Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I have had the opportunity to visit Haiti on a number of occasions and have always been moved by the kindness and generosity of the Haitian people who live under such hard conditions. I have traveled for hours into rural Haiti to visit impressive programs such as Partners In Health's health clinic, which provides HIV/AIDS treatment and clean water for nursing mothers. Unfortunately, despite such programs and the efforts of U.N. peacekeeping forces to bring some measure of security to Haiti, the living conditions for average Haitians remains deeply troubling. An already weak political system and weak government were then confronted last year with a devastating earthquake that struck Haiti's densely populated capitol of Port au Prince and several surrounding towns. A staggering number of houses and buildings simply collapsed, virtually destroying Haiti's fragile infrastructure. More than 200,000 people were killed and an estimated 1.5 million more were displaced. Americans and people from all over the world donated money, organized shipments of medicine, food and water, and traveled to Haiti as emergency relief workers to help rescue and treat earthquake victims. Prior to the earthquake, Haiti was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Today, Haiti suffers from widespread unemployment, with 80 percent of the population living under the poverty line. Historically, Haiti has also been devastated by tropical storms.…”