Espaillat, Clarke Lead Members Urging Secretary Blinken to Support Haiti's Safety, Security, and Development.Members Urge Biden Administration and U.S. Department of State to Take Additional Steps to Mobilize International Support for the Haitian people Amid Time of Crisis. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representatives Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) and Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) led a letter signed by seven members of Congress urging U.S. Department of State Secretary Antony Blinken to take additional steps to mobilize international support for the Haitian people as they work to rebuild from years of natural disasters, economic hardship, and political turmoil.
The letter comes in response to widespread civil unrest that continues to rise in Haiti due to the life-threatening shortages of fuel, food, medicine, and insecurity.
“[W]e ask for a whole-of-government effort to ensure Haiti receives the necessary aid to achieve lasting security, health care, and economic mobility through coordinated strategy and funding,” said the members. “As you know, the July 7th assassination of the country’s president, Jovenel Moïse, has thrown the Caribbean Island nation of 11 million into disarray. Well before this tragic incident, Haiti’s situation was volatile as the island grappled with political protests, gang violence, crushing poverty, rising COVID-19 cases, and no vaccine doses. Currently, the country’s economic situation is dire, and recently, widespread civil unrest continues to rise in Haiti due to the life-threatening shortage of fuel, food, medicine, and insecurity.
“While the House of Representatives passed an appropriations measure for Fiscal Year 2022 supporting dialogue in Haiti aimed at resolving the political crisis, urging stronger action against human rights abuses, and addressing the plight of pregnant Haitian women leaving their country to seek neonatal care—this dialogue must be met with funding, a comprehensive strategy, and international coordination to mitigate on the ground challenges,” the members concluded.
In addition to Representatives Espaillat and Clarke, this letter was also signed by Representatives James P. McGovern (MA-02), G. K. Butterfield (NC-01), Juan Vargas (CA-51), Grace Meng (NY-06), Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Jason Crow (CO-06), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC-At Large) and Stacey E. Plaskett (D-VI-At Large).
You can find the full text of the letter HERE and below:
We appreciate your commitment to providing support for Haiti’s safety, security, and development. We write to respectfully request that you take urgent steps to mobilize international support for the Haitian people as they work to rebuild from years of natural disasters, economic hardship, and political turmoil. Specifically, we ask for a whole-of-government effort to ensure Haiti receives the necessary aid to achieve lasting security, health care, and economic mobility through coordinated strategy and funding.
As you know, the July 7th assassination of the country’s president, Jovenel Moïse, has thrown the Caribbean Island nation of 11 million into disarray. Well before this tragic incident, Haiti’s situation was volatile as the island grappled with political protests, gang violence, crushing poverty, rising COVID-19 cases, and no vaccine doses. Currently, the country’s economic situation is dire, and recently, widespread civil unrest continues to rise Haiti due to the life-threatening shortage of fuel, food, medicine, and insecurity.
For instance, Haitian authorities and their Dominican neighbors have called on the international community to ramp up efforts in the areas of security and protection of civilians. The transportation of goods from the Dominican Republic (DR) is essential to Haiti, and Dominican authorities are striving to maintain that lifeline while taking measures to protect their shared border and secure their people and territory amid growing chaos.
While we appreciate your agencies foreign assistance to the region thus far, we strongly feel that more is needed to support human rights and the rule of law in Haiti. We believe that positive change will come from financial assistance to Haiti for the purpose of adequate resourcing, re-training, and technical assistance for the Haitian National Police to produce an elite national police unit skilled to combat the violence and gangs that are currently obstructing access to essential goods for the Haitian people. We urge you to work with Canada, European Union, France, and other CORE group members to increase financial aid to revitalize the Haitian National Police, enhancing community development and violence prevention programs.
Moreover, Dominican hospitals and clinics are overwhelmed by the influx of pregnant Haitian women fleeing to the DR for medical care due to the collapse of Haiti’s healthcare system compounded by the ongoing conflict. Thus, we encourage you to advise and assist in revamping Haiti’s healthcare infrastructure to help address the most pressing health concerns, including maternal and neonatal health. A significant first step would be international partners coming together to aid in constructing hospitals at the Haitian border, proactively responding to the volume of Haitian mothers in dire need of quality medical care. While the House of Representatives passed an appropriations measure for Fiscal Year 2022 supporting dialogue in Haiti aimed at resolving the political crisis, urging stronger action against human rights abuses, and addressing the plight of pregnant Haitian women leaving their country to seek neonatal care—this dialogue must be met with funding, strategy, and international coordination to mitigate on the ground challenges.
Likewise, we invite the Administration’s Haiti team to consult and collaborate with Congressional Members who have a long-standing constructive commitment to Haiti and its people. In addition, we welcome consultations with the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, and other agencies on the urgent funding requirements of Haiti’s relief and rehabilitation, as well as immediate assistance to mitigate the impact of Haitian unrest on its neighbors. Doing so will allow for upward economic mobility and stimulate job creation- especially at a time where the World Bank has infused $75 million to encourage labor demand in Haiti. This investment, coupled with international aid, will undoubtedly foster economic recovery and create much needed sustainable and resilient jobs for Haitian people.
We appreciate your leadership in this challenging environment and look forward to continued engagement to advance democracy and the rule of law in the region.
Sincerely,
Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill and the north-west Bronx. First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat is serving his third term in Congress. Representative Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities. He is also a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), where he serves in a leadership role as the Second Vice Chair and is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, where he serves as Deputy Whip. Representative Espaillat also currently serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/. |
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