II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1576 

To measure the progress of relief, recovery, reconstruction, and development 

efforts in Haiti following the earthquake of January 12, 2010, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011 

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Mr. KERRY, and Mr. NELSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To measure the progress of relief, recovery, reconstruction, 

and development efforts in Haiti following the earthquake of January 12, 2010, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Assessing Progress in 

5 Haiti Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) On January 12, 2010, an earthquake meas2 uring 7.0 on the Richter magnitude scale struck the 

3 country of Haiti. 

4 (2) According to the United States Geological 

5 Survey (USGS)— 

6 (A) the earthquake epicenter was located 

7 approximately 15 miles southwest of Port-au8 Prince, the capital of Haiti; and 

9 (B) the earthquake was followed by 59 

10 aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 or greater, the 

11 most severe measuring 6.0. 

12 (3) According to the Government of Haiti, more 

13 than 316,000 people died as a result of the earth14 quake, including 103 citizens of the United States 

15 and more than 100 United Nations personnel. 

16 (4) According to the United Nations and the 

17 International Organization for Migration— 

18 (A) an estimated 3,000,000 people were di19 rectly affected by the disaster, nearly one-third 

20 of the country’s population; and 

21 (B) more than 2,100,000 people were dis22 placed from their homes to settlements. 

23 (5) Casualty numbers and infrastructure dam24 age, including to roads, ports, hospitals, and residen25 tial dwellings, place the earthquake as the worst 


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1 cataclysm to hit Haiti in over two centuries and, 

2 proportionally, one of the world’s worst natural dis3 asters in modern times. 

4 (6) The Post Disaster Needs Assessment 

5 (PDNA) conducted by the Government of Haiti, the 

6 United Nations, the World Bank, the Inter-Amer7 ican Development Bank, and other experts estimates 

8 that damage and economic losses totaled 

9 $7,804,000,000, approximately 120 percent of Hai10 ti’s gross domestic product in 2009. 

11 (7) Haiti is the poorest, least developed country 

12 in the Western Hemisphere with, prior to the earth13 quake— 

14 (A) more than 70 percent of Haitians liv15 ing on less than $2 per day; and 

16 (B) a ranking of 149 out of 182 countries 

17 on the United Nations Human Development 

18 Index. 

19 (8) House Resolution 1021, which was passed 

20 on January 21, 2010, on a vote of 411 to 1 ex21 pressed— 

22 (A) the House of Representatives’ ‘‘deepest 

23 condolences and sympathy for the horrific loss 

24 of life’’ caused by the earthquake; and 


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1 (B) bipartisan support for Haiti’s recovery 

2 and reconstruction. 

3 (9) The initial emergency response of the men 

4 and women of the United States Government, led by 

5 the United States Agency for International Develop6 ment and United States Southern Command, was 

7 swift and resolute. 

8 (10) United States urban search and rescue 

9 (USAR) teams were immediately activated after the 

10 earthquake and deployed from Fairfax County, Vir11 ginia, Los Angeles County, California, Miami-Dade, 

12 Florida, the City of Miami, Florida, and Virginia 

13 Beach, Virginia, to assist the United States Agency 

14 for International Development (USAID) Disaster 

15 Assistance Response Team (DART), and New York 

16 City’s first responders asked the Office of U.S. For17 eign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) to activate a New 

18 York City urban search and rescue shortly there19 after. 

20 (11) A month after the earthquake, the House 

21 of Representatives unanimously passed House Reso22 lution 1059 which expressed gratitude to these 

23 USAR units, and highlighted that the 511 United 

24 States rescue workers comprised roughly one-third 

25 of the entire international USAR effort in Haiti, and 


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1 more than 130 people were rescued from under the 

2 rubble in Haiti by these units. 

3 (12) Individuals, businesses, and philanthropic 

4 organizations across the United States and through5 out the international community responded in sup6 port of Haiti and its populace during this crisis, 

7 sometimes in innovative ways such as fundraising 

8 through text messaging. 

9 (13) The Haitian diaspora in the United States, 

10 which was integral to emergency relief efforts— 

11 (A) has annually contributed significant 

12 monetary support to Haiti through remittances; 

13 and 

14 (B) continues to seek opportunities to 

15 partner with the United States Agency for 

16 International Development and other agencies 

17 to substantively contribute to the reconstruction 

18 of Haiti. 

19 (14) Significant challenges still remain in Haiti 

20 as it works to recover and rebuild. 

21 (15) According to the International Organiza22 tion for Migration, approximately 680,000 people re23 main in spontaneous and organized camps in Haiti. 

24 (16) According to numerous nongovernmental 

25 organizations and United States contractors, the 


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1 pace of reconstruction has lagged significantly be2 hind the original emergency relief phase. 

