IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 438 

Expressing the sense of Congress with regard to providing humanitarian 

assistance to countries of the Caribbean devastated by Hurricanes Gustav 

and Ike and Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 

Ms. LEE (for herself, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. CLARKE, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. 

FATTAH, Ms. WATSON, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RUSH, Mr. WATT, Ms. WATERS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. 

JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

of Texas, Mr. JEFFERSON, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, and Mr. 

BISHOP of Georgia) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress with regard to providing 

humanitarian assistance to countries of the Caribbean 

devastated by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and Tropical 

Storms Fay and Hanna. 

Whereas in May 2008, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA) predicted that 2008 would be an 

above-normal Atlantic hurricane season; 

Whereas from August 15, 2008, to September 7, 2008, Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and Tropical Storms Fay and 


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Hanna devastated countries of the Caribbean and many 

Southern and Eastern States of the United States; 

Whereas the people of the United States have similarly faced 

the harsh consequences of the recent hurricanes and 

tropical storms and can empathize with the countries of 

the Caribbean as they begin the recovery process; 

Whereas in the Dominican Republic, Hurricane Gustav and 

Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna displaced 16,715 people, of whom 5,348 remained in official shelters; 

Whereas Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storms Fay and 

Hanna damaged 3,343 houses and destroyed 46 houses 

in the Dominican Republic; 

Whereas Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storms Fay and 

Hanna damaged infrastructures in the Dominican Republic, including 9 of the country’s water systems; 

Whereas the storms isolated 96 communities and negatively 

affected 9 roads and 12 bridges in the Dominican Republic; 

Whereas the storms caused mudslides, resulting in 8 deaths 

in the Dominican Republic; 

Whereas the storms Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike affected 

850,000 people in Haiti; 

Whereas flooding in Haiti has led to nearly 600 deaths and 

displaced an estimated 151,072 people, including over 

111,391 living in shelters; 

Whereas flooding in the port city of Gonaives, Haiti alone led 

to nearly 500 deaths, left over 37 people missing, left 

40,000 people in shelters, and left 250,000 people in 

need of assistance; 


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Whereas the storms destroyed 10,842 houses and damaged 

an additional 35,125 houses in Haiti; 

Whereas according to the Government of Haiti, the series of 

storms may have left as many as 1,000,000 Haitians 

homeless; 

Whereas flooding and landslides cut off land routes and hindered delivery of humanitarian assistance in Haiti; 

Whereas in Haiti, Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm 

Hanna destroyed the bridge linking the devastated region 

of Gonaives to St. Marc on the country’s mainland; 

Whereas in Haiti, extensive agricultural areas of the 

Artibonite Valley are flooded, and many crops remain underwater; 

Whereas in Jamaica, Hurricane Gustav alone directly affected more than 4,000 people; 

Whereas in Jamaica, the storm caused substantial damage to 

infrastructure and caused flooding in at least 72 communities, rendering 120 roads impassable, and affecting 65 

percent of the country’s water supply, causing 12 deaths, 

and putting 248 people in shelters; 

Whereas the storms contributed to heavy losses in Jamaica’s 

agriculture sector, decimating the banana crop, a primary 

export commodity in Jamaica; 

Whereas in Turks and Caicos, Tropical Storm Hanna and 

Hurricane Ike affected 12,000 people in the islands and 

destroyed nearly 90 percent of the buildings on Grand 

Turk; 

Whereas Grand Turk and South Caicos, the 2 islands most 

dependent on tourism, were the worst hit by Hurricane 

Ike; 


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Whereas Hurricane Ike damaged almost 80 percent of the 

houses on Great Inagua Islands in the Bahamas; 

Whereas Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and Tropical Storms 

Fay and Hanna also impacted the people of Cuba; 

Whereas Hurricane Gustav alone severely damaged an estimated 53 percent of the houses in Cuba; 

Whereas Hurricane Gustav was the worst hurricane to hit 

Cuba in over 50 years; 

Whereas Hurricane Gustav displaced over 400,000 Cubans 

and damaged or destroyed 130,000 homes and caused severe damage to infrastructure; 

Whereas Hurricane Ike affected the people of Cuba, causing 

4 deaths, displacing 55,700 people, and forcing over 

2,600,000 people to evacuate; 

Whereas the financial burden of providing emergency and reconstruction assistance to the devastated countries is 

much greater than the Caribbean community can sustain 

by themselves; 

Whereas the cost of providing emergency humanitarian assistance to the Caribbean continues to increase with each 

passing natural disaster; 

Whereas in addition to needing disaster relief, Caribbean governments are under pressure to secure their communities 

and prevent looters and other criminals from causing further harm to their citizens who are struggling to recover 

from the devastation caused by the hurricanes; 

Whereas the United States Agency for International Development Office of United States Foreign Disaster Assistance 

(OFDA) is coordinating with the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC), the 


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United Nations World Food Program, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), to provide urgently needed food, potable 

water, temporary shelter, and other basic commodities; 

Whereas the series of hurricanes and tropical storms, which 

have ripped through the Caribbean, have again demonstrated that properly promulgated and consistently enforced building and housing codes significantly reduce the 

human and financial toll that natural disasters wreck on 

countries; 

Whereas the Caribbean region is recognized as the third border of the United States, and the economic turmoil 

caused by the series of hurricanes and tropical storms in 

the Caribbean will have an effect on the United States; 

and 

Whereas the countries of the Caribbean will need significant 

assistance from the international community for relief 

and reconstruction efforts: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) expresses solidarity with all people affected 

4 by the 2008 hurricane season; 

5 (2) commends the governments of the countries 

6 of the Caribbean for their efforts to respond and as7 sist the people of the region after the devastation 

8 caused by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and Tropical 

9 Storms Fay and Hanna from August to September 

10 2008; 


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1 (3) commends the efforts of the Caribbean2 American community to provide relief to family and 

3 friends suffering in the region; 

4 (4) supports the efforts of the Administration 

5 to assist in coordinating international humanitarian 

6 assistance to help the people of the Caribbean re7 gion, assess the damage, and provide relief to af8 fected communities, particularly in the Dominican 

9 Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Cuba, and 

10 Turks and Caicos; 

11 (5) urges the international community to take 

12 all necessary steps to provide emergency relief and 

13 support reconstruction efforts in the Caribbean re14 gion; 

15 (6) urges the President to continue to make 

16 available to nongovernmental organizations, private 

17 volunteer organizations, United Nations agencies, 

18 and regional institutions the necessary funding to 

19 help mitigate the effects of the recent natural disas20 ters that have devastated the countries of the Carib21 bean; and 

22 (7) urges the President, acting through the Ad23 ministrator of the United States Agency for Inter24 national Development, to provide assistance in co25 ordination with other donors to begin the reconstrucVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:43 Sep 28, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC438.IH HC438

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1 tion of the Caribbean countries that suffered heavy 

2 damage from the natural disasters of 2008 and to 

3 provide assistance for the governments of recipient 

4 Caribbean countries to promulgate and enforce rel5 evant housing and building codes. 

Æ 


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