[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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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

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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.

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