicated to gaining an understanding of how the
ecosystem of the Amazon functions as a system and what effects the
deforestation of the Amazon are having on climate control.
Ms. Durazo explained that NASA began funding the program in 1998 by
constructing tower sites which measure carbon flux in various
geographic areas within the Amazon. These towers, in conjunction with
extensive support by Brazilian researchers, enable NASA to measure the
flux of carbon levels during forest fires and lumbering projects. As a
result of this research, NASA and LBA have discovered that current
logging efforts in the Amazon cover an area nearly equal to that of the
portions that have already been deforested. Ms. Durazo stated that by
using these techniques, NASA and the LBA will soon be able to determine
the effect that the continued logging of the Amazon will have on the
level of carbon dioxide being emitted to the atmosphere.
After our meeting with Ms. Durazo, I had my staff reach out to
Michael Keller a physical scientist working at the International
Institute of Tropical Forestry. According to Mr. Keller, carbon dioxide
is responsible for the largest portion of the manmade greenhouse
effect. Each year, there are eight gigatons, 1 billion tons, of carbon
added to the atmospheric burden of carbon dioxide. Of those 8 gigatons,
1.6 result from land use change processes, such as the clearing of
forest and savanna in the tropics. Mr. Keller estimates that .3
gigatons of the carbon emitted to the atmosphere occurs as a result of
the deforestation of the Amazon. Accordingly, Mr. Keller and other
experts believe that the deforestation of the Amazon is playing a
significant role in the manmade greenhouse effect. NASA is continuing
to study the data that they have collected in the Amazon.
Senator Sessions and I arrived in the Dominican Republic on April 15,
2006, and met for a team briefing with Peter Reilly of the DEA, Andy
Diaz of the FBI, Michael Garuckis of the State Department, Jeff
Radgowski of the Coast Guard and Timothy Tubbs of the Department of
Homeland Security regarding issues of drug trafficking and immigration.
We were told at this briefing that the Dominican Republic's long
border with Haiti, combined with its overstretched law enforcement
agencies and geographic location in the Caribbean, make the country a
prime location for drug traffickers. Although the Dominican Republic is
not a major drug-producing country, it nonetheless acts as a transit
point for cocaine and heroin bound for the United States from Colombia
and Venezuela. The main trafficking points are by sea from Colombia,
which lies just 360 nautical miles from the coast of the Dominican
Republic.
We were also informed at this briefing that there are approximately
1.6 million Dominicans residing in the United States. In 2005, U.S.
immigration authorities repatriated 4,918 Dominicans. Most of those
returned to the Dominican Republic had served 4 to 9 years in jail in
the United States.
After our country briefing, we traveled to see a training program run
by the Hotel Association with assistance from USAID and the Peace Corp
at La Romana Bayahibe Tourism Cluster, Romana Cluster. The Hotel
Association is attempting to educate and train the local populace in
order to make the Dominican Republic more attractive to tourists. The
Romana Cluster is a community of homes built by USAID for displaced
individuals on land purchased by the Hotel Association for displaced
Dominicans.
While there, we met with Lisette Gill, the executive director of the
Romana Cluster, and Rosa Garza of the Peace Corps. Ms. Gill explained
that the Romana Cluster was started in 2001 by USAID to train the local
community in marketable skills so that the area would be more
attractive to tourists. Ms. Gill stated that the Romana Cluster
receives approximately $250,000 annually from the Hotel Association.
Ms. Gill took us to a high school that was constructed by the Hotel
Association for 120 students living in the Romana Cluster. Before the
construction of this high school, we were told that Dominicans living
in the area could not attend high school, as there was no public
schooling available in the area.
Later that evening, we met with the Foreign Minister for the
Dominican Republic, Mr. Carlos Morales Troncoso. I told the Foreign
Minister that I had spoken to President Uribe about the problem of the
United States of getting guest workers to return to their native
country after they had finished working, and I was interested to hear
his thoughts on the subject. Mr. Troncoso stated that the Dominican
Republic had just begun a guest worker program with Spain. The
Dominican Republic guest worker program was a 2-year program whereby
the government would keep a log of where the worker would be working in
Spain and where they could find him. Mr. Toncoso explained that, so
long as the worker performed well and returned to the Dominican
Republic at the end of the working season, then it would be permissible
for the worker to work in Spain the following year. He stated that if
the worker does not come back, that worker would be barred from being
eligible for any future participation in a guest worker program.
Mr. Troncoso admitted that there is always the problem of some guest
workers not wanting to return to the Dominican Republic, but
nonetheless, the current system seems to be working well. Mr. Troncoso
stated that, in 2005, Dominican Republic citizens working in the United
States sent approximately $2.8 billion back to their families in the
Dominican Republic.
Senator Sessions and I also had the opportunity to meet with
President Leonel Fernandez Reyna. President Reyna was a very impressive
man who was born in Santo Domingo in 1953 and moved to New York City in
1956 where he attended elementary and junior high school. President
Reyna returned to the Dominican Republic in 1969 and served as
President from 1996-2000 but was not permitted to run again as a result
of term limits. In 2003, however, the Dominican Republic constitution
was changed, permitting President
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Reyna to become President for a second time in 2004.
President Reyna spoke to us about the border problems that the
Dominican Republic was having with illegal Haitian immigrants entering
the Dominican Republic. President Reyna explained that, while the
Dominican Republic's unemployment rate was 17.4 percent, Haiti's was
approximately 50 percent. As a result of this, the Dominican Republic
must constantly contend with Haitian citizens coming across the border
looking for work. President Reyna stated that it was imperative for the
Dominican Republic to encourage the expansion of democratic
institutions in Haiti, in the hope that this would lead to political
stability.
We returned to Washington on April 16 to use the second week of the
recess to work on the immigration bill.
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