Political Quotes

“Mr. President, H.R. 4899, the fiscal year 2010 supplemental appropriations bill, provides the funds requested by the President for emergency assistance for Haiti related to the January 12 earthquake. In fact it provides approximately $25 million more than the request. Although the bulk of those funds are to address the immediate needs of shelter, health care, agriculture and food security, and governance, several Senators, particularly Senator Landrieu and Senator Gillibrand, have rightly pointed out that half of Haiti's children are not in school and the country suffers from an extremely high rate of illiteracy and a tiny fraction of the trained professionals it needs. There is a dire need for school construction and equipment, teacher training, and other education assistance for Haiti's children as well as high school, vocational, college and graduate students. Haiti's future depends on an educated workforce, and the earthquake has focused attention on this need as the country struggles to recover from this latest catastrophe. For this reason, the bill includes up to $10 million for education programs which the Appropriations Committee included even though it was not in the President's request. This is admittedly only a small amount to begin to address Haiti's education needs. Fortunately other donors, including the Inter-American Development Bank and Canada, are expected to provide significantly more funds. Haiti will require international assistance for years to come.…”