INTO HAITI IT WAS 1994. IN 1994 THIS COUNTRY SENT 20,000 TROOPS
           TO HAITI AS PART OF AN INTERNATIONALLY ENDORSED EFFORT TO
           RESTORE ARISTIDE TO POWER. THAT DID OCCUR IN 1994. TRAGICALLY
           THOUGH, MR. PRESIDENT, DURING THESE MAST SIX YEARS, BOTH
           PRESIDENT ARISTIDE, THEN PRESIDENT PREVAL HAVE FAILED, FAILED

           TO ENACT THE NECESSARY REFORMS TO BRING DEMOCRACY, STABILITY
           AND YES, HOPE, TO HAITI. AS A RESULT, HAITI TODAY STILL HAS A
           DECLINING GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE
           UNEMPLOYMENT IS, BUT OFFICIAL ESTIMATES ARE BETWEEN 60% AND 70%
           UNEMPLOYMENT. THERE IS LITTLE TO KNOW -- NO ATTORNEY
           INVESTMENT. IN FACT THERE IS LESS FOREIGN INVESTMENT TODAY THAN
           THERE WAS A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO. THEY HAVE THE HEMISPHERE'S LOW

           EFT PER CAPITA INCOME AND HIGHEST INFANT NOR MALT RACE. THE
           HAITIAN NATIONAL POLICE, HNP, A CIVILIAN POLICE FORCE THE
           UNITED STATES AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HELPED TO ESTABLISH
           SIX YEARS AGO, AND THAT WE WORKED VERY HARD ON AND SAW GREAT
           SUCCESS MADE, NOW TODAY, UNFORTUNATELY, IS DECLINING IN ITS
           EXPERTISE. SIX YEARS AGO THERE WAS GREAT PROMISE FOR THE
           HAITIAN NATIONAL POLICE. TODAY, THOUGH, THE H.N.P. HAS BECOME

           MORE CORRUPT, MORE ENGAGED IN POLITICS, AND IS IN A STATE OF
           STEADY DECLINE. MR. PRESIDENT, 1994, WHEN ARISTIDE WAS RETURNED
           TO POWER, EVERYONE WAS REALISTIC. NO ONE EXPECTED MIRACLES.
           HAITI WAS, AFTER ALL, A COUNTRY THAT HAD BEEN MISERABLY
           GOVERNED BY HAITIANS AND NONHAITIANS ALIKE FOR NOT JUST
           DECADES, BUT FOR CENTURIES. BUT MR. PRESIDENT, WHAT COULD HAVE
           BEEN EXPECTED, WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXPECTED WAS THE

           ESTABLISHMENT OF A FOUNDATION FOR CHANGE, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT
           OF A FOUNDATION FOR PROGRESS THAT WOULD HELP MOVE THAT COUNTRY
           AWAY FROM ITS FAILED PAST AND TOWARD A HOPEFUL AND PRODUCTIVE
           FUTURE. TRAGICALLY, UNDER BOTH PRESIDENT ARISTIDE AND THEN
           PRESIDENT PREVAL, THERE HAS BEEN NO MOVEMENT IN THAT DIRECTION.
           MOREOVER THE FEW HAITIANS WHO COMPRISE THE ECONOMIC ELITE SHOW
           NO INTEREST IN BECOMING STAKE HOLDERS IN THEIR COUNTRY OVER ALL

           ECONOMIC PROGRESS. NOR THEM, IT SEEMS, THEY THINK IT IS IN
           THEIR BEST INTEREST, TO STAND BACK FROM THE TURMOIL THAT
           SURROUNDS THEM SO HAS NOT TO RISK THEIR OWN WEGST AND SECURITY.
           THAT'S BEEN TRUE OF THE ECONOMIC ELITE, IT'S BEEN TRUE. THE
           POLITICAL ELITE AS WELL. NOW, MR. PRESIDENT, DESPITE THIS IN
           POLITICS AS IN THEATER AND IN LIFE ITSELF, THERE ARE SECOND
           ACTS, THERE ARE SECOND OPPORTUNITIES FOR REDEMPTION. PRESIDENT

           ARISTIDE NOW HAS SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY. HIS IMMENSE POPULARITY,
           HIS POLITICAL HOLD ON THE COUNTRY, GIVE HIM THE CAPABILITY TO
           REVERSE HAITI'S DESTRUCTIVE COURSE. IT IS WITHIN HIS MEANS TO
           DO THE THINGS THAT ARE NECESSARY. QUITE FRANKLY, MR. PRESIDENT,
           ANYONE WHO HAS SPENT ANY TIME LOOKING AT HAITI KNOWS THAT THERE
           ARE FOUR, FIVE, SIX, BASIC THINGS THE HAITIANS NEED TO DO TO
           GET THEIR COUNTRY MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. IT IS WITHIN

