Making Emergency Supplemental Appropriations For Fiscal Year 2010

Floor Speech

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Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I wish today to speak about my grave concern for the children of Haiti. Last month, Senator Landrieu and I traveled to Haiti, where we met with President Preval and First Lady Elisabeth Delatour Preval. We heard firsthand from the President and First Lady that if they are ever going to rebuild their nation, their children need better access to publicly funded quality education.

As everyone knows, Haiti faced incredible challenges even before the devastating earthquake. As a result, children who were already facing almost insurmountable odds are now all the more desperate.

I believe we have a duty to answer the call of Haiti's children today, deliver the relief they need, and help put them on a path toward the quality education they deserve.

Even before the earthquake, only half of Haiti's children attended school at all. The country has almost no public school system. In fact, nearly 90 percent of the schools in Haiti's education system were funded and run by nonpublic operators.

No other country in the world faces the kinds of challenges faced today by Haiti's education system:

An overwhelming majority of Haiti's school-age children live in the country's rural areas, but less than a quarter of children in rural Haiti are actually enrolled in school.

The poorest of Haiti's poor are the hardest hit. Just over a third of Haiti's poorest 20 percent were enrolled in primary schools, compared to 80 percent of the country's wealthiest.

Of those enrolled, many graduate late or never at all because they can't afford school fees, uniforms, or books or because of late enrollment or poor quality education.

Around 80 percent of children were still enrolled in primary school at the age of 13, beyond the age they should have started secondary school.

Of the schools that were standing, the earthquakes caused an astounding $ 1/2 billion worth of damage.

We know that good opportunities in education lead to a strong national economy. But these alarming statistics show just how bleak the state of education is in Haiti.

If Haiti is ever going to rebuild and if these children are ever going to have a chance at success, Haiti needs a strong public school system to help lead the way. A strong public school system can be the foundation of each community, providing a broad range of resources for children and families--from health clinics and immunizations, to literacy education, job training, and nutrition.

It has been truly humbling and inspiring to watch the outpouring of support from America and across the globe coming to Haiti's relief. I support President Obama's request for the emergency supplemental this year to fund relief and redevelopment in Haiti. I applaud Chairman Leahy and my dear friend Senator Landrieu's work to include funding for Haiti's education in this bill. These have all been lifesaving first steps. But we can't stop now. It is time now to direct our efforts to Haiti's education system.

The Inter-American Development Bank, together with the Government of Haiti, has estimated that it would take $2 billion over 5 years to set up Haiti's education sector.

I strongly encourage President Obama and Secretary Clinton to make a high-quality public school system a top priority in our relief efforts for Haiti--and begin building schools that can save lives, create real opportunities for the children of Haiti to succeed, and lay the foundation for a Haiti rebuilt.

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