Congressional Black Caucus
Floor Speech
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Ms. WATERS. I would like to thank the chairlady of the Congressional Black Caucus, Barbara Lee, for the leadership that she has provided on this issue since this disaster. But of course Barbara Lee has been involved in assistance to Haiti public policy-wise and with the other kinds of disasters that have confronted Haiti over a long period of time. And so I join with her in all of the efforts to do what we can to assist the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti.
I have spent a good part of my career trying to be of assistance public policy-wise and again when these disasters have struck Haiti. And so when the earthquake took place, we were all stunned, and we all immediately began to make inquiries of the USAID and the U.N. and the Red Cross, and all of those agencies responsible for disaster relief. And all of those inquiries and briefings having been going on every day, headed by Congresswoman Barbara Lee.
I decided at one point I had to go to Haiti. I just had to be there to talk with some of the people that I have worked with over the past, to talk with President Preval, and to see what we could do additionally to be of assistance to our agencies.
I want to just tell you that USAID is working very, very hard. The U.N., working very, very hard. And I want you to know that USAID employees were sleeping on cots inside the embassy. Many of their homes were destroyed. Still, there were six missing persons when I was there from USAID and the State Department. In addition to that, the U.N. lost 40 people, but yet they got up every day with this disaster, doing the best that they could. Are there problems? There certainly are, problems with logistics and coordination, all of that.
You have seen the images on television. You know how terrible this destruction was. The number of people, the thousands of people, up to estimates of 250,000 who have lost their lives. Well, it is worse than you even see on television. The destruction is massive. Looking at the buildings, they are just pancaked, the buildings that are in rumbles, the stone and debris that is in the street. It is absolutely heartbreaking and painful to experience.
However, we are doing everything that we can possibly do to give support. I have concentrated on debt relief for Haiti. Yesterday I introduced legislation to require the Secretary of the Treasury to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States within the multilateral financial institutions to cancel all of Haiti's remaining debt. The bill has 30 cosponsors, including Chairwoman Barbara Lee, Donald Payne, and others.
I sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, urging him to support debt cancellation for Haiti. My letter was signed by 94 Members of Congress, including Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, and Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Canceling Haiti's debt will free up the country's meager resources, allowing it to begin meeting its immediate and long-term needs.
Debt cancellation is critical for Haiti's future, and it is an important component of the overall aid we can provide. There is not enough time this evening to go through all that we need to share about debt relief, but this is a beginning.
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