Date: 2010-03-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

This is a very historic occasion. I would like to thank Congresswoman WATERS for her continued and persistent leadership on debt relief for countries around the world. I thank the chairman of the subcommittee. Mr. MEEKS of New York. for his persistence and guidance on passing this bill so quickly with Mr. BACHUS and Mr. MILLER. Thank you for your commitment and for your interesting and very good idea about putting Americans to work. Madam Speaker. I rise today to support this legislation to acknowledge that we are talking about a country right now that has only 20 percent of the revenue that it needs to run its nation. They need seed. They need fertilizer. They are living some 80 percent below the poverty line. owing some $709 million in debts to multilateral financial institutions-$447 million to the InterAmerican Development Bankand also to countries such as Venezuela. This legislation will. in essence. help us clear the slate of all of those debts. and it will help us track what the United States has done. I would like to take this time to thank all of the first responders. USAID and so many who stood tall when Haiti called. Today. in the White House. it was good to be able to acknowledge those first responders from around the world. from around the Nation. in addition to the United States military. Helping them with this debt relief over all the land will allow the President to focus on building and on rebuildingrebuilding PortauPrince. rebuilding the suburbs in the outlying areasand to focus on creating jobs for the Haitian people and on bringing contractors there who will work with Haitians in a joint venture with agencies. So the relief of this debt. I believe. is an enormous step in making a difference in the lives of Haitians. I want to thank you and ask support of this legislation. Madam Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 4573the Debt Relief for Earthquake Recovery in Haiti Act of 2010. As. a cosponsor of this bill. I strongly believe that it is a necessary step to ensure a successful recovery in Haiti. Haitis long term development is currently hampered by its debt burden. Januarys earthquake struck Haiti during a time of economic vulnerability. Before the earthquake. Haiti was. by far. the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Before the earthquake. Haiti also has among the worlds lowest levels of gross domestic product per capita. An estimated 80 percent of the population lived under the poverty line with 54 percent living in abject poverty. according to the CIA World Factbook. According to the United Nations Human Development Report. more than twothirds of the labor force is believed to not have formal jobs. and just 62.1 percent of adults over age 15 are literate. Additionally. 18 percent of Haitians did not live to the age of 40. Yet. despite the destruction wreaked by multiple tropical storms in 2008. Haitis economy and infrastructurebuilding seemed to be turning a corner in recent years. aided by international support and debt relief programs. In fact. according to the New York Times. "Haiti was one of only two Caribbean countries expected to grow in 2009. There were hopes of a tourism revival. reinforced by the announcement that a new Comfort Inn would open there this May. In a sign of its growing structural sophistication. Haiti even recently announced that it would begin collecting better national statistics. with the help of the International Monetary Fund. so that it could better assess and calibrate its economic policies." The earthquake on January derailed this progress. As this legislation states. the Government of Haiti cannot afford to invest in reconstruction and development efforts while continuing to make payments on debts owed to multilateral financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF). the World Bank. and the InterAmerican Development Bank and to other international creditors. Prior to the earthquake. debt service payments to multilateral financial institutions and other international creditors already were a tremendous burden that interfered with the ability of the Government of Haiti to meet the needs of its people. On June 30. 2009. the World Bank announced that Haiti qualified for and received $1.2 billion in debt relief from the IMF. the World Bank. and other multilateral financial institutions. In order to qualify for this debt relief. the Government of Haiti successfully developed and implemented a comprehensive Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. under the direction of the IMF and the World Bank. According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. despite previous debt relief. Haiti still owes a total of $709 million in debts to multilateral financial institutions. including $447 million to the InterAmerican Development Bank. $165 million to the IMF. $39 million to the World Bank. and $58 million to the International Fund for Agricultural Development. According to the IMF. Haiti owed Venezuela $167 million and Taiwan $92 million at the end of September. 2008. furthermore. the amounts of these debts may have grown since that time. The cancellation of Haitis debts to multilateral financial institutions and other international creditors will allow the Government of Haiti to use its meager resources for essential reconstruction and development efforts. As important as this legislation is. it is only one part of a much larger American assistance response to the earthquake. America will continue to respond with 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. To date the United States Government has contributed over $402 million in earthquake response funding for Haiti. It has also deployed approximately 17.000 military personnel in support of the relief effort. Subsequently. as part of the new Government of Haitiled effort. the U.N. World Food Program will provide commodities. nongovernmental organizations will manage distributions. and U.S. military will provide security escorts. 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. Once again I stand in solidarity with the people of Haiti and will do everything in my power to assist them with rebuilding their country and livelihoods. I am proud of our first responders and pledge that Americas long term commitment to Haiti will live up to the standard that the first responders set.