           ARISTIDE'S GRASP TODAY TO HELP HAITI BEGIN TO ELIMINATE
           CORRUPTION, TO CREATE FREE MARKETS, NEW INDUSTRIES. TO DO BASIC
           THINGS SUCH AS PRIVATIZE THE PORT-AU-PRINCE PORT WHICH TODAY,
           UNBELIEVABLY IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE PORT IN THE ENTIRE HEM SNEER
           TO SHIP ANYTHING INTO OR SHIP ANYTHING OUT OF. HE HAS IT WITHIN
           HIS POWER TO IMPROVE THE COUNTRY'S JUDICIAL SYSTEM. TO
           STABILIZE ITS POLITICAL SYSTEM. TO RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS. AND TO

           LEARN TO ESTABLISH AND SUSTAIN AN AGRICULTURE SYSTEM THAT CAN
           BEGIN TO FEED ITS OWN PEOPLE. IT IS WITHIN ARISTIDE'S MEANS TO
           HELP HAITI BREAK OUT OF IT VICIOUS CYCLE OF DESPAIR. A CYCLE IN
           WHICH POLITICAL STALEMATE STOPS JUDICIAL REFORMS WHICH IN TURN
           STOPS PRICHTE SDAIFGS. CAUGHT IN A CYCLE LIKE THIS THE ECONOMY
           STAND TO STRAIN FURTHER AND FURTHER UNTIL THERE IS NO ECONOMIC
           INVESTMENT TO SPEAK OF AT ALL, AND THAT MANY OCCUR UNLESS

           ACTION IS TAKEN. NOW, IRSTAYED HAS -- NOW ARISTIDE HAS GIVEN
           SOME INDICATION, AT LEAST ON MAY, THAT HE IS WILLING TO MAKE
           SOME OF THESE CHANGES. IN FACT, IN A LETTER TO PRESIDENT
           CLINTON -- THEN PRESIDENT CLINTON -- IN DECEMBER OF THIS YEAR,
           ARISTIDE SAID HE WAS COMMITTED A BROAD RANGE OF POLITICAL AND
           ECONOMIC REFORMS INCLUDING THE
           
           FOLLOW: 1 -- THIS IS FROM THE LETTER SENT BY PRESIDENT-ELECT
           ARISTIDE TO PRESIDENT -- THEN-PRESIDENT CLINTON. NUMBER ONE,
           RAPID REVIEW AND REC AT THIS IF I INDICATION OF THE TEN

           CONTESTED SENATE SEATS?
           HAITI. TWO, CREATION AFTER CREDIBLE NEWSPAPER PROVISIONAL
           TOMORROW COUNCIL IN CONSULTATION WITH OPPOSITION PARTY MEMBERS.
           THREE, SUBSTANTIAL ENHANCEMENT OF COOPERATION WITH THE UNITED
           STATES TO COMBAT DRUG TRAFFICKING. NUMBER FOUR, NOMINATION OF
           CAPABLE AND RESPECTED OFFICIALS FOR SENIOR SECURITY POSITIONS
           INCLUDING THE HAITIAN NATIONAL POLICE. FIVE, THE STRENGTHENING
           OF DEMOCRATIC SDUGSS AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHT. THE SIXTH

           THING WITHIN ARISTIDE ARISTIDE'S POWER TO DETERMINE AND TO
           ACHIEVE WOULD THE INSTALLATION OF A PRODUCT BASED GOVERNMENT
           INCLUDING MEMBERS OF THE OPPOSITION. SEVEN, THE INITIATION OF
           NEW DIALOGUE WITH INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO
           ENHANCE FREE MARKETS AND PRIVATE INVESTMENT. AND EIGHT,
           NEGOTIATION OF AN AGREEMENT FOR THE REPUBLIC PA RATION OF
           ILLEGAL MY GRANTS. ALL OF THESE THINGS WERE SPELLED OUT IN THAT
           LETTER FROM PRESIDENT ARISTIDE TO THEN-PRESIDENT CLINTON. ALL

           OF THESE THINGS ARE READILY ACHIEVABLE. NOW, MR. PRESIDENT,
           ARISTIDE'S PLEDGE IN THAT LETTER IS ENCOURAGING. BUT UNLESS HE
           HAS THE POLITICAL WILL, THE POLITICAL WILL TO CARRY OUT THESE
           REFORMS AND CREATE A STABLE AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT, HAITI
           HAS NO HOPE OF MAKING REAL AND LASTING ECONOMIC NOR POLITICAL
           NOR JUDICIAL PROGRESS. QUITE CANDIDLY, THERE IS NOTHING --
           NOTHING THE UNITED STATES CAN DO TO FIX HAITI IF ITS GOVERNMENT
           ISN'T WILLING TO FIX ITSELF. SINCE THE MID-1990'S, WE SPENT