3 (17) The widespread irregularities that oc4 curred in the elections held in Haiti on November 

5 28, 2010, led to outbursts of violence which under6 mined the recovery efforts. 

7 (18) On October 21, 2010, an outbreak of chol8 era was detected in the Lower Artibonite region. 

9 (19) Initial efforts to contain the epidemic were 

10 disrupted by Hurricane Toma ́s and resulting wide11 spread flooding, which led to the spreading and en12 trenchment of the disease throughout the country. 

13 (20) According to the Haitian Ministry of Pub14 lic Health and Population, as of March 28, 2011— 

15 (A) approximately 4,766 people have died 

16 from cholera; and 

17 (B) approximately 270,991 have been in18 fected from the disease. 

19 (21) According to the Pan American Health 

20 Organization and the Centers for Disease Control 

21 and Prevention, cholera could spread to as many as 

22 400,000 people within the first year of the epidemic, 

23 potentially causing 7,600 deaths at the current case 

24 fatality rate. 


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1 (22) The United States has provided more than 

2 $62,523,017 worth of assistance to combat the chol3 era epidemic, including by assisting with stockpiling 

4 health commodities, equipping cholera treatments 

5 centers, providing public information, and improving 

6 water and sanitation systems. 

7 (23) The efforts to combat the cholera epidemic 

8 have helped to drive the mortality rate from cholera 

9 down from nearly 7 percent to 1.7 percent of all 

10 contracted cases as of February 25, 2011. 

11 (24) Throughout the series of crises, the people 

12 of Haiti continue to demonstrate unwavering resil13 ience, dignity, and courage. 

14 (25) On March 20, 2011, presidential and par15 liamentary elections were held in Haiti without 

16 major disruptions or problems. 

17 (26) At the international donors conference 

18 ‘‘Towards a New Future for Haiti’’ held on March 

19 31, 2010, 59 donors pledged over $5,000,000,000 to 

20 support Haiti. 

21 (27) The United Nations Office of the Special 

22 Envoy for Haiti estimates that nearly 

23 $1,900,000,000 has been disbursed, with an addi24 tional amount of approximately $2,000,000,000 

25 committed. 


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1 (28) Haiti will need the support of the inter2 national community in order to confront the ongoing 

3 cholera epidemic and to promote reconstruction and 

4 development. 

5 SEC. 3. REPORT. 

6 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than six months 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President, 

8 in consultation with the heads of all relevant agencies, in9 cluding the Department of State, the United States Agen10 cy for International Development, the Department of De11 fense, the Department of Health and Human Services, 

12 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall 

13 transmit to Congress a report on the status of post-earth14 quake humanitarian, reconstruction, and development ef15 forts in Haiti, including efforts to prevent the spread of 

16 cholera and treat persons infected with the disease. 

17 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection 

18 (a) shall include a description, analysis, and evaluation of 

19 the— 

20 (1) overall progress of relief, recovery, and re21 construction in Haiti, including— 

22 (A) programs and projects of the United 

23 States Government; 

24 (B) programs and projects to protect vul25 nerable populations, such as internally displaced 


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1 persons, children, women and girls, and persons 

2 with disabilities; and 

3 (C) projects to improve water, sanitation, 

4 and health, and plans for improvements in 

5 these areas in the long-term; 

6 (2) extent to which United States and inter7 national efforts are in line with the priorities of the 

8 Government of Haiti and are actively engaging and 

9 working through Haitian ministries and local au10 thorities; 

11 (3) coordination among United States Govern12 ment agencies, and coordination between the United 

13 States Government and United Nations agencies, 

14 international financial institutions, and other bilat15 eral donors; 

16 (4) mechanisms for communicating the progress 

17 of recovery and reconstruction efforts to Haitian 

18 citizens, as well as recommendations on how these 

19 can be improved; 

20 (5) mechanisms through which Haitian civil so21 ciety, including vulnerable populations, is actively 

22 participating in all major stages of recovery and re23 construction efforts, and recommendations on how 

24 these can be improved; 


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1 (6) mechanisms through which the Haitian di2 aspora is involved in recovery and reconstruction ef3 forts; and 

4 (7) suitability of Haiti to receive aliens who are 

5 removed, excluded, or deported from the United 

6 States pursuant to United States law, and steps 

7 Haiti is taking to strengthen its capacity in this re8 gard. 

9 (c) USE OF PREVIOUSLY APPROPRIATED FUNDS.— 

10 Funding for the report required under subsection (a) shall 

11 derive from existing discretionary funds of the depart12 ments and agencies specified in such subsection. 

Æ 


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