[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 83 (Monday, May 21, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H5517]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            HAITIAN FLAG DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pride and pleasure today 
to rise to inform the House, on this Friday, May 18, Haitians 
throughout the diaspora celebrated Haitian Flag Day.
  Since the creation of the Haitian flag on May 18, 1803, the day has 
been observed as Haitian Flag Day to Haitian Americans throughout the 
diaspora. This day has become a source of pride synonymous with unity 
and a symbol of freedom and individual liberty for Haitian people.
  Later this week, I will introduce legislation to commemorate this 
historic and celebrative event. The 18th of May, Haitian Flag Day, is 
the most celebrated holiday in Haiti.
  Just to put this day in context for most Americans, there are some 
historical facts that I would like to share with you.
  When Napoleon Bonaparte envisioned a great French empire in the New 
World, he had hoped to use the Mississippi Valley as a food and trade 
center to supply the island of Hispaniola. First, he had to restore 
French control of Hispaniola, where Haitian slaves under Toussaint 
L'Ouverture had seized power. Napoleon soon realized that Hispaniola 
must be abandoned. Accordingly, in April of 1803, he offered to sell 
Louisiana to the United States.
  President Thomas Jefferson had already sent James Monroe and Robert 
R. Livingston to Paris to negotiate the purchase of a tract of land in 
the lower Mississippi, or at least guarantee of free navigation of the 
river. Surprised and delighted by the French offer of the whole 
territory, they immediately negotiated the treaty.
  At one stroke, the United States would double in its size, an 
enormous tract of land would be open to settlement, and the free 
navigation of the Mississippi would be assured.
  Although the Constitution did not specifically empower the Federal 
Government to acquire new territory by treaty, Jefferson concluded that 
the practical benefits to the Nation far outweighed the possible 
violation of the Constitution. The Senate concurred with this decision 
and voted ratification October 20, 1803, this all precipitated by the 
revolution of freed slaves on the island of Haiti.
  The Spanish, who had never given up a physical possession of 
Louisiana to the French, did so in a ceremony at New Orleans on 
November 30, 1803. And in a second ceremony December 20, 1803, the 
French turned Louisiana over to the United States.
  I would like to also honor those brave Haitians who fought for 
American independence at the siege of Savannah, Georgia, in 1779: The 
Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue, a regiment of soldiers who 
formed one-tenth of the allied army before Savannah in the fall of 
1779. This unit was comprised of over 500 free men of color from the 
island of Haiti and was the largest unit of men of African descent to 
fight in the American revolution.
  The battle of Savannah, on October 9, 1779, reminds us that 
significant foreign resources of men, money and material contributed to 
the eventual success of the cause of American independence.
  The presence of the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint Domingue was made 
up of free men who volunteered for this expedition is startling to most 
people and surprising to most historians.
  Men of African heritage were to be found on most battlefields of the 
revolution in large numbers. A subsequent unit of Haitians was part of 
the French and Spanish campaign against Pensacola, where they faced 
some of the same regiments of British troops that their comrades faced 
in Savannah.
  Haiti, much smaller in population than the United States, was 
attacked by armies as large as those sent against America by Britain. 
The Haitian victory over the legions of Napoleon was achieved with much 
less foreign assistance than the United States enjoyed.
  It is these types of historical events put in the context of our 
Nation today that we celebrate with the Haitian Americans in diaspora, 
their accomplishments and achievements in the growth and development of 
our Nation.
  Many key figures in the Haitian War of Independence gained military 
experience and political insights through their participation in 
Savannah, most notably Henri Christophe, a youth at the time, but, in 
his adult years, a general of Haitian armies and King of his nation for 
14 years.
  There is little appreciation in the United States for the events that 
led to the formation of the Haitian nation. Influenced by both the 
events of the American Revolution and the rhetoric of the French 
Revolution, the people of Haiti began a struggle for self-government 
and liberty.
  The first nation in the Western Hemisphere to form a government led 
by people of African descent, it was also the first nation to renounce 
slavery.
  The Haitian national flag is indisputably a symbol of general pride 
whose origin is tightly linked to a history of struggle for freedom.
  As you all already know, the Haitian flag was first presented in 1802 
when Haiti was fighting against the French for independence and it was 
realized that both armies fought under the same flag.
  After the modification of the flag in 1807, the phrase ``L'UNION FAIT 
LA FORCE'', meaning that through unity we find strength, was re-
adopted.
  The Haitian constitution of 1987 describes the new flag as: Two (2) 
equal-sized horizontal bands: a blue one on top and a red one 
underneath; The coat of arms of the Republic shall be placed in the 
center on a white square; The coat of arms of the Republic will be a 
Palm tree surmounted by the liberty cap and under the palms a trophy 
with the legend: In Union there is Strength;
  This weekend, I joined with hundreds of my Haitian constituents as we 
celebrated Haitian Flag Day together. For as long as I can remember, 
Haitians have gathered in my district of Brooklyn, NY to recognize this 
historic day.
  I ask my colleagues to please join me in recognizing the world's 
oldest black republic and the second-oldest republic in the Western 
Hemisphere celebrate the ideals of unity, strength and freedom embedded 
in the Haitian Flag by becoming a co-sponsor of the Haitian Flag Day 
resolution.

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