Members Urge Biden Administration and U.S. Department of State to Take Additional Steps to Mobilize International Support for the Haitian people Amid Time of Crisis

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

January 25, 2022 

MEDIA CONTACT: 

e: jeanette.lenoir@mail.house.gov 

c: 202.480.5737

Washington, D.C. — Today, Representatives Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) led a letter signed by seven members of Congress urging U.S. Department of State Secretary Antony Blinken to take additional steps to mobilize international support for the Haitian people as they work to rebuild from years of natural disasters, economic hardship, and political turmoil.

The letter comes in response to widespread civil unrest that continues to rise in Haiti due to the life-threatening shortages of fuel, food, medicine, and insecurity.

“[W]e ask for a whole-of-government effort to ensure Haiti receives the necessary aid to achieve lasting security, health care, and economic mobility through coordinated strategy and funding,” said the members. “As you know, the July 7th assassination of the country’s president, Jovenel Moïse, has thrown the Caribbean Island nation of 11 million into disarray. Well before this tragic incident, Haiti’s situation was volatile as the island grappled with political protests, gang violence, crushing poverty, rising COVID-19 cases, and no vaccine doses. Currently, the country’s economic situation is dire, and recently, widespread civil unrest continues to rise in Haiti due to the life-threatening shortage of fuel, food, medicine, and insecurity.

“While the House of Representatives passed an appropriations measure for Fiscal Year 2022 supporting dialogue in Haiti aimed at resolving the political crisis, urging stronger action against human rights abuses, and addressing the plight of pregnant Haitian women leaving their country to seek neonatal care—this dialogue must be met with funding, a comprehensive strategy, and international coordination to mitigate on the ground challenges,” the members concluded.

In addition to Representatives  Clarke and Espaillat, this letter was also signed by Representatives James P. McGovern (MA-02), G. K. Butterfield (NC-01), Juan Vargas (CA-51), Grace Meng (NY-06), Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Jason Crow (CO-06), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC-At Large) and Stacey E. Plaskett (D-VI-At Large).

You can find the full text of the letter HERE.

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Yvette D. Clarke has been in Congress since 2007. She represents New York’s Ninth Congressional District, which includes Central and South Brooklyn. Clarke is Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Taskforce on Immigration, a Senior Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and the Chair of the Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Innovation Subcommittee of the House Committee on Homeland Security.