IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 76 

Mourning the horrific loss of life in January 2009 caused by a landslide 

in Guatemala and an earthquake in Costa Rica and expressing the 

sense of Congress that the United States should assist the affected 

people and communities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 21, 2009 

Mr. BURTON of Indiana (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. MACK, Ms. ROSLEHTINEN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. GENE GREEN of 

Texas, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. BERMAN, and Mr. 

CROWLEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Mourning the horrific loss of life in January 2009 caused 

by a landslide in Guatemala and an earthquake in Costa 

Rica and expressing the sense of Congress that the 

United States should assist the affected people and communities. 

Whereas, on January 4, 2009, millions of tons of earth fell 

onto a road in the Alta Verapaz area north of Guatemala 

City, Guatemala; 

Whereas it is suspected that a geological fault triggered the 

movement of earth, sending 10,000,000 tons of mud and 

rock down a hillside onto a road that runs from San 

Cristobal Verapaz to Chicaman, north of Guatemala City; 


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•HRES 76 IH 

Whereas at least 38 people have been confirmed dead and up 

to 60 may be missing, many of whom are coffee workers 

in the region; 

Whereas rescue organizations, volunteers, and agencies from 

throughout Guatemala had been working at the site until 

danger of another landslide shut down the operation; 

Whereas on January 8, 2009, at 1:21, a 6.1 magnitude 

earthquake shook the Capital region of San Jose, Costa 

Rica, including the areas of Sarapiqui, Varablanca, and 

Poasito; 

Whereas the earthquake’s epicenter was 20 miles from San 

Jose at a depth of 21.7 miles and the shaking continued 

for 40 seconds; 

Whereas 20 Costa Ricans have been confirmed dead, over 

100 have been treated for injuries, and up to 17 may be 

missing, including many buried by resulting landslides; 

Whereas 518 homes have been destroyed to the point where 

they are uninhabitable, 26 kilometers of road are unusable, and 61 communities have been affected; 

Whereas roads, businesses, government buildings, and the 

popular tourist sites at the Poas Volcano and the La Paz 

waterfalls have been severely damaged; and 

Whereas Guatemala and Costa Rica have been frequently impacted by significant natural disasters including those in 

the aftermath of Hurricane Stan in Guatemala in 2005 

that led to hundreds of deaths: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That— 

2 (1) the House of Representatives— 

3 (A) mourns the terrible loss of life caused 

4 by the landslide that occurred on January 4, 


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1 2009, in Guatemala and the earthquake on 

2 January 8, 2009, in Costa Rica; 

3 (B) expresses its deepest condolences to 

4 the families of the many victims; and 

5 (C) applauds the prompt humanitarian re6 sponses to these natural disasters by the Gov7 ernments of Guatemala and Costa Rica; and 

8 (2) it is the sense of the House of Representa9 tives that it should be the policy of the United 

10 States— 

11 (A) in collaboration with the Government 

12 of Guatemala, the Government of Costa Rica, 

13 humanitarian organizations, and multilateral 

14 development banks in the region, to imme15 diately assist as appropriate the Governments 

16 of Guatemala and Costa Rica in humanitarian 

17 and reconstruction efforts from the January 4, 

18 2009, landslide and the January 8, 2009, 

19 earthquake; 

20 (B) to continue technical assistance to 

21 Central American governments in order to 

22 strengthen their capacity at the national, pro23 vincial, and local levels in the area of disaster 

24 management coordination and preparedness, in25 cluding implementing information and commuVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:37 Jan 22, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR76.IH HR76

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•HRES 76 IH 

1 nications systems to help with the response to 

2 natural disasters; and 

3 (C) to work closely with the governments 

4 of these countries to improve disaster mitiga5 tion techniques and compliance among all key 

6 sectors of their societies. 

Æ 


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