Speech #1020165243

Never in my life have I seen such incompassion for human life and common decency. Today. I stand here to ask President Bush to have compassion on the Haitian refugees who have fled their country because of fear of political persecution. The actions that are being taken by the U.S. Government are deplorable. How can we live with ourselves? We are supposed to be a compassionate nation. a nation that cares about the world community. and now we refuse to take a moral stance to assist the Haitians simply because they are poor and black. There is no other explanation for this travesty. because there have been too many other situations where we have gladly opened our arms to refugees from other lands. When trouble erupted in Central America. refugees were given the chance to apply for asylum in large numbers. I ask you. what is the difference? After 7 months of economic pressure from the Organization of American States there is still no hope that the de facto government in Haiti will fall. Negotiations have not produced relief and the crisis continues with refugees fleeing in record numbers. I understand that no one policy alone can guarantee freedom and democracy in Haiti. However. the United States can take a tough stand for the principles of democracy as well as lend a helping hand by accepting the Haitian refugees on a temporary basis. There are many refugees at Guantanamo Bay who have not even had an adequate review to determine their status. The President contends that such a review process can be conducted at the United States Embassy In Haiti. This is totally unrealistic because the Haitian Government is closely monitoring those that have been returned by fingerprinting them. Those refugees that were screened were determined to have had a credible fear of return. and yet the Bush administration believes that the fear is based solely on economic reasons and not political persecution. It is not beyond reason to think that the refugees can both fear starvation and bodily harm. Im saddened that the President can sleep at night with the blood of those suffering on his hands. I call for immediate action by the Congress in response to this emergency. Lets stop these illegal deportations and return to the humane principles that we once proclaimed. Thank you. Mr.