Jon L. Christensen: “I just had to come over and join the gentlewoman on the floor here tonight because the problems of Haiti and the…”

“I just had to come over and join the gentlewoman on the floor here tonight because the problems of Haiti and the obstacles that we have been facing together that the gentlewoman has led us through so steadfastly continue to plague that country and cause suffering to the millions of people who live there. So it is important for us as a caucus to stand here with the gentlewoman tonight and once again to call on our colleagues and the President of these United States to let Haiti live. Last week I traveled to the eastern end of Hispaniola and there on that side, and it is so different, even when you just fly over the island. It turns from gray to green. There I found a struggling but overcoming people, where jobs were being created, standard of living was being raised, children were being educated, the health care system was ever improving. It was my second time in the Dominican Republic but I have been to Haiti many times, and it troubles me deeply that this situation is so startling different compared to that of the neighbor on this same island in the Caribbean of which I am a part. And why should this be? Because the people of Haiti have accepted democracy that we helped to bring to their nation, and they have accepted its promise. Though imperfect, that democracy is new, and building democracies take time.”