Date: 2010-01-26
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I rise in support of S. 2949: The "Emergency Aid to American Survivors of the Haiti Earthquake Act." This bill would provide up to $25 million in Fiscal Year 2010 for a Department of Health and Human Services program which repatriates U.S. citizens from foreign countries. This assistance is vital to Americans who were living in Haiti when the earthquake struck as well as the families of those displaced who are now faced with the unexpected responsibility of supporting their repatriating relatives. This repatriation assistance provides temporary assistance to citizens and their dependents who are identified by the Department of State as needing to return from a foreign country to the U.S. but who do not have the resources to do so. As you know. on Tuesday. January 12th. a massive. 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti near the capital of PortauPrince. There is still no official estimate of death or destruction but the damage to buildings is extensive and the number of injured or dead is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands. The full dimensions of the disaster are still unfolding. but Haitis Prime Minister JeanMax Bellerive told CNN that he believes there are well over 100.000 dead. and leading senator Youri Latortue estimated the number at possibly as high as 500.000. according the Associated Press. America is responding. and will continue to respond with immediate humanitarian assistance to help the people of this struggling island nation rebuild their livelihoods. I send my condolences to the people and government of Haiti as they grieve once again in the aftermath of a natural disaster. As Haitis neighbor. I believe it is the United States responsibility to help Haiti recover. and build the capacity to mitigate against future disasters. America and her allies have already initiated a comprehensive. interagency response to the earthquake. The State Department. Department of Defense. Department of Homeland Security. Coast Guard. USAIDall worked overnight to ensure critical resources were positioned to support the response and recovery effort. including efforts to find and assist American citizens in Haiti. Within days of last weeks devastating earthquake. U.S. Southern Command deployed a team of 30 people to Haiti to support U.S. relief efforts in the aftermath of one of the largest natural disasters in the western hemisphere. The team included U.S. military engineers. operational planners. and a command and control group and communication specialists arriving on two C130 Hercules aircraft. Since. there has been a tremendous interagency response with support and partnering with U.S. Embassy personnel as well as Haitian. United Nations and international officials to assess the situation and facilitate followon U.S. military support. Our friends in the international community must also be commended for their efforts. The United Nations is releasing $10 million from its emergency funds. The European Commission has approved 4E3 million ($4.37 million) with more funds likely. Countless other nations. from Germany to China to Israel to Mexico have also pledged support. I commend each of these nations for coming to our neighboring nation in dire need of assistance. Many of my constituents have asked what they can do to help. or how they can find their loved ones. Those who are interested in helping immediately can text HAITI to 90999 and a donation of $10 will be made automatically to the Red Cross for relief efforts. The donation will be charged to your cell phone bill. The outpouring of support and funding from the American people was both instant and sustained. According to the Washington Post. the text messaging effort raised $5 million in its first day. breaking the previous oneday record of about $450.000. Textmessage donations continue to play a largerthanexpected role in the push for earthquake relief in Haiti. As of late Sunday. the American Red Cross said that it had collected pledges of about $103 million. including $22 million through the text donation program. Each donor should be proud of their contribution to help their brothers and sisters in Haiti. Financially. 2009 was not an easy year for many Americans. Although thousands of jobs were created and we are back on the road to economic recovery. Americans lived on tighter budgets than usual. This legislation passed today will allow those Americans who have generously donated money to Haiti to receive their tax break this year instead of next year. In January of 2005. Congress enacted this type of relief for individuals that made charitable contributions to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami that occurred in late December of 2004. That bill (H.R. 241 in the 109th Congress) passed the House of Representatives without objection and subsequently passed the Senate by unanimous consent. I hope that this legislation. like our response to the 2004 tsunami. will encourage Americans to contribute more money to Haiti. As Haiti starts on its long recovery. every dollar is critically important. Americans have responded in great numbers. and I am proud to represent such a compassionate and generous nation. Americans are not only giving their money. they are also giving their time and expertise as well. This weekend. I arranged for a team of seven doctors. six nurses. two techs. and two search and rescue volunteers to fly to Haiti and provide immediate humanitarian support. This team led by Dr. Richard Toussaint from Forest Park Medical Center in Dallas Texas arrived in Haiti just after noon on Saturday. From there. the doctors made their way to Hospital SacreCouer where. in roughly two days. they performed about 70 amputations. surgically treated about 150 patients. and saw about 600 patients total. I commend this team of medical personnel for their selfless actions and willingness to spend their own time and money to come to the aid of people they had never met. Additionally. I hosted a Houstonbased Haiti relief effort called "Texans helping Haitians" with city leadership and the Haitian community in the aftermath of this horrible disaster. Groups included in the effort to provide supplies and medical assistance to Haiti were: Texas Medical Center. Texas Dental Association. Search and Rescue Organizations. the Haitian Multicultural Association. Haitian Caribbean Organization of Texas. Caribbean Impact Foundation. and Haiti Counts. We also helped coordinate the safe return of six Houston Rotarians that were stranded in the mountains and we are now working with Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance on the transport of orphans to awaiting families here in the U.S. Our paramount duty is to protect Americans. and this bill will do exactly that. In addition to providing temporary assistance directly to repatriates. the program also provides funds to States and other vendors to cover the administrative costs of providing temporary assistance to these individuals. This financial assistance is repayable to the U.S. government. unless waived by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Additionally. this legislation provides an additional $60 million in funding for the Qualifying Individual (QI) program. which allows States to fund the Medicare Part B premiums of nearpoor seniors not eligible for Medicaid. The bills Haiti funding and the increased QI funds are paid for through transfers from the Medicaid Improvement Fund. The Medicaid Improvement Fund is a program intended to improve the management of the Medicaid program. The legislation cuts $90 million from that fund. Medicare is a lifeline for Houstons seniors and this bill takes crucial steps toward strengthening it and providing the highest quality of care and benefits for our elderly. In my home state of Texas. the need for a more efficient healthcare is more prevalent now than ever. One in four Texans. about 5.7 million people. or 24.5 percent of the states population. has no health insurance coverage. An estimated 1.339.550 Texas children20.2 percent of Texas childrenare uninsured. According to the U.S. Census Bureau. Texas has the nations highest percentage of uninsured residents. This poses consequences for every person. business and local government in the state who bear extra costs to pay for uncompensated care. If Medicare funding is allowed to be cut or capped. the number of uninsured will grow dramatically. Once again. I am devastated by the immeasurable tragedy that occurred in Haiti. Along with my colleagues. I hope to visit Haiti in the near future to meet with their leaders and see what the United States can do to rebuild the shattered livelihoods. This bill will help two categories of Americans with no cost to the taxpayers. I strongly support this bill and urge my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of it.