[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23483]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      INTRODUCING THE EMERGENCY RELIEF FOR CARIBBEAN NATIONALS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 8, 2004

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, epic floods, death, and 
starvation. Unfortunately for the people of Haiti, Grenada and the 
Cayman Islands these are not Biblical times of which I speak, but the 
here and now.
  Mr. Speaker, Tropical Storm Jeanne and Hurricane Ivan have 
particularly devastated Haiti, Grenada and the Cayman Islands. There 
are no structures in place to respond to the needs of the populations, 
especially in areas like Gonaives, St. George and Grand Cayman, where 
Jeanne and Ivan hit hardest.
  The unusual and extraordinary hurricane activity in the Caribbean 
during the 2004 season has prevented many Caribbean nationals in the 
United States from returning to their home countries, and for these 
countries to receive their repatriation.
  Responding to these dire needs, I have introduced the ``Emergency 
Relief for Caribbean Nationals Act,'' which designates Haiti, Grenada 
and the Cayman Islands under section 24 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act in order to make nationals of those countries eligible 
for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
  Mr. Speaker, if there was ever a time for the federal government to 
grant Temporary Protected Status it is now.
  TPS has been granted in the past to nationals of Sudan, Liberia, 
Guinea-Bissau, Somalia, Burundi, Bosnia-Herzegovina, El Salvador and 
Guatemala due to political unrest in those countries.
  Also, TPS was granted to Hondurans and Nicaraguans after Hurricane 
Mitch in 1998 and to Salvadorans after an earthquake in 2001, and to 
Montserratians in 1995 after a volcano eruption. Sadly, Tropical Storm 
Jeanne and Hurricane Ivan caused similar devastation and suffering in 
Haiti, Grenada and the Cayman Islands, and in the same way merit TPS.
  The startling facts of the natural disaster in the Caribbean are the 
following:
  Tropical Storm Jeanne came ashore on the Island of Hispaniola, 
lashing first the Dominican Republic and then Haiti on September 16. 
When Jeanne hit, Haiti was already struggling to deal with political 
instability and the aftermath of serious floods in May. Nevertheless, 
Tropical Storm Jeanne hit Haiti with devastating force. More than 1,500 
people are now known to have died and more than 1,000 are missing. 
Also, more than 300,000 people have been left homeless.
  The situation is so calamitous that Haiti's Prime Minister Grerard 
Latortue said after visiting the stricken northern city of Gonoies, 
``We have a problem with bodies: there is a risk of epidemic. If you 
can picture this: there is no electricity, the morgues are not working, 
there is water everywhere.''
  Only weeks earlier, Hurricane Ivan, the strongest storm to hit the 
Caribbean in a decade, pounded Grenada. Hurricane Ivan killed 39 people 
in Grenada and left 40,000 of its 90,000 people living in 183 houses, 
schools and churches that have been converted into shelters. Grenada's 
capital, St. George, was hit by 125 mph winds--flattening homes and 
disrupting power. The storm destroyed the city's emergency operations 
center, the main prison, many schools, and damaged the main hospital.
  Now an environmental health hazard has arisen in Grenada. The runoff, 
which contains pathogens from several sources, including human waste, 
is contaminating rivers where people are washing and bathing.
  Thereafter, Hurricane Ivan blasted the Cayman Islands with 150 mph 
winds that ripped roofs off houses, uprooted trees and caused flooding 
across the British territory. 15 to 20 percent of homes on the eastern 
part of the Cayman Islands were completely destroyed, and another 50 
percent suffered significant damage.
  The extraordinary and temporary conditions caused by nature, and 
resulting in floods, epidemics and other environmental disasters in 
Haiti, Grenada, and Cayman Islands warrant granting their nationals 
Temporary Protected Status. Giving TPS to people from Haiti, Grenada 
and the Cayman Islands is consistent with the national interest of the 
United States, and denotes the values and morals that have made this 
nation strong.
  Therefore, I urge you to cosponsor the ``Emergency Relief for 
Caribbean Nationals Act.''

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