Political Quotes

“Mr. President, yesterday marks the fourth anniversary of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010. The U.S. Geological Survey said that precisely at 4:53 p.m. local time, the Caribbean and North American plates moved, resulting in a major earthquake of a 7.0 magnitude, with aftershocks greater than 5.0 that continued for months afterward. It has been described as the largest urban disaster in modern history because in just 30 seconds more than 10 million cubic meters of rubble were created, enough to fill dump trucks parked bumper to bumper, all the way from Key West, FL, to the northern tip of the State of the Presiding Officer, Maine, and then back again. That is how much rubble was created. We remember today 230,000 victims of the earthquake, one of the deadliest in history. The earthquake also resulted in over 300,000 injuries and left 1\1/2\ million people homeless. I went to Haiti immediately after the earthquake. It was a horrifying aftermath. During the last 4 years the path to recovery for Haiti has been very slow and arduous, particularly because that poor country has also faced so many other plagues: Rainstorms, the edges of hurricanes, a vicious outbreak of cholera, and many other tropical storms. Long- term reconstruction and rehabilitation is going to take years, but the Haitian government, with the support of the United States and the international community, hopefully, is going to keep the country moving forward.…”