    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [July 1, 1993]
    [Pages 972-973]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement by the Press Secretary on Assistance to Haiti
    July 1, 1993

        On June 25, 1993, the President signed Presidential Determination
    No. 93-28 on the Haiti Reconstruction and Reconciliation Fund. The
    determination, signed after careful consultation with the relevant
    committees of the Congress, waives legal restrictions on providing
    assistance to Haiti in order to provide up to about $37.5 million from
    prior year Haiti foreign military financing and development assistance
    funds and from prior year Bolivia and Peru economic support and foreign
    military funds.
        President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who requested outside assistance,
    including for military professionalization, in a letter to the U.N. and
    OAS Secretaries-General, has indicated his agreement with these broad
    objectives.
        This assistance package is designed to support negotiations to
    restore democracy to Haiti and the implementation of a phased political
    solution. Disbursement will be carefully timed to support the
    negotiations and respond to concrete progress toward restoring
    democracy. The Department of State is notifying the relevant committees
    of its intention to carry out the reprogrammings this Presidential
    determination authorizes and will consult further with the Congress on
    the military assistance component of this assistance package.

    [[Page 973]]

        Our current aid program in Haiti of $52 million consists solely of
    humanitarian assistance, feeding and health activities, funneled through
    nongovernmental organizations. The new assistance package would provide
    continued support for the U.N./OAS International Civilian Mission ($10
    million), which monitors human rights in Haiti; economic support and
    stabilization once the democratic government of President Aristide is
    restored (up to about $12.7 million); the beginning of an administration
    of justice program to strengthen democratic institutions such as the
    Justice Ministry ($3 million), and including the creation and training
    of a new civilian police force ($4 million) as well as a modest,
    nonlethal military professionalization program to reduce its size and
    train it to address the needs of Haiti's society and missions set forth
    in Haiti's Constitution, particularly civic action, engineering,
    disaster relief, and coastal patrol (about $2.1 million).

    Note: The Presidential determination is listed in Appendix D at the end
    of this volume.