[Senate Report 111-225]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 468
111th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 111-225
======================================================================
HAITI EMPOWERMENT, ASSISTANCE, AND
REBUILDING ACT OF 2010
_______
July 19, 2010.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Kerry, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,
submitted the following
REPORT
[To accompany S. 3317]
The Committee on Foreign Relations, having had under
consideration the bill S. 3317, to authorize appropriations for
fiscal years 2010 through 2014 to promote long-term,
sustainable rebuilding and development in Haiti, and for other
purposes, reports favorably thereon with amendments and
recommends that the bill (as amended) do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose..........................................................1
II. Committee Action.................................................1
III. Discussion.......................................................2
IV. Cost Estimate....................................................5
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................6
VI. Changes in Existing Law..........................................7
I. Purpose
The purpose of S. 3317 is to support the sustainable
recovery and long-term rebuilding of Haiti in a manner that
encourages greater economic equality, embraces Haitian
independence, self-reliance, democratic governance, and
efficiency, and supports collaboration with the Haitian
government and consultation with Haitian and international
civil society.
II. Committee Action
S. 3317 was introduced by Senators Kerry, Corker, Cardin
and Durbin on May 5, 2010. The committee held a public hearing
on the legislation on May 19, 2010. At the hearing, the
committee received testimony from U.S. Ambassador to Haiti,
Kenneth Merten, USAID Coordinator for Disaster Response in
Haiti, Christopher Milligan, and a panel of private sector
witnesses. In addition, the committee benefited from studies of
the situation in Haiti undertaken by the committee's majority
and minority staffs. Reports summarizing the staff's findings
and recommendations are contained in S.Prt. 111-50 and S.Prt.
111-51.
On May 25, 2010, the committee considered the bill and
adopted two amendments by voice vote:
A chairman's amendment in the nature of a substitute
incorporating changes to the bill including additional
language to highlight the importance of providing high
quality, publicly-funded education in Haiti, and
clarifications related to Government Accountability
Office oversight efforts.
An amendment offered by Senator Lugar striking
authorizations of appropriations for assistance to
Haiti for Fiscal Years 2012-2014.
The committee ordered the bill as amended to be favorably
reported by voice vote.
III. Discussion
The Haiti Empowerment, Assistance and Rebuilding Act of
2010 (S. 3317) authorizes assistance to support the sustainable
recovery and long-term rebuilding of Haiti in a manner that
encourages greater economic equality, embraces Haitian
independence, self-reliance, democratic governance, and
efficiency, and supports collaboration with the Haitian
government and consultation with Haitian and international
civil society. As amended by the committee, the legislation
authorizes up to $2 billion over two years to support the
reconstruction and rebuilding of Haiti and to assist the people
of Haiti in recovering from the devastation of the January 12,
2010 earthquake.
The United States and the international community acted in
the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, providing
significant assistance and supplies to help ensure consistent
access to food, water, medical supplies and other basic
services to the Haitian people.
But the committee believes that the United States' role
goes beyond rescue operations in Haiti. The earthquake provides
an opportunity for the United States and other donors to help
the Government of Haiti reverse endemic poverty and
environmental degradation that has plagued Haiti long before
this latest tragedy, and to rebuild the country in a way that
leaves Haiti better off and better prepared the next time a
natural disaster strikes.
Before the earthquake, Haiti was already the poorest
country in the Western Hemisphere. Most Haitians lived on less
than a dollar a day, one in eight children died before their
fifth birthday, and 40% were not enrolled in school. 120,000
Haitians were HIV-positive and rural Haitians were plagued by
malnutrition. Electricity, garbage removal, and access to safe
water proved unattainable aims for most.
S. 3317 authorizes appropriations and provides policy
guidance in order to help Haitians build a sustainable
foundation--physical, social and economic--for a stronger and
more stable society.
Specifically, this legislation establishes a policy
framework that emphasizes just, democratic and competent
governance. It seeks to promote improved security, economic
growth and environmentally sustainable programs through
investments in people, including women and children. It tasks
USAID with developing a comprehensive rebuilding and
development strategy for Haiti, and it establishes a Senior
Haiti Policy Coordinator at the State Department to advise and
coordinate U.S. policy towards Haiti.