           MORE THAN $2 BILLION. AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS MORED
           IN AT LEAST ANOTHER $1.5 BILLION TO TRY TO BRING DEMOCRACY AND
           STABILITY TO HAITI. AND YET, IF WE LOOK AT WHERE HAITI IS TODAY
           VERSUS WHERE IT WAS SIX YEARS AGO, A CASUAL OBSERVER GOING
           THROUGH THAT COUNTRY WOULD COME TO THE CONCLUSION OF VIRTUALLY
           NOTHING HAS CHANGED. THAT NOTHING HAS HAPPENED. CANDIDLY, MR.
           PRESIDENT, THE FACT IS THAT EXTRAORDINARY AMOUNTS OF FINANCIAL

           ASSISTANCE AND ALL OF THE GOOD INTENTIONS BEHIND THEM ARE
           SIMPLY NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE POLITICAL WILL AND LEADERSHIP
           NECESSARY TO RE-SCREW AN UNSTABLE COUNTRY IN AN ECONOMIC FREE
           FALL. UNLESS PRESIDENT ARISTIDE -- UNLESS HIS POLITICAL PARTY
           -- UNLESS THE LEADERSHIP OF HAITI TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE
           SITUATION AND COMMITS TO TURNING THINGS AROUND, HISTORY WILL
           ONCE AGAIN TRAGICALLY REPEAT ITSELF. UNLESS ARISTIDE MAKES
           CONCRETE CHANGES, WE ONCE AGAIN WILL BE SEEING MAKESHIFT BOATS

           AND RAFTS OVERFLOWING WITH HAITIANS. HAITIANS WHO WANT A BETTER
           LIFE. TRYING TO GET TO FLORIDA. AND WE WILL BEGIN TO SEE THAT
           AGAIN. PEOPLE RISKING THEIR LIVES AS THEY THROAT TOWARDS MIAMI
           AND ITS CHANCE FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY AND A CHANCE TO FEED
           THEIR CHILDREN. MR. PRESIDENT, SHOULD ARISTIDE DEMONSTRATE A
           COMMITMENT TO CHANGE AND THE UNITED STATES AND INTERNATIONAL
           COMMUNITY STAND READY TO RESUME OUR EFFORTS TO HELP THE

           GOVERNMENT OF HAITI. BUT IT WILL TAKE ACTION, AND IT WILL TAKE
           ACTION FROM THE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT ARISTIDE, AND FROM THE
           HAITIANS. UNTIL THEN -- UNTIL WE SEE THAT KIND OF COMMITMENT,
           THE U.S. COMMITMENT WILL REMAIN LIMITED TO DIRECTLY HELPING THE
           CHILDREN OF HAITI, THE PEOPLE OF HAITI, AND NOT THE GOVERNMENT.

           THE UNITED STATES, IRRESPECTIVE OF WHAT ARISTIDE DOES, MUST
           REMAIN INVOLVED IN HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS. EFFORTS SUCH AS PUBLIC
           LAW 480, THAT FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. A FOOD ASSISTANCE
           PROGRAM THAT IS HELPING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF HAITIAN CHILDREN
           EVERY DAY GIVING THEM THE ONE MEAL A DAY THAT THEY HAVE AND FOR
           MANY OF THEM GIVING THEM AN INCENTIVE TO GO TO SCHOOL AND TO BE

           EDUCATED. WE MUST CONTINUE TO DO THAT. ONE OF THE BRIGHT THINGS
           AND BRIGHT SPOTS OF WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON IN HAITI, ONE OF THE
           THINGS THAT I THINK THIS COUNTRY SHOULD BE VERY PROUD OF IS HOW
           MANY AMERICANS ARE IN HAITI EVERY SINGLE DAY WORKING TO MAKE A
           DIFFERENCE. MANY OF THEM ARE RELIGIOUS. MANY OF THEM BELONG TO
           CHURCH GROUPS. MANY OF THEM BELONG TO OTHER NONPROFIT
           ORGANIZATIONS OR GROUPS. SOME GO FOR A WEEK. SOME GO FOR TWO

           WEEKS. SOME HAVE GONE TO LIVE AND TO STAY. BUT THERE ARE
           THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS WHO EVERY DAY ARE MAKING A
           DIFFERENCE IN HAITI. WE MUST CONTINUE, AS A GOVERNMENT, THE
           UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. TO ASSIST THEM AS THEY TRY TO ASSIST
           THE CHILDREN OF HAITI. BECAUSE AS THE CHILDREN WHO ARE THE TRUE
           CASUALTIES IN HAITI. IT IS THE CHILDREN WHO HAVE SUFFERED THE
           MOST FROM THE LACK OF PROGRESS OVER THE LAST SIX YEARS. IT IS

