Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank my distinguished colleague, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel from the Boogie Down Bronx, for yielding me the time.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly want to take a moment of personal privilege just to thank Chairman Engel for his friendship, his support, and his extraordinary leadership year after year on behalf of the people of New York City and the Nation as a critically important member of the House Democratic Caucus and a tremendous, legendary public servant.

Today, we vote on H.R. 5586, the Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative Act, a bill to upgrade the U.S. foreign assistance strategy to Haiti.

Haiti was the first nation in the Caribbean to gain independence. It is the world's first Black-led republic, home to resilient and entrepreneurial people. Haiti has tremendous potential to thrive as a free, fair, and prosperous democracy.

I am proud to represent a vibrant community of Haitian Americans in Brooklyn and Queens, including Little Haiti in Brooklyn, which is a neighboring congressional district represented by Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.

As much of the diaspora has communicated to me, unfortunately, Haiti still faces severe challenges in its quest to achieve full prosperity for its people and the opportunity to live in a free, democratic society.

This January marked the 10-year anniversary of the catastrophic Haiti earthquake that killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Since 2010, Haiti has gone through additional hardships like Hurricane Matthew, fuel shortages, food insecurity, and now the coronavirus pandemic.

Many Haitians are frustrated by the corruption, poverty, and undemocratic practices on the island. Since 2018, mass demonstrations in Haiti protested the country's economic situation and the Haitian Government's apparent misappropriation of the Petrocaribe oil dollars.

Tens of thousands of protesters also demanded the resignation of the current President, who has been ruling by decree since January 2020.

H.R. 5586 directs the State Department and USAID to evaluate the effectiveness and shortcomings of U.S. foreign aid to Haiti over the past 10 years. The bill also directs these two agencies to devise new approaches to reduce poverty and promote good governance.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I thank Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel and Ranking Member McCaul, Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairman Sires and Ranking Member Rooney, Congresswoman Ann Wagner, and Democrats and Republicans on both sides of the aisle, as well as the organizations supporting this bipartisan bill.

The United States should always stand with our neighbor in the Western Hemisphere and the Haitian people as they fight for a self- governing, democratic, and prosperous nation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill.

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