[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 28, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H4866-H4867]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   MOURNING VICTIMS OF GUATEMALA LANDSLIDE AND COSTA RICA EARTHQUAKE

  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 76) mourning the horrific loss of life 
in January 2009 caused by a landslide in Guatemala and an earthquake in 
Costa Rica and expressing the sense of Congress that the United States 
should assist the affected people and communities, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                               H. Res. 76

       Whereas, on January 4, 2009, millions of tons of earth fell 
     onto a road in the Alta Verapaz area north of Guatemala City, 
     Guatemala;
       Whereas it is suspected that a geological fault triggered 
     the movement of earth, sending 10,000,000 tons of mud and 
     rock down a hillside onto a road that runs from San Cristobal 
     Verapaz to Chicaman, north of Guatemala City;
       Whereas at least 36 people were confirmed dead and up to 60 
     were missing, many of whom are coffee workers in the region;
       Whereas rescue organizations, volunteers, and agencies from 
     throughout Guatemala had been working at the site until 
     danger of another landslide shut down the operation;
       Whereas, on January 8, 2009, at 1:21PM, a 6.1 magnitude 
     earthquake shook the Capital region of San Jose, Costa Rica, 
     including the areas of Sarapiqui, Varablanca, and Poasito;
       Whereas the earthquake's epicenter was 20 miles from San 
     Jose at a depth of 21.7 miles and the shaking continued for 
     40 seconds;
       Whereas 23 individuals were confirmed dead, over 100 were 
     treated for injuries, and nearly a dozen went missing, 
     including many buried by the resulting landslides;
       Whereas 518 homes were destroyed to the point where they 
     were uninhabitable, 26 kilometers of road were unusable, and 
     61 communities were affected;
       Whereas roads, businesses, government buildings, and the 
     popular tourist sites at the Poas Volcano and the La Paz 
     waterfalls were severely damaged; and
       Whereas Guatemala and Costa Rica have been frequently 
     impacted by significant natural disasters, including those in 
     the aftermath of Hurricane Stan in Guatemala in 2005 that led 
     to hundreds of deaths: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That--
       (1) the House of Representatives--
       (A) mourns the terrible loss of life caused by the 
     landslide that occurred on January 4, 2009, in Guatemala and 
     the earthquake on January 8, 2009, in Costa Rica;
       (B) expresses its deepest condolences to the families of 
     the many victims; and
       (C) applauds the prompt humanitarian responses to these 
     natural disasters by the Governments of Guatemala and Costa 
     Rica; and
       (2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that it 
     should be the policy of the United States to--
       (A) continue technical assistance to Central American 
     governments in order to strengthen their capacity at the 
     national, provincial, and local levels in the area of 
     disaster management coordination and preparedness, including 
     implementing information and communications systems to help 
     with the response to natural disasters; and
       (B) work closely with the governments of these countries to 
     improve disaster mitigation techniques and compliance among 
     all key sectors of their societies.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Scott) and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
resolution, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, first I want to thank Congressman Dan Burton for 
introducing this very important and timely resolution, which mourns the 
terrible loss of life caused by two natural disasters that occurred 4 
days apart in Central America in January of this year. The first was a 
landslide that occurred on January 4, 2009, in Guatemala. The second 
was an earthquake on January 8, 2009, in Costa Rica.
  The resolution before us conveys the deepest condolences of Congress 
to the families of the victims and urges that the United States 
Government maintain technical assistance to Central American countries 
regarding disaster management and mitigation.
  On January 4, 2009, millions of tons of earth fell onto a road in the 
Alta Verapaz area, north of Guatemala City in Guatemala. Apparently, a 
geological fault triggered the movement of earth, sending 10 million 
tons of mud and rock down a hillside onto a road that runs from San 
Cristobal Verapaz to Chicaman, north of Guatemala City. At least 38 
people were confirmed dead and up to 60 were missing, many of whom were 
coffee workers in the region.
  Four days later, on January 8, 2009, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake shook 
the capital region of San Jose, Costa Rica. The earthquake's epicenter 
was 20 miles from San Jose at a depth of 21.7 miles, and the shaking 
continued for 40 seconds. Twenty-three individuals were confirmed dead, 
over 100 were treated for injuries, and nearly a dozen went missing, 
including many buried by resulting landslides.
  Guatemala and Costa Rica have been frequently impacted by significant 
natural disasters including those in the aftermath of Hurricane Stan in 
Guatemala in 2005 that led to hundreds of deaths.
  I agree wholeheartedly that it should be the policy of the United 
States to continue technical assistance to governments in the region at 
the national, provincial, and local levels in the area of the disaster 
management coordination. It is also essential that the United States 
take a long-term view with its regional partners and help them improve 
disaster mitigation techniques.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this very important and 
necessary and timely resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I want to thank my colleague from Georgia, David Scott, for 
cosponsoring this resolution.
  I think everybody in this body is very concerned about the tragedies 
that befall human beings here and around the world.
  As my colleague said, this past January two significant natural 
disasters wreaked havoc on the Central American nations of Costa Rica 
and Guatemala and took a terrible and destructive toll on people in 
these communities.
  In Guatemala, as coffee workers were returning from long days of work 
in the Alta Verapaz region, thousands of

