Haiti: Another Mission of Mercy

Floor Speech

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, a proud, liberated Democrat, unbought, unbossed, and unafraid. In the spirit of Shirley Chisholm, I rise, a great and noble American.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on another mission of mercy. I rise today because this morning, at approximately 4:30 a.m., I was reviewing a news story. In this news story, there was an indication that there was death in Haiti. I had an opportunity to see on the screen of my television the horrors that were emanating from the story.

Mr. Speaker, I saw a person lying in the street who was apparently without life. It is not a pleasant thing to see someone without life, but to see a person lying in the street without life, with only a portion of the body discernible, was quite an experience.

As I saw this person lying in the street, Mr. Speaker, I also saw persons passing by. Most of them were on vehicles of the two-wheel variety. As they passed by, some of them looked but others barely glanced. Among those passing by were young and old, but also there was a person who was with law enforcement who passed by a body lying in the street.

Someone was interviewed, and it was explained by the person interviewed that this person had been attacked, had been attacked by people who were of the opinion that they were defending themselves. They attacked this person with machetes and severed limbs from the body. At least that is the way it appeared to me as I viewed this on my TV screen. It was quite shocking and appalling to see this body lying in the street with people just simply passing by.

Haiti is a country in turmoil. If you believe that injustice anywhere, as Dr. King put it, is a threat to justice everywhere, you have to be concerned about what is happening in Haiti. You have to be concerned. The statistical information related to the atrocities that are occurring can stir the soul, can literally cause persons to come to tears, if you truly care about people.

I would like to share some of the information. Hopefully, those who believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere will have some concern about the injustice that is taking place in Haiti.

According to the U.N. Special Representative for Haiti, more than 8,400 people were victims of gang violence in Haiti in the last year. The last year alone, more than 8,400 people have been victims of gang violence.

Now, Haiti is a country with a population of a little more than 11 million, perhaps about 11,500,000. Haiti is a country that is closer to the United States than Houston, Texas, is to El Paso, Texas. Haiti is just off of our shores. We ought to be concerned.

Haiti, last year, including killings, injuries, and kidnappings, had about a 122 percent increase over 2022. The U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, warned that across Haiti, last year, at least 3,600 people had been killed, 1,432 injured, and 2,951 kidnapped in gang-related violence, and this was as of November.

The number of injuries in Haiti, according to United Nations quarterly report on human rights, situated in Haiti, lynchings-- lynchings are something that causes me a good deal of concern with my history. My history is one that has suffered great lynchings--lynchings have left at least 76 people dead across the country. At least 1,634 people were killed or injured as a result of violence by criminal groups. Gangs of people killed 1,634 people.

At least 693 people were kidnapped in the last quarter of 2023, an increase of 18 percent over the previous quarter. At least 53 children, some as young as 6 months old, were kidnapped, killed, or injured during the last quarter of 2023.

This ought to cause people who believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere to have some concern.

Almost 500 children had no time to escape from a school they were trapped in and had to remain in that school for some 2 days.

The healthcare situation in Haiti has greatly deteriorated. According to the Guardian, Haiti's healthcare system has all but collapsed amid the ferocious gang insurrection that is taking place. Hospitals have been set ablaze. Doctors have been murdered. Even basic medical supplies have dried up. Currently, only one public hospital in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, remains operational, but it is expected to shut its doors.

Mr. Speaker, a summary of the food situation can bring one to ask how we could allow such circumstances to exist. According to NPR, since the COVID virus took its toll, at least 4 million people in Haiti have been acutely food insecure. Now, out of those 4 million, 1 million are one step away from famine.

According to the Washington Post, there were disturbances in January, and food prices jumped 25 percent in the south where roadblocks came up and trucks weren't able to get to Port-au-Prince with basic necessities.

Mr. Speaker, the World Food Programme survey found that as prices go up, household incomes are going down, because people can't go to work and are sheltering in place and aren't going to earn money.

If we truly believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, we have to be concerned about the persons in Haiti because many of them will want to leave and seek safety elsewhere. Some of them will make an attempt to come to this country.

Unfortunately, our country has a history of turning Haitians away. It wasn't that long ago that as the persons from Cuba were escaping Cuba and coming to this country, we had a policy that was styled as, known as, called, if you will, wet-foot/dry-foot.

This policy of wet-foot/dry-foot would allow a Cuban to get one foot on dry land in the United States of America and then move forward into the country, move forward on a pathway that would lead to jobs, that would lead to a better life, and possibly lead to citizenship in the country. Wet-foot/dry-foot was the name of the policy. It applied to Cubans.

At the same time Cubans were arriving in this country from Castro's Cuba, as we have called it, Haitians were arriving. Haitians were fleeing poverty, despair, hunger, and death. At the same time Cubans were arriving, the Haitians could get both feet on dry land, could acquire a job, but if they were discovered, they were sent back to Haiti.

There was one policy for persons coming from Cuba, known as wet-foot/ dry-foot. That is the way the policy was styled. There was another policy for persons coming from Haiti that would cause them to be returned to Haiti, back to despair, back to poverty, and some of them back to lives that are unthinkable as we envision life for human beings.

We have not treated Haiti fairly when compared to how we treated others within this hemisphere, a country that is closer to the United States than Houston, Texas, is to El Paso, Texas.

Mr. Speaker, if we truly believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, we ought to release the $40 million that are available to help Haiti. We have $40 million available that we could release if we only agree to let the money that has already been appropriated go to Haiti. We have $40 million available. It is not enough, but more than they would have, and it would be of help to some.

Two people out of 435, plus 100 in the Senate, are holding up this money that could go to Haiti and help the Haitian people. If you truly believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, release the $40 million, release the money to Haiti.

There could be any number of reasons why you would hold the money, but in my opinion, what is happening in Haiti, as I have explained it, would justify releasing the money. Release the money so that Haiti can get some of the help that it needs.

Voltaire reminded us that those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

It is an absurdity to believe that holding onto this $40 million is somehow going to benefit us and the people in Haiti. That $40 million ought to be released.

It is an absurdity to think that holding onto this $40 million is somehow going to improve conditions in Haiti. I don't believe anyone believes that.

Nonetheless, I also would hope that no one believes that holding onto the $40 million is more important than helping those persons who are suffering in Haiti. We ought to release this $40 million. It is an absurdity to hold onto this money, and, Mr. Speaker, those who can cause you to believe absurdities can cause you to commit atrocities.

In truth, our fingerprints now are on some of what is happening in Haiti because we could prevent some of what is happening in Haiti with the funds that have already been allocated, but because we refuse to send the $40 million, people are going to suffer.

Not enough money is the $40 million, but it is more than they have, and it can alleviate some of the suffering that is taking place.

I rise on this mission of mercy with an appeal to the two people who but with their signatures could release $40 million to suffering people.

Use that pen to make a difference. Take your hand, Mr. Speaker, grab that pen, and release that $40 million to the Haitians who can benefit from it.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and we have a threat that is imminent and can, unfortunately, take its place across the gulf and find its home here in this country.

Injustice does not stay within the confines of any one border if it persists long enough. It is time for us to help the people in Haiti and release the $40 million.

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