As the United States increases support to Haiti, we also
recognize that Haiti's own government, civil society, and
people must take primary responsibility for lifting their
country out of crisis and laying the groundwork for future
growth and prosperity.
Haiti's recovery must belong to the Haitian people.
However, the United States should also use its resources and
expertise to help the Government of Haiti design a feasible and
comprehensive strategy for rebuilding, and begin to implement
those plans. The United States can be a catalyst for change in
Haiti by helping to build capacity in the Government of Haiti,
improving coordination among donors, and remaining dedicated to
the long-term stability of the country. Haiti's future success
depends on a government that can inspire its people, work with
the private sector, attract investment, and marshal resources
to provide basic services, security, and rule of law.
The sections below describe specific provisions in S. 3317.
Section 4. Statement of Policy
This section establishes a strategic policy framework to
affirm and build a long-term partnership with Haiti and ensure
U.S. assistance efforts will comprehensively address critical
priorities, in support of the Government of Haiti and the
Haitian people that will encourage greater economic equality
and embrace Haitian independence, self-reliance, democratic
governance and efficiency. Key sectors include:
Just, democratic, and competent governance. This includes
assistance to promote an independent and effective
judicial system, parliamentary strengthening, political
pluralism, equality and the rule of law, transparency
and accountability among all branches of government and
judicial proceedings, including supporting anti-
corruption efforts, and security sector reform and
strengthening that includes instilling public order and
confidence in, and increasing the capacity of, Haitian
security institutions.
Economic growth and economic sustainability. This includes
assistance to promote investments in infrastructure,
such as transport and energy, improved urban
development and management by identifying, developing
and implementing a long-term framework for future
growth and development in Port-au-Prince as well as
implementing an appropriate decentralization strategy
to develop secondary cities. This framework should
ensure appropriate environmental and resource
management, disaster response plans, and expanded
access to basic shelter, affordable urban housing,
energy, clean water, sanitation services, and essential
urban services and infrastructure. Rebuilding Haiti's
private sector and competitiveness in order to foster
employment generation and encourage investment, and
improving food security and rural and agricultural
development should also be priorities. In the immediate
term, efforts should be made to procure locally the
goods and services required for reconstruction.
Environmental sustainability. This includes designing
assistance programs that are respectful and restorative
of Haiti's natural resources and build community-level
resilience to environmental and weather-related
impacts, including programs to reduce and mitigate the
effects of natural disaster, programs to address land
use, land tenure, land for reconstruction, and land
price escalation issues, and programs and associated
support to reduce deforestation and increase the rates
of afforestation and reforestation in Haiti, including
through diversification of Haiti's energy sources.
Investments in people. This includes assistance focused
particularly on the needs of women and children,
including rehabilitating Haiti's education sector and
strengthening Haiti's child welfare system. Haiti
currently has an insufficient number of schools, and
private school fees put education out of reach for many
families. One of the objectives of this legislation is
to help improve Haiti's education sector with the goal
of providing access to high quality, publicly-funded
education for all children. Progress toward this goal
will require training teachers, providing consistent
and subsidized wages for teachers and establishing a
system of standards and accreditation for schools.
Haiti's education problems exist not only at the
primary school level but also for secondary and
tertiary education. Indeed, without a serious
commitment to education at all levels, the prospects
for sustainable recovery in Haiti are slim.
The committee urges that due regard and attention is given
to increasing the institutional capacity of the Government of
Haiti at the national, local, and community levels so that the
Government can better provide basic services to its population,
including health care, education, and other basic social
services, and will be an effective steward of state resources
through a transparent process of equitable resource allocation
that includes a broad range of participation from Haitian civil
society.
The committee believes it is important to encourage people-
to-people engagement between the United States and Haiti,
through increased educational, technical, and cultural
exchanges and other methods. The committee also urges
significant contributions to a multilateral trust fund
established to enhance the reconstruction and rebuilding of
Haiti. Development and rebuilding efforts in Haiti should
support all levels of government in Haiti, including national
and local governments, so that the Government and people of
Haiti lead the vision for reconstruction and rebuilding of
Haiti. Such an approach will help ensure that: resources are
channeled in concrete and specific ways toward key sectoral
objectives identified by the Government of Haiti and its
people; feasible steps are taken to recognize and rectify the
social injustice of poverty and gender inequality and to
decrease the vulnerability of the poor, through job creation,
the provision of health care, the provision of safe shelter and
settlements, food security, and education; communities are
placed at the center of the rebuilding process, by employing
local labor and consulting local leaders and communities for
their experience and vision; and rebuilding and development
programs are environmentally sustainable and respectful and
restorative of Haiti's natural resources.
