Date: 2004-03-02
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

I once again want to thank the chairman for his leadership. But my mind goes back to our meeting that we had Wednesday at the White House with the Congressional Black Caucus members. with Colin Powell. Secretary of State. and with Condoleezza Rice and with later the President. and I guess I have a little Haitian or a little African in me because I knew then that our government under the leadership of the Bush administration and those Cabinet members were not going to lift their hands to help the poor people of Haiti. They were not going to do one single thing. We have spent $200 billion of American dollars in Iraq to build up a democracy there. but we deny people less than 600 miles from our shore any assistance. any intervention. And not only do we deny them. we are prohibiting. prohibiting other countries from going in and assist them. Shame on this administration. And hopefully we can have a regime change or a change in our government come November. Ever since I was elected to office. I have advocated on behalf of the Haitian people. and it simply enrages me that Haiti has been nothing more than a stepchild to policymakers in the State Department. While Culians gain access to U.S. citizenship by merely stepping on land in Florida. Haitian immigrants are not just detained indefinitely when they try to come to the United States. but they are mercilessly sent back to the island. These groups that refer to themselves as "the opposition." are in reality nothing more than armed gangs often funded by drug lords. that are on the verge of taking power through undemocratic means. I repeat: these are not legitimate political opposition groups. many of them are the same criminals that were in power before Aristide. the same thugs we removed from office just a decade ago. Ex military. ex death squad members. drug and gang members. and members of the wealthy business elite that dislike representative government are their leaders. It is more than ironic that just as the Bush administration admonishes Haiti and other nations for being "undemocratic." they led the way for these armed gangs (the same gangs they criticize in the press) to usurp power. They did not like the idea of a government that is trying to redistribute money to the poor and provide Haitians with proper education and health care. because they feel threatened that their previous absolute hold on power will dissolve. And since they cant defeat Aristide in a fair election. they resorted to overthrow him militarily. I have traveled to Haiti numerous times with Members of the Congressional Black Caucus. met with Haitian government officials. opposition groups. and leaders of NGOs. and served the Nation as an election observer. and I will tell you that Anstide won by a landslide. This cannot be denied by anyone. Yet for whatever reason. the Bush administration has been anything but a friend to the Aristide govemment. and insists ironically that Haiti does not deserve our monetary assistance because their elections were "unfair." It simply mystifies me how President Bush. a President who was selected by the Supreme Court under more than questionable circumstances (in my district alone 27.000 votes were thrown out). is telling another country that. their elections were not fair and that they are therefore undeserving of aid or international recognition. Haiti is a nation that is still in the incipient stages of democracy and is in desperate need of foreign aid. and the Bush administrations economic stranglehold on the island has exacerbated Haitis already crippled economy. The economic situation in Haiti is dire. yet the Bush administrations State Department apparently does not lend help to nations for humanitarian reasons. onlywhen a precious natural resource such as oil is at stake. Moreover. I remain outraged that Attomey General John Ashcroft and the Miami INS office is explicitly going after the Haitian refugees. In December. the INS routinely released refugees who passed crediblefear interviews--unless they were deemed special security risks connected to September 11. That is still the case for asylum seekers from Colombia. Venezuela. Cuba and almost any other countryexcept Haiti. The Miami INS. under orders from the Department of Justice. imprisons Haitians seeking to prove they deserve asylum. while asylum seekers from other countries roam freely within American borders. This unfair discrimination against Haiti has become a common practice under the current administration. and the Congressional Black Caucus is one of the few voices fighting against this outrageous policy. To conclude: I reiterate my utter disappointment In the events that occurred in Haiti. and my outrage at the Bush administrations contribution to the fall of a democratically elected government.