Speech #1100136919

I want to thank the committee. and I want to also thank the staff that has worked very hard on it. I know that we have other Members that want to speak in affirming the passage of this legislation. But I am personally moved because I represent a number of individuals that. when we look at immigration policy. when we look at aid to Haiti. when we look at our interventions when coups have taken place in Haiti. as recent as the 82nd Airborne. when we look at those in the State Department that serve within the Foreign Service and the conditions that they have to work under. when we also look at the Peace Corps and other organizations like it. religious institutions. a number of NGOs. that we call nongovernmental organizations. and what they do and where they live in the rural parts of Haiti. providing not only education and food. when we look at their contributions and we look at the conditions they have to work under now as Haiti struggles with natural disasters and struggles with hard economic times. this legislation will help enshrine not only the contributions of Haitians towards the United States. but also Americans returning not only the favor but the goodwill back to the great country of Haiti. With that. Mr.