Barbara Lee

Ms. LEE of California

Ms. LEE of California. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 10 seconds.

Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on The Western Hemisphere, the gentleman from New York, Chairman Engel.

Ms. LEE of California. I would like to now yield 1 minute to our great Speaker from the State of California, Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the Chair of the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey).

Ms. LEE of California. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 30 seconds.

Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, before I recognize my next speaker, I yield to my friend, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request. (Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to a member of the Committee on Natural Resources, who is the second vice Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen).

Ms. LEE of California. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 15 seconds.

Ms. LEE of California. I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Florida for yielding and also for her strong support and her assistance with this resolution. Let me now yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from New York, a member of the Committee on Small Business, who also serves as an officer of the whip of the Congressional Black Caucus, hails from the Caribbean, a leader on so many issues, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.

Ms. LEE of California. I now yield 2 minutes to the Chair of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, a leader on so many issues who has been involved with Haiti since I have known her, and that has been since the 1970s, who has led the charge for debt relief, Congresswoman Maxine Waters.

Ms. LEE of California. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to my colleague and friend from California (Mr. Schiff), a member of the Appropriations Committee.

Ms. LEE of California. I yield the gentleman 20 additional seconds.

Ms. LEE of California. Before I close, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to my friend from New Jersey, Chair of the African Global Health Subcommittee, Chairman Payne.

Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, let me thank all of the Members today for coming down to the floor in support of this resolution but, more importantly, in support of the people of Haiti. I end by calling on all my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure to express our deepest condolences, our steadfast solidarity, and our sustained commitment to the people of Haiti in the wake of this ongoing tragedy. As we move forward, let us not waiver in saying to the people of Haiti: Your resilience, your dignity, your courage, even during your darkest hour, continues to inspire us. And during your darkest hour, the United States, and the American people, will not abandon you as you continue to struggle for a brighter tomorrow. I urge my colleagues to support the resolution.

Ms. LEE of California. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. LEE of California. Before recognizing the next speaker, I yield to my friend, the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky), for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request. (Ms. SCHAKOWSKY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. LEE of California

Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the Chair of the Africa and Global Health Subcommittee, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), and I ask unanimous consent that he be allowed to control that time.

Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1013) condemning the violent suppression of legitimate political dissent and gross human rights abuses in the Republic of Guinea, as amended.

Ms. LEE of California

Ms. LEE of California. Thank you very much, Congresswoman Christensen. Now I would like to yield to the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus' International Affairs Task Force, Congressman Don Payne, who also chairs the Africa and Global Health Subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman Payne today has been working hour by hour coordinating an emergency response strategy for the House of Representatives. Thank you very much, Congressman Payne, for being with us here tonight and for your leadership.

