[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 19890]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       PROVIDE ADEQUATE HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE CARIBBEAN

  (Ms. LEE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to this 
devastating hurricane season's effect on the Caribbean. I urge Members 
of this body to cosponsor H. Con. Res. 496, a bipartisan effort 
supporting adequate humanitarian assistance to our neighbors in the 
Caribbean.
  Americans, especially Florida and Californians, know firsthand the 
suffering caused by natural disasters, hurricanes, fires, tornadoes and 
earthquakes. Four hurricanes in 5 weeks, over 1,700 dead, 441,000 
individuals displaced. More than 15 Caribbean countries are devastated.
  In Grenada, the schools will not open until 2005. The land is barren 
and countless homes are destroyed. Many other Caribbean countries are 
so focused on assisting their neighbors that they have not even had the 
time and opportunity to assess their own damage.
  Economies are overwhelmed. The tourism industry just barely recovered 
from 9/11, and now more harsh blows. Primary crops, bananas, nutmeg and 
sugar, destroyed.
  Mr. Speaker, we really do need to step up and lend a helping hand. We 
cannot sit back and wait as people suffer in Florida and in the 
Caribbean.
  Please support H. Con. Res. 496. Again, this is a bipartisan effort 
to support humanitarian assistance to our neighbors in the Caribbean.

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