Date: 2008-09-15
Speaker: KENDRICK MEEK (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

and Congresswoman YVETTE CLARKE of New York. The damage is just devastating. From the rice fields that you can see here in these pictures that I took. they are covered with water and mud. It is unlikely that these fields will be ready for planting for a very. very long time. The topsoil has been washed away. replaced by mud and water. As we flew over. we could see the damage of the hurricanes. and we could see animal carcasses in the fields. with people walking through them and the standing water. Haiti is a place that is ripe right now for disease and for further destruction without intervention. I do want to express and to join in the remarks of my colleague YVETTE CLARKE of New York and express the grave concern and our thoughts and prayers for the people of our own Gulf Coast. who at this moment are in a stage of recovery themselves from the hurricane damage of Hurricane Ike. which started in the Caribbean and made its way and strengthened to hit our own coast. This is the same storm. For the people of Haiti. it was not just one storm. it was fourfirst Fay. then Gustav. then Hanna..and now Ike. An area might be able to absorb one storm and may be able to rebuild. but now more than 75 percent of the country has been under water. and the people in remote areas are unable to get from one location to the next location because of the damage to bridges and to roadways. So we cant forget the pain of our southern neighbors in Haiti because these storms have made their way through the Caribbean. and were only at the beginning of the hurricane Season. Im not sure how much more Haiti can take. but we know that its time for us to intervene. In addition to the rice fields. we saw firsthand the homes and the foundations washed awayeven a place of worship filled with mud and standing water in places. In some areas. the hurricane damage was so devastating that it took away entire roadways and bridges. Eight bridges at least have been destroyed. leaving people stranded and isolated. President Preval very accurately. I think. described the blow to the countrys infrastructure. likening it to a blow that would occur at a time of war. where the first thing that happens is that you take out all communications. Thats what has happened in Haiti. Communications and linkages from one area of the country to the next area of the country are entirely devastated. We saw people on the roadways. walking from one direction to the other direction. only to meet at a place where the road had been washed away so they couldnt even cross. We saw people bathing in water that contains rotten animal carcasses. We saw basic utilitieswater. sewer and the power infrastructurecompletely devastated. destroyed. Now. there are early estimatesand we have to remember that they really are only early estimatesthat there are. maybe. 600 people dead. Well. we know that those who are doing the estimates cant even reach the most remote areas of the country. and so we know that the devastation wiil climb over time. and thats why its really important to intervene now. The people of Haiti are in desperate need of food and shelter. of medical supplies and drinking water. You can see the pictures on the streets where the water is like a river rushing through the towns. There is moving water through the towns in Gonaive. and its unclear when that water will recede and what will be left once the water has receded. We saw people camped out on the roofs of their homes. looking down at the destruction beneath and at the water in their homes. Yet. in the face of all of this overwhelming devastation. what we also saw were the young men and women of the United States Armed Services. I want to offer a very special salute to the men and women of the USS Kearsarge and to Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan and to Captain Walter Towns. who are leading. really. the most heroic effort. Its so clear to us from all of our meetings and from what we witnessed that were it not for the efforts of the servicemembers on the USS Kearsarge in airdropping medical supplies. food supplies and drinking water that those regions would not be touched at all. It is incredibly important that the USS Kearsarge remain in its mission off the coast of PortauPrince until that mission is done. until we can find replacement food supplies. until we can replace the bridges with temporary bridges so that the Government of Haiti can have access to the communities and sQ that the nongovernmental organizations can have access to communities. This is extremely important because. unless those temporary bridges are put in place. then almost the entire country will remain inaccessible for services and supplies to be delivered. And were in that very fragile window in Haiti in which we know that without intervention. disease will begin to set in. And so its a very important time to begin to gain accessibility so that our medical teams on the USS Kearsarge and other medical teams throughout the U.N. agencies and other missions can get to these remote areas and supply basic needs. And let me say a bit about the efforts of our U.S. mission that right now is playing an amazing and important coordinating role in Haiti with other missions. with the nongovernmental organizations. with the U.N. relief organizations and mission on the ground trying to make certain that theres coordination among all of these folks of goodwill. that were not duplicating efforts. and that our assessments about what needs to be done next make sense. Now. Ive joined in. along with many other Members. in support of an effort by Congresswoman MAXINE WATERS to try to spur up additional support and resources for the country of Haiti. I think that were only at the beginning of knowing what the real need is. and so we need to look at this as a first step toward the recovery of Haiti. but not the only step that this country and the international community will need to make. I really strongly applaud the efforts of Ambassador Janet Sanderson. who is doing an amazing job of working with the newly installed prime minister Michelle PierreLouis. whos only been on the job 9 days or so. barely has staff. but is on the ground now trying to respond to the needs of these most needy communities. And we need to do all that we can in this country and in the international community to make sure that the government of Haiti has the ability to make decisions for itself about its future and about the important needs for rebuilding infrastructure and support and services for the people of Haiti. And we can be in there providing the kind of guidance that we do on the ground and making sure that the resources are available so that communities dont remain further devastated. Now. Im concerned because its very clear to me that if we dont act immediately to increase our assistance. the situation in Haiti will really only worsen and possibly threaten not just internal stability but external security as well. And so we have an opportunity for that not to happen. and that is by encouraging the international community and our own resources to step up efforts in Haiti. But the danger of disease and the impending threats to food security are apparent. and we know that the food supply was already very fragile because of the food crisis earlier in the year. so we have another window. a window of maybe 2 weeks to a month to make sure that these resources come to Haiti in a meaningful way. And I know that in my congressional district in Maryland and throughout the country. people of this country are stepping forward too. offering donations to the American Red Cross and other international relief organizations. and so there needs to be a coordinated effort here in the United States to make sure that. as volunteers. were providing the kind of resources that Haiti can use and needs in order to rebuild. Mr. Speaker. I join with my congressional colleagues in calling for those additional funds to help bring immediate relief to the people of Haiti. and for us to consider that this one storm impacted an entire region from the Caribbean all the way through the Gulf Coast. And we have to remember that. indeed. it was one storm that wreaked its havoc in this hemisphere. and treat it like that. And as we stand with the people of Texas and Louisiana and the gulf coast. we should stand with the people of Haiti.