III 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 431 

Expressing profound concern, deepest sympathies, and solidarity on behalf 

of the people of the United States to the people and Government of 

Chile following the massive earthquake. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2010 

Mr. LUGAR (for himself and Mr. KERRY) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing profound concern, deepest sympathies, and solidarity on behalf of the people of the United States to 

the people and Government of Chile following the massive earthquake. 

Whereas the massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck 

Chile in the early hours of Saturday, February 27, 2010, 

has claimed approximately 800 lives, according to government officials of Chile, and the death toll is expected to 

continue to rise as assessments of the devastation continue; 

Whereas the earthquake hit most strongly in 6 central and 

south regions, from the capital, Santiago, and the nearby 

port of Valparaı ́so in central Chile, to the Bernardo 


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•SRES 431 IS 

O’Higgins, Maule, Bio Bio, and Araucanı ́a regions of the 

south; 

Whereas the regions most strongly hit are home to about 60 

percent of the 17,000,000 inhabitants of Chile and account for approximately 70 percent of the gross domestic 

product of Chile; 

Whereas the earthquake generated some tsunami activity, in 

addition to the earthquake, and several hundred people 

were killed in the coastal towns of Constitucio ́n and 

Talcahuano as a result; 

Whereas many of the villages in the Juan Ferna ́ndez archipelago were destroyed by tsunami activity; 

Whereas the earthquake left an estimated 2,000,000 people 

homeless and damaged more than 1,000,000 homes, 1⁄3

of which may have to be demolished; 

Whereas the earthquake, classified as a ‘‘megathrust’’ earthquake, unleashed an estimated 50 gigatons of energy and 

broke about 340 miles of the fault zone, according to the 

United States Geological Survey’s National Earthquake 

Information Center; 

Whereas aftershocks have continued, seriously complicating 

efforts to survey the damage and rescue survivors despite 

the noble efforts of local teams; 

Whereas the Department of Defense has estimated that reconstruction costs could exceed $30,000,000,000, equivalent to 20 percent of the 2009 gross domestic product of 

Chile; 

Whereas damage to ports and other infrastructure will hinder 

important exports and economic recovery; 


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•SRES 431 IS 

Whereas Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Chile on 

March 2, 2010, and promised an extensive aid package, 

and the United States Ambassador to Chile requested 

emergency relief funding; 

Whereas Chile enjoys excellent relations with the United 

States since its transition back to democracy, and both 

countries have emphasized similar priorities in the region, 

designed to strengthen democracy, improve human rights, 

and advance free trade; 

Whereas Chile and the United States also maintain strong 

commercial ties, which have become more extensive since 

a bilateral free trade agreement between the two countries entered into force in 2004; 

Whereas since 2004, the Government of Chile has worked 

with the Government of the United States and the international community as part of the multinational peacekeeping force in Haiti, first as a part of the Multinational Interim Force-Haiti (MIFH) and subsequently 

as a part of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in 

Haiti (MINUSTAH), committing more human material 

resources to MINUSTAH than it has to any previous 

peacekeeping mission; and 

Whereas the Government of Chile and the Government of the 

United States and other regional partners have worked 

together in recent years to resolve a number of political 

issues in the Western Hemisphere, including crises in 

Venezuela, Bolivia, and Honduras, among others: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) expresses its profound concern, deepest 

3 sympathies, and solidarity on behalf of the people of 


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•SRES 431 IS 

1 the United States to the people and Government of 

2 Chile following the massive earthquake; 

3 (2) applauds the friendship between the Gov4 ernments and people of the United States and Chile 

5 and recommits to mutually beneficial cooperation in 

6 bilateral, multilateral, and Hemispheric contexts; 

7 (3) strongly encourages the United States Gov8 ernment, with full consideration of the necessary in9 stitutional instruments, to offer all appropriate as10 sistance, if requested by the Government of Chile, to 

11 aid in the immediate rescue and ongoing recovery ef12 forts undertaken by the Government of Chile; and 

13 (4) encourages the international community to 

14 join in relief efforts as determined by the Govern15 ment of Chile. 

Æ 


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