[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 9, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S530-S531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HAITI EARTHQUAKE
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, in 2003 I joined my friend, then-Senator
Mike DeWine, in visiting Haiti. While no longer in the Senate, Mike
remains a tireless advocate for Haiti. Also joining us were Senator
Bill Nelson and Representative Kendrick Meek.
At the time, the country was trapped in a political and economic
slump. Yet, amid the country's grinding poverty and broken political
system, the Haitian people maintained an incredible vibrancy and
kindness. It is a warmth one notices among the many Haitians living in
the United States, including the more than 7,000 who call Chicago their
home.
I have never forgotten that experience, and over the years I have
worked to support development and economic programs to help the Haitian
people. Last year I introduced a bill with Senator Brownback to help
reforest Haiti with techniques proven in other nations.
A year ago I had the chance to return to Haiti--this time with
Senator Jeff Bingaman, Congressman Meek, and an Illinois State Senator
whose parents are from Haiti, Kwame Raoul. While the country still
faced terrible poverty, much had improved since my earlier visit. The
government and political system had stabilized.
A multination U.N. peacekeeping force had brought an end to most of
the gang violence, kidnappings, and lawlessness. Special trade programs
with the United States had sparked a rebirth of the garment industry,
providing thousands of Haitians with jobs. Groups such as Partners in
Health and Hands Together were making progress in building health care
capacity and educating children from the poorest slums of Port-au-
Prince. The country had even rebounded from a series of devastating
hurricanes and tropical storms.
And most recently, former President Bill Clinton had become the U.N.
Special Envoy to Haiti, bringing his skill and energy,--along with
Secretary Clinton's leadership in the State Department,--to help
improve the lives of the Haitian people. While still desperately poor,
many had sensed the country was turning a corner.
Then tragedy struck. On January 12, the largest earthquake in this
hemisphere in 200 years devastated Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, and
several surrounding towns. The Haitian Government estimates that
200,000 people died. Sadly, that number is almost certain to grow. A
staggering number of houses and buildings simply collapsed. It is
estimated that 1 million people may now be homeless. Hospitals and
government buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed. The U.N.
headquarters crumbled to the ground, killing hundreds of international
staff who had dedicated their lives to helping the people of Haiti.
Only a short 90-minute plane ride from our shores, a small, poor nation
has suffered an almost unimaginable catastrophe.
President Obama immediately did the right thing. He mobilized the
whole of the U.S. Government to help our neighbors in Haiti. Less than
36 hours after the earthquake struck, President Obama pledged to the
Haitian people that America would not forget them or forsake them in
their time of need. He pledged $100 million in emergency aid for Haiti.
This aid is in addition to the regular development assistance the
United States provides to Haiti, which totaled at least $287 million
last year and was planned to reach at least $340 million this year.
In addition, over 17,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines--
including 17 members of the Illinois Guard--have been dispatched to
assist in Haiti recovery and relief efforts. We have all seen their
heroic efforts: medical treatment provided in the most challenging of
conditions, survivors pulled from the rubble of collapsed buildings.
American leadership is helping to coordinate the largest
international relief effort since the cataclysmic Asian tsunami in
2004, with governments throughout the world joining in. In Europe, the
18 member nations of the European Union have pledged a total of $575
million in emergency aid to Haiti. The E.U. has also sent security
forces to help strengthen security in the devastated nation. Planeloads
of rescue teams and relief supplies have been dispatched from nations
including Britain, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia,
and Spain. Other countries--in South America, the Middle East, and
Asia--have pledged to help. And government help is only the beginning.
In typical American fashion, people and organizations from all over
our country have donated money, organized shipments of medicine, food
and water, and traveled to Haiti as emergency relief workers to help
rescue and treat the earthquake victims.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy conducted a survey. It found that in
the first 13 days after the earthquake struck Haiti, individuals and
groups donated $470 million to 39 U.S. nonprofit organizations for
Haiti relief. Despite the economic pain and anxiety so many American
families are feeling, Americans are once again demonstrating great
generosity when it is so desperately needed. The American people have
responded generously.
According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy survey, the pace of giving
for Haiti is running ahead of the amount donated in the same period
after the September 11 attacks in 2001 and the Asian tsunami in 2004,
and nearly as fast as the unprecedented outpouring of donations that
followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Never before have so many Americans donated so much, so fast, to the
people of another nation in need. And they have done so in large and
small ways, including a novel approach that has made a significant mark
for the first time--using their cell phones to ``text'' donations--a
method that didn't even exist a few years ago.
The American Red Cross has received more than $33 million through
text-messaged gifts of $10 each. Other organizations have also tapped
into the ``mobile giving'' movement to raise funds for Haiti.
A global telethon last week has raised $66 million so far, with money
still coming in from music downloads and other sources.
Corporations are also stepping up. The Business Civic Leadership
Center, a nonprofit group affiliated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,
reports that 265 companies have contributed more than $122 million for
Haiti relief.
Families around the world, including many in Illinois, have found
that the Haitian orphans they were in the process of adopting are
caught in the earthquake's uncertain aftermath.
My heart goes out to these families and these children. We have been
contacted by a number of Illinois families who are asking for help
locating or reconnecting with a loved one who was caught in the quake.
We have been working to minimize the redtape and put the families
directly in contact with the U.S. Government task force and other
groups who are on the ground in Haiti working on locating people and
getting them to safety.
With loving families waiting anxiously for news, we are doing all we
can, in coordination with the Haitian Government, to help these
children. We are also working to find and move to safety newly orphaned
children.
That is why I was heartened by the announcement by Department of
Homeland Security Janet Napolitano that her agency and the Department
of State have implemented a humanitarian parole policy that allows
Haitian children already identified as orphans before the earthquake to
enter the United States temporarily under certain circumstances.
We will continue to address the most immediate needs in Haiti:
rescuing survivors; providing shelter, food, water, and medical
treatment; and avoiding the spread of disease. And we must commit to
working with the Haitian people and international partners to help get
Haiti back on its feet over the long term.
The United States should join in the upcoming international donor
conference that will shape a long-term plan to help put Haiti back on
its feet in a way that is sustainable in the years ahead. We cannot
undo the terrible loss Haiti has suffered, but we can show the best of
American compassion, generosity, and ingenuity in helping the Haitian
people rebuild their nation. I urge my colleagues to support these
efforts.
I yield the floor.
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