           THE CHILDREN WHO HAVE SUFFERED THE MOST FROM THE INABILITY, THE
           UNWILLINGNESS OF THE HAITIAN GOVERNMENT TO MOVE TO MAKE REAL
           CHANGES IN HAITI. SO THE REAL VICTIMS HAVE BEEN THE CHILDREN.
           THEY ARE THE VICTIMS OF THE TURMOIL, THEY ARE THE VICTIMS OF
           THE INSTABILITY, THEY ARE THE VICTIMS OF THE LACK OF POLITICAL
           WILL. WE, AS A COUNTRY, AS A PEOPLE, SIMPLY CANNOT AND WILL NOT
           TURN OUR BACK ON THEM. MR. PRESIDENT, THIS IS A COUNTRY WHERE
           THE INFANT MORE THE AT THAT -- INFANT MORTALITY RATE IS

           APPROXIMATELY 15 TIMES -- 15 TIMES THAT OF THE UNITED STATES.
           THE HIGHEST ETED IN OUR HEM STPHEERP. OF THOSE UNDER FIVE YEARS
           OF AGE, 129 OF EVERY 1,000 NEVER MAKES IT TO THE AGE OF SIX,
           NEW LOOK AT THE STATISTICS. 129 OF EVERY 1,000 NEVER MAKE IT TO
           THEIR 6TH BIRTHDAY. BECAUSE HAITI LARKS THE MEANS TO PRODUCE
           ENOUGH NUDE TO FEED ITS POPULATION, THE VAST MAJORITY OF
           HAITIAN CHILDREN THAT SURVIVE BIRTH ARE MALNOURISHED AND RELY
           HEAVILY ON OUR HUMANITARIAN FOOD AID. APRIL DIGS HAWAII, MR.

           PRESIDENT, BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF CLEAN WATER, SANITATION, ONLY
           389% OF THE POPULATION HAS ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER, 26% HAS
           ACCESS TO DECENT SANITATION. BECAUSE OF THAT DISEASES SUCH AS
           MEESE EFMS AND TUBERCULOSIS ARE EPIDEMIC. AND CHILDREN DIE FROM
           SIMPLE THINGS SUCH AS DIARRHEA. AND THAT HAPPENS EVERY SINGLE
           DAY IN HAITI. THE FUTURE OF HAITI'S CHILDREN ULTIMATELY IS IN
           ARISTIDE'S HANDS. IT IS TIME TORE PRESIDENT ARISTIDE TO MATCH

           HIS WORDS WITH HIS DEEDS AND UPHOLD HIS RECENT PLEDGE TO PLACE
           HIS COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE ON A PATH TOWARD SIGNIFICANT
           DEMOCRATIC AND SOCIETAL REFORM. LIP SERVICE AND PIECEMEAL
           EFFORTS, ACTIONS TO TEMPORARILY APIECE THE UNITED STATES OR THE
           INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, FRANKLY WILL GET HATE ARE I NOWHERE.
           SO MR. PRESIDENT, IN THIS, ARISTIDE'S SECOND ACT, THE CURTAIN
           COMES UP ON THAT ACT TODAY, HE AND THE POLITICAL RULERS HAVE A

           SIMPLE CHOICE. TO BREAK WITH RECENT HISTORY AND CREATE A STABLE
           POLITICAL SYSTEM AND A FREE AND DEMOCRATIC MARKET DRIVEN
           ECONOMY. OR, TO PERPETUATE THE STATUS QUO. TO PERPETUATE THE
           NEEDLESS BLOODY TRAGEDY THAT CONFINES FUTURE GENERATIONS OF
           HAITIANS TO LIVES OF DISTRESS, DISILLUSIONMENT AND DESPAIR. IT
           IS QUITE CANDIDLY AND QUITE BLUNTLY, UP TO THE PRESIDENT,
           PRESIDENT ARISTIDE, TO MAKE THAT DETERMINATION. THIS IS HIS

           SECOND ACT. THIS IS HIS SECOND OPPORTUNITY. HISTORY WILL JUDGE
           WHETHER OR NOT HE TAKES THAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THE PEOPLE OF
           HAITI, OR WHETHER THAT OPPORTUNITY IS SQUANDERED. I THANK THE
           CHAIR. AND I YIELD THE FLOOR.
           

           THE PRESIDING OFFICER: UNDER THE PREVIOUS ORDER THE SENATE
           
           STAND ADJOURNED UNTIL 9:30 A.M. TOMORROW.
           
           
           
           ADJOURN:
           
{END: 2001/02/07 TIME: 17-00 , Wed.  107TH SENATE, FIRST SESSION}