Porter Goss: “U.S. military occupation of Haiti continues, but mandate of the Haitian Parliament will end. The time line for new…”

“U.S. military occupation of Haiti continues, but mandate of the Haitian Parliament will end. The time line for new parliamentary elections has already slipped from last December to perhaps sometime in May. I ask, ``But how can you build a democracy without a parliament, without a legislative branch, especially in Haiti, especially with President Aristide?'' Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, in 1991 he fell prey to the drive to consolidate power that has historically characterized Haitian politics, and he has failed to learn a very basic lesson of democracy, and that is that shared power makes for better governments, and it is vital for true democracy. Lack of progress on the elections in Haiti means President Aristide will be ruling Haiti without checks or balances. Mr. Speaker, the time for free and fair elections in Haiti is now. We must bring our troops home today. Bring on Haitian elections now, and save both democracy in Haiti and American taxpayers' dollars.”