Finally, the Haiti Rebuilding and Development Strategy
prepared pursuant to section 6 of the legislation should build
from and support existing assessments for Haiti, including the
Post Disaster Needs Assessment, the Government of Haiti's
Action Plan for the Reconstruction and National Development of
Haiti, other existing development plans for Haiti, including
the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Haiti, and shared
principles in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and
the Accra Agenda for Action.
Section 5. Senior Haiti Coordinator
The legislation mandates the creation of a Senior Haiti
Policy Coordinator, who shall be appointed by the President, to
be responsible for advising, overseeing, and coordinating all
policies of the United States Government related to Haiti. The
committee does not envision the Coordinator being responsible
for directing, overseeing or implementing U.S. assistance
programs. Rather, the task of the Coordinator is to be a
central policy coordination point for all issues related to
Haiti, as well as to work closely with the USAID Administrator
to develop the Haiti rebuilding strategy.
Section 6. Haiti Rebuilding and Development Strategy
The legislation directs USAID to prepare and submit a
comprehensive rebuilding and development strategy for Haiti, in
consultation with the Government of Haiti, civil society
organizations, private sector entities, and other implementing
partners, and in coordination with the international community.
The strategy should include specific and measurable goals,
benchmarks and time frames, an implementation plan to achieve
policy objectives, and a detailed monitoring and evaluation
plan tied to quantifiable and measurable indicators. To ensure
appropriate accountability, the committee includes several
reporting requirements in the legislation linked to the
strategy and also mandates that the Government Accountability
Office monitor and report on the Haiti rebuilding and
development strategy.
IV. Cost Estimate
In accordance with Rule XXVI, paragraph 11(a) of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee provides this
estimate of the costs of this legislation prepared by the
Congressional Budget Office.
June 25, 2010.
Hon. John F. Kerry,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 3317, the Haiti
Empowerment, Assistance, and Rebuilding Act of 2010.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is John Chin.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf,
Director.
Enclosure.
The Haiti Empowerment, Assistance, and Rebuilding Act of 2010
S. 3317 would authorize the appropriation of $2 billion
over the 2010-2011 period to support reconstruction and
development in Haiti, which suffered from a damaging earthquake
on January 12, 2010. In addition, the bill would establish a
position of Senior Haiti Coordinator in the Department of State
to advise, oversee, and coordinate U.S. policy towards Haiti
for five years. Based on information from the Administration,
CBO estimates that about $1 million a year over the 2012-2015
period would be needed to fund the operating expenses
(including salary, benefits, supplies, travel, etc.) for the
Senior Haiti Coordinator and a small support staff of five to
seven people.
CBO estimates that implementing S. 3317 would cost about $2
billion over the 2010-2015 period, assuming that the authorized
and estimated amounts are appropriated each year and that
outlays follow historical spending patterns for similar
programs. The estimated budgetary impact of S. 3317 is shown in
the following table. The costs of this legislation fall within
budget function 150 (international affairs).
Changes in Spending Subject to Appropriation Due to S. 3317
By Fiscal Year, in Millions of Dollars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2010-2015
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Authorization Level............ 1,500 500 1 1 1 1 2,005
Estimated Outlays........................ 263 641 540 325 138 52 1,959
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Note: Numbers do not sum to totals because of rounding.
Enacting S. 3317 would not affect direct spending or
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply.
S. 3317 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is John Chin. This
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to Rule XXVI, paragraph 11(b) of the Standing
Rules of the Senate, the committee has determined that there is
no regulatory impact as a result of this legislation.
VI. Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with Rule XXVI, paragraph 12 of the Standing
Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill,
as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be
omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in
italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in
roman).
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
* * * * * * *
SEC. 620[J] M. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE TO SECURITY FORCES.
(a) In General.--No assistance shall be furnished under
this Act or the Arms Export Control Act to any unit of the
security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of State
has credible evidence that such unit has committed gross
violations of human rights.
* * * * * * *