[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 14, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H2512-H2513]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HAITI DEBT RELIEF AND EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY ACT OF 2010

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in 
the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 4573) to direct the Secretary 
of the Treasury to instruct the United States Executive Directors at 
the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Inter-American 
Development Bank, and other multilateral development institutions to 
use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States to cancel 
immediately and completely Haiti's debts to such institutions, and for 
other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the Senate amendments is as follows:

       Senate amendments:
       On page 3, line 4, after ``provision'' insert: ``, before 
     February 1, 2015,''.
       On page 3, lines 18 and 19, strike ``relief'' and all that 
     follows through ``Haiti.'' and insert: ``relief and debt 
     service relief for Haiti and, before February 1, 2015, to 
     provide grants for Haiti.''.
       On page 4, line 7, after ``Haiti's future'' insert: ``and 
     future generations''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Waters) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.


                             General Leave

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  I would like to thank the majority leader for bringing this bill to 
the floor promptly following its passage in the Senate, and I thank my 
colleagues on the Financial Services Committee, especially Chairman 
Barney Frank, Ranking Member Spencer Bachus, and Subcommittee Chairman 
Gregory Meeks, for their support for this bill. I also thank my senior 
legislative assistant, Kathleen Sengstock, and the Financial Services 
Committee's senior professional staff member, Daniel McGlinchey, for 
their work on this bill.
  I first introduced this bill after the terrible earthquake that 
struck Haiti on January 12. I have visited Haiti twice since the 
earthquake, and I have seen the widespread devastation it caused. 
According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, that is 
USAID, 230,000 people were killed and 1.3 million people were displaced 
from their homes. There is a desperate need for clean water, food, 
shelter, and basic sanitation. Three million people, one-third of the 
country's population, were affected by the quake.
  According to the U.S. Treasury Department, as of March 1, Haiti owed 
$828 million to multilateral development institutions. This included 
$447 million to the Inter-American Development Bank, $284 million to 
the IMF, $39 million to World Bank Group's International Development 
Association, and $58 million to the International Fund for Agricultural 
Development. In addition, Haiti owed approximately $400 million to 
other individual countries.
  H.R. 4573, the Debt Relief for Earthquake Recovery in Haiti Act of 
2010, would free Haiti from the burden of international debt. The bill 
directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. executive 
directors at multilateral development institutions to use the voice, 
vote, and influence of the United States to seek to achieve three 
things: number one, the immediate and complete cancellation of all 
debts owed by Haiti to these institutions; second, the suspension of 
Haiti's debt service payments until such time as the debts are 
canceled; and, three, the provision of emergency, humanitarian, and 
reconstruction assistance to Haiti in the form of grants so that Haiti 
does not accumulate additional debts.
  The bill also directs the Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of 
State to use all appropriate diplomatic influence to secure the 
cancellation of all

[[Page H2513]]

remaining bilateral, multilateral, and private creditor debt owed by 
Haiti.
  This bill passed the House on March 10, and the Senate passed it with 
an amendment on March 26. The amendment specified that Haiti should 
receive aid in the form of grants until February 1, 2015. After that 
time, multilateral development institutions may resume aid in the form 
of new loans. I believe 5 years is a reasonable amount of time for 
Haiti to be able to recover without the burden of debt service payments 
on new loans.
  I therefore support the Senate amendments, and I reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I also rise in support of H.R. 4573, the Debt Relief for 
Earthquake Recovery in Haiti Act of 2010.
  H.R. 4573 takes a good first step towards the goal of eliminating 
Haiti's uncollectible debts so the country can start to rebuild. 
Removing this burden will also help Haiti begin the process of becoming 
a self-sustaining economy.
  Nearly identical legislation has already been agreed to by the House 
under suspension of the rules. The Senate made only two minor changes 
to the bill to ensure that our commitment to Haiti remains unchanged 
and it stays focused. One change was that it sets an explicit time 
period for future grants for Haiti, and the other ensures that 
assistance provided helps not just today's Haitians but also ensures 
help for future generations. This is a very sensible, commonsense 
approach. I support these changes.
  I also want to recognize the members of the International Monetary 
Policy and Trade Subcommittees and the staff of the committee for their 
bipartisan efforts on this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. 
Moore) as much time as he may consume.
  Mr. MOORE of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleagues, 
Representative Maxine Waters, Chairman Frank, Representative Greg 
Meeks, and Representative Spencer Bachus, for their bipartisan work on 
this important issue.
  Mr. Speaker, as a result of the extraordinary results of January 12, 
2010, 230,000 people were killed and more than 1.3 million people were 
displaced, unable to return to their homes in Haiti. And still today 
while things are getting better, a desperate need for food, water, and 
medical care exists. The people of Haiti are facing an enormous 
struggle to recover from an earthquake at a time when the country was 
already among the poorest in the world.
  This bill supports a humanitarian need through fiscal assistance by 
allowing our Treasury to cancel the $828 million debt owed by Haiti. 
This is the decent and humane thing to do, and I ask my colleagues to 
once again support this measure.
  Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I encourage strong support of this 
legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, there's been considerable progress 
mobilizing international support for Haiti since the introduction of 
this bill. Multilateral development institutions have already begun to 
take steps to reduce or cancel Haiti's debts. And on March 31, the 
United Nations hosted the International Donors Conference for Haiti 
where leaders of the world's nations pledged $9.9 billion in aid, 
including $5.3 billion for the first 2 years. I'm encouraged by this 
progress, and I'm inspired by the outpouring of support for Haiti from 
the international community.
  The people of Haiti are poor, but they are physically and spiritually 
resilient. I know with the support of the international community they 
will recover from this tragedy and create a better future for their 
children.
  Mr. Speaker and Members, in fact, Haiti is the poorest nation in the 
Western Hemisphere, and Haiti has experienced extreme devastation for 
many years. It was just 2008 when they were hit with four hurricanes 
and they had not had the opportunity to even try to recover from those 
hurricanes. At that time, there were many deaths, many houses were 
destroyed, the roads and the bridges were destroyed. And coming on the 
heels of that, they were confronted with this most devastating 
earthquake.
  There are those who look at Haiti and say we don't know whether or 
not this nation can survive. There are those who say, you know, they 
had problems with governance. They have lived under dictators. They 
have lived under a Catholic priest who practiced liberation theology 
where there was a coup d'etat that ousted him, and it goes on and on 
and on.
  But there are many of us who look at this earthquake as opportunity. 
Despite the severe loss and the devastation, we believe that there is 
now a real commitment by the world community to come to the aid of 
Haiti. We believe that there is a real commitment to governance in a 
new way. We believe that there is a real commitment not only by USAID, 
the State Department, and the government of our own country, but by 
other governments around the world to include Haiti in the 
redevelopment.
  And so despite the devastation, I think that many of us are looking 
forward to the opportunity to help Haiti become the country that it can 
become. This is going to be a lot of hard work, but this debt relief 
will go a long way toward helping in that redevelopment.
  With this debt relief that means that Haiti will not have to repay 
debt. They can invest that money in health and education and 
infrastructure; and despite the fact that I spent many hours working 
not only on this debt relief bill but working with my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle, I've learned a lot working with the Jubilee 
Committee and with Mr. Bachus about what we can do if we cooperate. And 
that we have been doing.
  And so we move forward to help redevelop Haiti, and I would 
appreciate the support and the vote of my colleagues for this debt 
relief legislation.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) that the House suspend the 
rules and concur in the Senate amendments to the bill, H.R. 4573.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the Senate amendments were concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________