Eliot Engel: “I thank my friend from American Samoa for recognizing me. I also want to call attention on our side of the aisle to my…”

“I thank my friend from American Samoa for recognizing me. I also want to call attention on our side of the aisle to my colleagues, Congresswoman Waters, Congresswoman Lee and my good friend, Congressman Delahunt, who have always been carrying the ball on the issue of Haiti and the U.S. response to Haiti and the U.S. friendship with Haiti. I really take my hat off to all of them. I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 353, which praises the people of Haiti for their recent elections and congratulates Rene Preval on his victory. I commend my friend and colleague, as I mentioned, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, for introducing this resolution, and I am pleased to be an original cosponsor. I am pleased that my district, the 17th District in New York, has a very large Haitian community in Spring Valley, New York; and I know they are all eagerly anticipating better things for Haiti and U.S.-Haiti relationships. After a history of instability, poverty and democratic setbacks, Haitians poured onto the streets last month to cast their votes, demonstrating their desire for a better future. And after a contested vote counting period, the front runner in the presidential election, Rene Preval, was declared the winner with nearly 52 percent of the official vote, compared to less than 12 percent for his closest contender. Now, such a large margin of victory gives Mr. Preval a strong mandate and legitimacy to reform and rebuild Haiti's institutions and fractured society.…”