Rep.Schakowsky statement in the House regarding Haiti

[seemslikeadream]

Congressional Record article 69 of 78

AMERICAN REGIME CHANGE IN NOVEMBER -- (House of Representatives - March 02, 2004)


GPO's PDF
---
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, there is a president in the western

GPO's PDF
hemisphere who was chosen in what many voters believe is a flawed 2000 election. Many people in his country and around the world believe that this president misled his people into a violent conflict in which many lives were lost. Revelations of corruption including falsifying documents, financial mismanagement, gross overcharging by well-connected corporations, kickbacks to politically allied organizations continue to accumulate. What is the proper response of the people of that country who no longer wish to be led by that president? Because it is a democracy, the answer is clear: vote him out at the next election.
I speak of President George W. Bush, not President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti.




Those of us who do not support President Bush will work to remove and replace him in the November 2 election. That is the way we do it in our democracy. In a democracy, one does not take up arms against an elected President. We do not threaten his life nor is he forced out of the country nor are convicted murderers and drug dealers and armed thugs welcomed in to do the dirty work. In a democracy, one goes from elected President to elected President and not coup d'etat to coup d'etat.

So this is a very, very sad time for those of us who believe in democracy. The Bush administration had the choice of defending the democratically-elected government in Haiti or supporting its overthrow. It chose the latter. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was the first democratically-elected President of Haiti, his successor due to be chosen in the next presidential election in 2005.

Over the last several weeks, an armed insurrection was organized by former death squad leaders, convicted murderers and drug dealers. They used terrorist tactics to take over police stations and then cities which were protected by only a very small government police force.

The New York Times describes these so-called rebels: ``The public face of the rebel army is the smile of Mr. Guy Phillipe. He is suspected by both Haitian and United States officials of cocaine trafficking. Mr. Phillipe has few democratic credentials. In 2001 he stood accused of planning a coup. Government said he masterminded a raid on the Presidential palace that left seven dead. He is joined in this rebellion by Louis Jodel Chamblain, the convicted assassin from FRAPH.''

The New York Times described FRAPH as ``an instrument of terror wielded by the military junta that overthrew Haiti's embattled Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991. It killed thousands over the next 3 years.''

Rather than coming to the defense of the democratically-elected government of Haiti, the Bush administration joined with the anti-democratic forces in the country to call for the President's ouster.

The administration, our administration, the Bush administration has consistently supported a small, elite group in Haiti whose principal economic interests is working with multinational corporations to exploit Haiti's vast pool of cheap labor. It is not a pretty history.

Last weekend, the United States and the international community met with President Aristide, at which time he agreed to a power-sharing proposal made by CARICOM and supported by the United States and France. He agreed but the opposition refused. Colin Powell extended the deadline, but the opposition stood by its insistence that Aristide step down, essentially dead or alive.

So, in the end, the Bush administration sided with the murderers, with the terrorists. While it is unclear exactly what happened early Sunday morning, the message from the U.S. to President Aristide was crystal clear, the United States will not protect you from being cleared by the assassins that are on your doorstep.

So President Aristide has gone. People are dead. The brutal former dictator Duvalier is on TV saying he wants to come back. Guy Phillipe wants to reinstate the brutal army. Chaos reigns in Haiti.

Where do we go from here? Clearly, we need to be part of this international force to establish security, but it would be shameful if we do not look back and figure out how we got into this mess, that is, to have a full investigation of every taxpayer dollar that was spent in Haiti and find out whether it was involved in the destabilization of Haiti. We have to assure the security of the Aristides so that they can go to a country where they can be safe, and we have to help the refugees. We need that full investigation, and we will be pushing for it, starting tomorrow.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r108:69:./temp/~r1087E2LNd::

[rwork]

1. WOW.

This is what we have been wanting. Democrats with courage.

[Bandit]

6. Since when has the Black Caucus ever been accused of lacking courage?

They were the only ones to speak out against our own coup here in America and have been hammering this Administration about Haiti for several weeks without even the courtesy of a reply. I don't know this Congress person so may be jumping to conclusions here but I have been watching C-Span lately and have not seen a single White Congressperson speaking in defense of Haiti while there has been a constant barrage of speakers from the black caucus.

[LoneStarLiberal]

7. Actually, Schakowsky Isn't In The Black Caucus

Not that it is important, but Representative Schakowsky is not a member of the Congressional Black Caucus:

<http://www.house.gov/schakowsky/>

<http://www.house.gov/ebjohnson/cbcmain.htm>

I saw most of the speeches on C-SPAN last night and was impressed with all of them; I thought that Schakowsky's opening remarks were dynamite! Most definitely they are worth repeating!

[Bandit]

9. That is even better

It has always seemed to me that no one pays much attention to the Black elected leaders in congress so if a white person is speaking like this then we have cause for some celebration.

[LoneStarLiberal]

10. I Agree

I was happy to see Schakowsky there getting this issue into the Congressional record alongside the CBC.

[mac2]

2. Enough of Congress protest every issue......

but not enough to make a difference with any of Bush's policies. What is that?

[kiahzero]

4. Because the Republicans don't need the Democrats to push their issues?

They've got the votes to do whatever they want. If they need bipartisanship, they've got Zell Miller (DINO-GA).

[BlueEyedSon]

3. I love Jan S!

[Bozita]

5. I watched that on C-SPAN last night @ 10:45pm ET

My jaw hit the floor.

Jan Schakowsky's shown a lot of courage lately.

Replay should be available on the C-SPAN site as part of the Congressional Black Caucus business on Haiti. Her speech is about 5-10 minutes from the end.

[Logansquare]

8. I wish she was my rep!

I send her $ at least...

[terrya]

11. Rep.Schakowsky is my Representative in Congress.

And yet again, I'm very proud to have her representing me on Capitol Hill.

Terry