[[Page H4867]]

tons of mud and rock fell in a landslide. As a result of this 
catastrophe, the nation mourned the deaths of as many as 36 while over 
60 are still missing.
  Only 4 days later, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake shook the capital 
region of Costa Rica, resulting in the destruction of over 500 homes 
and the deaths of at least 20.
  I join my colleagues today to express my sincere sympathy and our 
sincere sympathy and support to our Latin American friends who have 
suffered as a result of these disasters. I would like to commend the 
courage and perseverance of the Costa Rican and Guatemalan Governments, 
along with the private citizens and relief organizations who worked 
tirelessly in the rescue effort. The prompt humanitarian response 
carried out in the aftermath of these disasters clearly contributed to 
the ability of these nations to overcome the damage wrought by these 
two tragedies.
  As I said before, I would like to thank Mr. Scott for cosponsoring 
this, and I would like to thank our chairman, Mr. Berman, and our 
ranking member, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, for helping move this 
important resolution to the floor. And, again, we extend our heartfelt 
condolences to the Guatemalan and Costa Rican people and their families 
who suffered as a result of these horrible disasters.
  Mr. Speaker, with that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I certainly again want to commend 
Mr. Burton for showing the leadership and at the same time showing the 
greatness of America, which has always been the timely response to 
other nations in their moment of great need and crisis.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support 
of H. Res. 76, ``Mourning the horrific loss of life in January 2009 
caused by a landslide in Guatemala and an earthquake in Costa Rica and 
expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should assist 
the affected people and communities.'' I would like to thank my 
colleague, Representative Dan Burton, for introducing this legislation.
  Natural disasters are one of the most difficult things to deal with 
as a nation. As a Representative of Houston, TX I have seen devastation 
and heartbreak come from devastating natural disasters. Our city alone 
has faced and returned stronger after natural disasters like tropical 
storm Allison, as her waters flooded our streets and entered our homes. 
Within the past few years the people of the 18th Congressional District 
of Texas dealt with damage and evacuation troubles when shortly after a 
storm called Katrina ripped through the homes of our neighbors, 
Hurricane Rita threatened our city and our lives. Most recently, we had 
the electricity taken from our city, roofs stripped from our houses, 
and windows shattered into our livings rooms. Because of Hurricane Ike 
our city has seen the impact of horrific situations before and after 
natural disasters ravage through our streets. These challenges, 
although largely difficult to recover from, already would have been 
virtually impossible to recover from had the Federal Government not 
assisted.
  The landslides in Guatemala claimed the lives of more than 30 people 
and caused destruction to many in this small country. The unfortunate 
loss of these men and women shall not only be remembered here today as 
we acknowledge this House resolution, but should be remembered everyday 
as the people of Guatemala try to recover from the devastation caused 
by this event. These events take time to recover from and in time just 
as the sadness fades the recovery will begin in this region.
  Just like the people of Guatemala the people in Costa Rica did not 
expect the ground to start shaking bringing buildings to the ground. 
With over 14 lives claimed and dozens of people still missing the 
people of Costa Rica have been devastated by the effects the earthquake 
has brought them. The 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook the lives of all 
the people living in Costa Rica and like the people of Guatemala the 
wounds will take time to heal.
  I have experienced firsthand the devastation of events like these and 
understand the difficulty in recovering from them. These people deserve 
all the help they can get. It is our moral responsibility to assist in 
any way we can in helping these countries rebuild. Supporting H. Res. 
76 is a big step in helping these devastated nations. That is why I 
support H. Res. 76, ``Mourning the horrific loss of life in January 
2009 caused by a landslide in Guatemala and an earthquake in Costa Rica 
and expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should 
assist the affected people and communities'' and I urge my colleagues 
to do so as well.
  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott) that the House suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution, H. Res. 76, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
  The title was amended so as to read: ``A resolution mourning the 
horrific loss of life in January 2009 caused by a landslide in 
Guatemala and an earthquake in Costa Rica.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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