Jon L. Christensen: “I rise to speak of humanitarian crisis, not half a world away in Afghanistan, but in our own hemispheric neighborhood of…”

“I rise to speak of humanitarian crisis, not half a world away in Afghanistan, but in our own hemispheric neighborhood of Haiti. Mr. Speaker, airline security, the economy and the war have our full attention, and rightfully so, but closer to us in Haiti, the last election has been hopelessly deadlocked with no resolution in sight. To compound the problem, because of the opposition of some to the outcome of those elections, our country and international financial institutions which hold the lifeline of aid dollars to this struggling democracy have blocked the release of loans to Haiti. This has created a crippling effect of economic consequences where the poorest country in our hemisphere cannot meet its financial obligations and food, medicine and life itself have been hung in the balance for 8 million people. Let us not make the same mistake and ignore another country's turmoil, until a disaster too great for the imagination or easy recovery unfolds. The people of Haiti need food, medicine and funds to combat an HIV infection rate of 4 percent of the population, an infant mortality rate of 74 deaths out of every 1,000 babies born and to improve their quality of life. Mr. Speaker, the people of Haiti have voted and they know who they want to govern them. Let us respect that and allow the dollars for food and medicine to flow.”