III 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 392 

Expressing the Sense of the Senate on the humanitarian catastrophe caused 

by the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 21, 2010 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. DODD, Mr. 

LEAHY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. BURRIS, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. SANDERS, 

Mr. BENNET, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. DURBIN, 

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. BROWN, Mrs. MURRAY, 

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. LAUTENBERG, 

Mr. KIRK, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. BAYH, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. 

CANTWELL, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. CARDIN, 

Ms. LANDRIEU, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. KOHL, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. AKAKA, 

Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mrs. HAGAN, Mr. REED, Mr. CORKER, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. KAUFMAN, 

and Mr. REID) submitted the following resolution; which was considered 

and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the Sense of the Senate on the humanitarian 

catastrophe caused by the January 12, 2010 earthquake 

in Haiti. 

Whereas, on January 12, 2010, an earthquake measuring 7.0 

on the Richter scale and its aftershocks devastated Portau-Prince, Haiti and the surrounding areas, killing potentially 100,000 people, injuring hundreds of thousands 

more people, and leaving many hundreds of thousands of 

people homeless; 


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•SRES 392 ATS 

Whereas Haiti, which is the poorest country in the Western 

Hemisphere, has an estimated 54 percent of its population living on less than $1 per day, 120,000 people living with HIV, 29,333 new cases of Tuberculosis reported 

in 2007, and nearly 400,000 children living in orphanages; 

Whereas, despite the heroic efforts of the Haitian people and 

the support of the international community, Haiti remains seriously weakened by prior natural disasters, including an unprecedented string of devastating tropical 

storms in 2008 that left almost 500 Haitians dead and 

affected hundreds of thousands more people during an 

acute food crisis; 

Whereas these disasters have grievously undermined Haiti’s 

struggle to rebuild its infrastructure and to restore critical services related to health, education, poverty, and 

hunger to create effective governmental and nongovernmental institutions; 

Whereas Haiti has struggled for many years to overcome systemic threats to public health and shortages of food, potable water, and cooking fuel, significant environmental 

degradation, and political and economic fragility; 

Whereas, on January 13, 2010, President Obama stated, ‘‘I 

have directed my administration to respond with a swift, 

coordinated, and aggressive effort to save lives. The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United 

States in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble, and to deliver the humanitarian relief 

– the food, water, and medicine – that Haitians will need 

in the coming days.’’; 


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•SRES 392 ATS 

Whereas on January 13, 2010, Rajiv Shah, the Director of 

the United States Agency for International Development 

stated that the United States Government is ‘‘working 

aggressively and in a highly coordinated way across the 

Federal Government to bring all of the assets and capacities we have to bear to quickly and effectively provide as 

much assistance as possible.’’; 

Whereas, on January 14, 2010, President Obama pledged 

$100,000,000 in immediate assistance to the people of 

Haiti, and dispatched the 82nd Airborne Division, a Marine Expeditionary Unit, the USS Carl Vinson, the USS 

Bataan, the United States Navy hospital ship, the USS 

Comfort, and several Disaster Assistant Response Teams, 

to aid in relief efforts; 

Whereas the international community, which has generously 

provided security, development, and humanitarian assistance to Haiti, has suffered a substantial blow during the 

earthquake with the collapse of the headquarters of the 

United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti with approximately 150 staff members inside, including the head 

of the mission, He ́di Annabi, representing the largest single loss of life in United Nations history; and 

Whereas, despite the aforementioned losses, the United Nations continues to coordinate efforts on the ground in 

Haiti, and the United Nations Secretary General Ban KiMoon has pledged that ‘‘the community of nations will 

unite in its resolve and help Haiti to overcome this latest 

trauma and begin the work of social and economic reconstruction that will carry this proud nation forward.’’. 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 


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1 (1) expresses profound sympathy to, and un2 wavering support for, the people of Haiti, who have 

3 suffered over many years and face catastrophic con4 ditions in the aftermath of the January 12, 2010 

5 earthquake, and sympathy to the members of the 

6 international community in Haiti, including the staff 

7 of the United States Embassy in Port-au-Prince; 

8 (2) applauds the rapid and concerted mobiliza9 tion by President Obama to provide immediate emer10 gency humanitarian assistance to Haiti, and the 

11 leadership of Secretary of State Clinton, USAID Ad12 ministrator Shah, and General Fraser of the United 

13 States Southern Command in marshaling United 

14 States Government resources and personnel to ad15 dress both the short- and long-term crises in Haiti; 

16 (3) urges that all appropriate efforts be made 

17 to secure the safety of Haitian orphans; 

18 (4) urges that all appropriate efforts be made 

19 to sustain assistance to Haiti beyond the immediate 

20 humanitarian crisis to help the Haitian people with 

21 appropriate humanitarian, developmental, and infra22 structure assistance needed to overcome the effects 

23 of past disasters and the earthquake, and to secure 

24 a more stable and sustainable future; 


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•SRES 392 ATS 

1 (5) expresses appreciation for the international 

2 community’s ongoing and renewed commitment to 

3 Haiti’s security and recovery; 

4 (6) acknowledges the profound sympathy of the 

5 people of the United States for the families and col6 leagues of United Nations officials who lost their 

7 lives and the continued support for the peacekeepers 

8 who are working around the clock to provide critical 

9 humanitarian support for all those affected by the 

10 earthquake; 

11 (7) urges all nations to commit to assisting the 

12 people of Haiti with their long-term needs; and 

13 (8) expresses support for the United States 

14 Embassy team in Port-au-Prince, members of the 

15 United States Coast Guard, United States Armed 

16 Forces, and other United States Government agen17 cies who are valiantly rescuing thousands of United 

18 States citizens and Haitians under extremely adverse 

19 conditions. 

Æ 


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