Washington, DC- Today the House of Representatives began consideration on the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act, a bill sponsored by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-9) and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The bill directs the President to report on the progress of relief, recovery and development efforts in Haiti. It also calls on the President to access whether efforts are being coordinated properly in the United States and with foreign countries and international organizations.
“Last year, Haiti was struck by an unexpected disaster. I had the opportunity to visit Haiti in the wake of the earthquake with some of my then-colleagues from the Florida House of Representatives to deliver medical supplies and a donation to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund. The level of destruction was inconceivable. But the outpouring of support from all around the world, and the optimism of the Haitian people, showed their hope in the face of tragedy,” Congressman David Rivera (FL-25), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said.
“More than a year later, Haiti continues to deal with the aftermath of the earthquake and other devastating events that have followed. The United States has played a key role in helping rebuild the nation, but there is a long way to go,” Congressman Rivera continued. “The aim of the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act is to ensure that America’s support is being utilized and implemented properly, effectively and transparently, not just within Haiti, but before the dollars even reach those affected. This bill protects against waste of U.S. taxpayer dollars, and demands accountability from the Haitian government— requiring Haitian authorities to commit to strengthening the country’s democratic institutions and put an end to corruption.
“As new President Michel Martelly is scheduled to take office this Saturday, and hundreds of thousands of Haitians are still living without proper shelter, we are reiterating the United States’ commitment to supporting Haiti’s efforts to rebuild, while not letting waste, duplication and corruption derail those efforts,” Congressman Rivera concluded.
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PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
May 10, 2011
Contact: Leslie Veiga
(305) 222-0160
(AP) – 5 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Tuesday asked the Obama administration to come up with an accounting of how humanitarian and reconstruction aid is being spent in Haiti, which has been slow to recover from the devastating earthquake of more than a year ago despite an outpouring of U.S. and international assistance.
“The unprecedented relief effort has given way to a sluggish, at best, reconstruction effort,” said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., sponsor of the legislation calling on President Barack Obama to prepare a report within six months of the bill’s enactment on the status of the aid campaign in Haiti, including the fight to combat an outbreak of cholera.
Some of the blame for the slow progress in Haiti has been put on the lack of coordination among foreign and Haiti relief groups, a destroyed infrastructure, absence of a viable Haitian government and corruption. But another factor, Lee said, is “the lack of urgency on the international community’s part.”
She said that at an international donors’ conference in March 2010, 58 donors pledged $5.5 billion to support Haiti’s recovery efforts but as of March this year, only 37% of these funds have been disbursed. “This is unacceptable.”
The Haitian government says 316,000 people were killed magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck on Jan. 12, 2010. More than 1 million in a population of less than 10 million were displaced from their homes in the hemisphere’s poorest nation.
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said 680,000 remain in refugee camps. “We owe it to the Haitian people to find out how much of this money has been delivered to Haiti and where that money went,” she said. “We have not always had our act together in Haiti.”
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said much progress has been achieved in the past year, such as increased access to clean water. She said the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission has approved 86 reconstruction projects accounting for about one-third of the total pledges made by international donors last year.
But she also stressed the need to determine that the aid effort “is not being derailed by waste, duplication or corruption.”
The bill, passed by voice, now goes to the Senate.
The bill is H.R. 1016.
This process was initiated by ex-Congressman Bob Barr some weeks ago.
He, Ed Marger and Mike Puglize visited Haiti to coordinate a press meeting for Jean Claude Duvalier a few months ago.