Ms. LEE of California. As Chair of the 42-member Congressional Black Caucus, let me first begin by saying that our thoughts and our prayers go out to the people of Haiti and the Haitian-American community, those Americans and others in Haiti affected by this devastating earthquake. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are continuing to monitor the situation in Haiti, and are committed to providing whatever emergency humanitarian assistance is needed. The Congressional Black Caucus has a long history of working with the Haitian people and the Haitian-American community on a variety of issues. We share a close and long-standing relationship. Many members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including myself, have visited Haiti many, many times. Since learning of the devastating earthquake yesterday, my staff and I have been in contact with the State Department and other officials to assess the situation on a regular basis. Congressman Donald Payne of New Jersey chairs the International Affairs Task Force of the Congressional Black Caucus, and has held several meetings today to coordinate our legislative and humanitarian assistance efforts. The CBC is working to help to ensure that the United States can and will continue to do everything it can to provide emergency humanitarian assistance. The President has quickly deployed all available assets and resources to respond to this emergency. Over the last several years, Haiti has experienced an extraordinary set of challenges, from high food prices and food shortages, to natural disasters. Haiti will need increased attention and resources from the international community to help it recover during this very difficult time. United Nations reports say thousands of people may have died in this earthquake. At least 100 people are believed to be buried in the rubble of the United Nations headquarters building in Port-au-Prince. The head of the United Nations Mission is among the missing. Search and rescue teams have been sent to Haiti from several countries. A United States military official says tentative plans are underway for the hospital ship USNS Comfort to dock off the coast of Haiti to assist with sick and wounded. We are asking the global community to help us with these efforts. In response to the earthquake in Haiti, the U.S. Agency for International Development is dispatching a disaster assistance response team, and has activated its partners the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team and the Los Angeles County Search and Rescue Team. Now, more than ever, Haiti needs our help. Haiti is the poorest, least developed country in the Western Hemisphere, with an average per capita income of $500 per year. But the Haitian people are resilient and proud people. The country ranks 146 out of 177, lower than Bangladesh and even the Sudan on the United Nations Human International Development Index. And also one in eight children will die before the age of five. That is one in eight. Over the last 2 years, Haiti has been devastated by a triple blow of rising food and energy prices, the succession of hurricanes and tropical storms, and the global economic downturn. In May of 2008, the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Michigan, and I, led a Congressional delegation to Haiti to examine the conditions on the ground. We were joined then by 10 members of the Congressional Black Caucus and one member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Later that month, the House passed an emergency supplemental that included funding for international food aid, and also other food security initiatives. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, we worked to ensure that Haiti's needs were addressed in the context of the global food crisis. Thanks in large part to the leadership of many members in the Congressional Black Caucus, in September 2008 President Bush signed H.R. 2638 into law, which amended the Department of Homeland Security Act to include 100 million in additional disaster relief to the Caribbean, of which 96 million was appropriated to Haiti. During Haiti's time of need then Congress stepped up to lend support. And of course we expect no less this time around. As we deliver urgent and immediate support to the people of Haiti and all of those who have been affected by this earthquake, we must also identify long-term solutions to Haiti's problems. Haiti's food shortages, severe deforestation, poor sanitation, lack of family planning and health care services, high unemployment and underdevelopment, and also the lack of an agricultural sector, these issues, these problems cannot be solved by emergency assistance alone. And so that is why, working with Chairman Engel, many of us are working on my bill, H.R. 417, which is called the Next Steps for Haiti Act of 2009. This bill would provide technical expertise and build human capacity to help Haiti address its own problems. Many Haitian Americans living in the United States have technical expertise in areas such as agriculture, education, health care, and infrastructure and would like to return to Haiti to assist their people. My bill creates a mechanism to transfer this knowledge in order to meet the needs and the goals of Haiti. Beyond that, we need to ensure that we find innovative ways to build human capacities, such as educational exchanges, programs such as I have proposed and other Members in H.R. 416, the Shirley Chisholm U.S.- Caribbean Educational Exchange Act. Now more than ever Haiti needs the support of its neighbor to the north. Even as we deal with our own problems during these tough economic times, we must not turn a blind eye to the untold human suffering just off our shores. Today, we express our continued support for Haiti. We stand in solidarity with the Haitians and the Haitian Americans who have lost loved ones, with the United States citizens still trapped on the island. We stand in solidarity with the rescue workers who have devoted their time and their treasure to help people they do not know. We stand hand in hand with them today and renew our continued support. Our thoughts and our prayers go out to the Haitian people and to all of those who have been affected during this very trying time. We are asking everyone in our country to help in this assistance with the Haiti effort. Of course individuals can go online, USAID.gov, for more information. The administration is urging cash donations. There are many, many efforts taking place by our administration in this immediate emergency response in terms of a search-and-rescue effort at this moment. Thank you again for giving us the opportunity to speak tonight. I would like now to turn the floor over to Congresswoman Donna Christensen from the Virgin Islands, who has led on many efforts as it relates to the Caribbean, who knows Haiti very, very well, who knows what natural disasters mean in terms of the dislocation and the tragic deaths that occur and what we have to do as a country to help respond to such a tragedy of this magnitude. Thank you, Congresswoman Christensen.

Ms. LEE of California. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. LEE of California. Once again, our thoughts and our prayers go out to the people of Haiti, to the Haitian American community, to all of those, our American citizens, all of those who have been impacted by this horrible, horrific earthquake.

Ms. LEE of California

Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for FY 2010. Critical provisions have been added to this bill in order to help those facing incredible hardships during this difficult economic time. The extension of expanded unemployment benefits until the end of February is a vital stopgap measure for those in dire need, and I would like to stress that this is only a piece of our urgent responsibility to restore the economic livelihood, and promise of opportunity to so many individuals and communities across the country. I am also pleased to see that H.R. 3326 includes language prohibiting the establishment of permanent military bases in Iraq or Afghanistan. Unfortunately, I cannot support the $125 billion included in this bill for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor can I support a continuation of runaway defense spending especially at a time when individuals and families across this nation are facing enormous challenges in simply trying to make ends meet. Madam Speaker, I have been clear in my respectful disagreement with the President's decision to escalate the United States military presence in Afghanistan, as well as my belief that the situation in Afghanistan will not be solved with a military solution. This bill does not include additional funding for the proposed troop deployments, and I am hopeful Congress will hold an honest debate and up-or-down vote on the issue of a military escalation prior to obligating federal resources. The direct costs of two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have reached nearly $1 trillion, and the indirect costs to our national security, our economy, and to our brave men and women in uniform are immeasurable. We further cannot afford to squander our resources on costly cold-war era weapons that in many cases are outdated and truthfully inappropriate for reducing the real threats facing our nation. The fact is, as we work to reform our nation's healthcare and education systems, invest in housing and infrastructure, and put American's back to work, sending more than 50 percent of the federal discretionary budget to the Pentagon represents a clear and unacceptable tradeoff. For those reasons I cannot support this bill.

Ms. LEE of California

Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, today I missed rollcall vote No. 1, on a quorum call of the House. Had I been able to, I would have voted ``present'' on this rollcall vote.