CONGRESSWOMAN CLARKE: “it’s important to get a presidential transitional council in place so that the nation can move forward to bring democracy back, that there’s governance structure in place, and that Haiti can move forward with all of its institutions working to address the myriad of issues that the Haitian people are facing.”
“I joined CBS News Thursday morning to discuss the ongoing crisis in Haiti, as well as what the United States and Congress need to take to aid our dear allies in the Caribbean and support the many Haitian nationals fleeing the violence it has brought. Tune it to the full interview below, and please follow along with the transcript for all the details!”
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VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: More US citizens have arrived in Florida after waiting weeks to evacuate Haiti which descended into chaos earlier this month that this comes as armed gangs launched a new round of attacks near the capital city. of Port au Prince yesterday. As the US State Department is working on efforts to get the remaining Americans out of the country, some Democrats are demanding that the Congress send in more aid or more on this. Let’s bring in democratic New York Congresswoman Yvette Clarke she is one of the co-chairs of the Haiti caucus. Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us.
CONGRESSWOMAN CLARKE: It’s my pleasure to be with you this morning. Unfortunately, under these terrible and tragic circumstances.
VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: So let me ask you, what actions is the caucus calling on with regards to President Biden to do in Haiti?
CONGRESSWOMAN CLARKE: Well, President Biden has requested that the Congress act to provide the funding that is required to bring in a multilateral force to help bring safety security to Haiti and we are in the process now of appealing to both the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul to authorize that funding. It’s a situation where the nation is descending into anarchy, and we really need to bring some stability to the nation.
ANNE-MARIE GREEN: The commander of the US Southern Command said that they’re prepared to send military forces into Haiti. If the President wants to see that happen, do you think it’s something that that the US should do?
CONGRESSWOMAN CLARKE: I think it’s something that would make a difference. I think that it’s important that we bring as many partners to the region as possible. I don’t know that a unilateral security force coming out of the United States into Haiti is the best approach to bringing stability. We’ve had a number of meetings at the UN, where a number of nations have stood up CARICOM region nations as well as some of the continental African forces that are prepared at this moment to go in and to help to bring the National Police the support that they need to bring civility back to the nation.
VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: So Congresswoman as you know, Republicans are blocking $40 million in aid to help stabilize Haiti and one of their concerns is that the aid fall into the hands of gangs there. And to be fair to the Republicans, your friends on the other side of the aisle, they’re not perhaps wrong about that we’ve seen over and over over the course of Hades recent history that money raised for Haiti to help the people of Haiti oftentimes does not actually get into their hands and that is across the board from organizations like the Red Cross who failed miserably in the wake of the 2010 earthquake to do what they said they were going to do. Millions of Americans opened up their wallets and pocketbooks to help provide that aid. And we see the situation that Haiti is in today. Nothing has really changed even before these gangs started to run amok. So how do you give assurances that money will get to those in need?
CONGRESSWOMAN CLARKE: Absolutely. Well, there has to be accountability. There’s no doubt about that. What we’re talking about is working with the UN Working with other trusted sources, to make sure that the funding the arms that need to go to bring this stability to the nation is accounted for. And I think those mechanisms have already been set up based on the conversations that we’ve had with our State Department to make that happen. No one wants these arms or the funding to fall into the hands of the gangs. And so I think that I know that we are in a position to bake in the accountability that is required to make sure that the again that that’s not the case, and that we move expeditiously to bring some stability to the nation.
ANNE-MARIE GREEN: As you know, Kenya was supposed to be sending a police force to Haiti. They sort of put that on pause and there was a little bit of pushback with some Kenyans wondering, why are we sending police? We don’t share a border with Haiti. Are we simply doing it because we’re, you know, we’re going to receive money. Is that enough of a reason to go there? I want you to talk to us about the challenges when it comes to finding countries willing to offer up troops or police to really put boots on the ground to help to stabilize the situation there. What are you hearing about the concerns?
CONGRESSWOMAN CLARKE: I think that there are valid concerns, and we need to make sure that those who have stepped up to partner with us have the backing of their civil societies to do so. And it was our understanding that those conversations have been held it Kenya’s legislature, that there have been a number of conversations, particularly with the CARICOM nations, the nations of the Caribbean, to partner with Kenya, as well as other stakeholders globally, who have a commitment to the people of Haiti and want to see the nation stabilized and that the safety and security of the people of Haiti is paramount in this in this moment.
VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: So congresswoman, you mentioned CARICOM, which to our viewers who may not be familiar CARICOM is a Caribbean community. It’s an intergovernmental agency that was established in the early 1970s. The member states include all of most of the countries in the Caribbean, ranging from Jamaica, to Dominica, to Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Barbados, all those countries that we can that are in that part of the world. But I wonder what you can brief us on and if you’ve been briefed, members of Congress have been briefed on some of the discussions that are happening there as it relates to Haitis future. We know that the Secretary of State Blinken has been part of those talks. We know the former US ambassador to South Africa, Patrick Gaspard, has also been involved in those talks. What are they telling you about what they plan on announcing in the days ahead?
CONGRESSWOMAN CLARKE: Absolutely. They have been engaged from day one because like the United States, they’re neighboring states to Haiti, and clearly see them as part of their CARICOM community, and their hearts are bleeding over the dissension of this nation into a chaotic situation and what the impact will be for their small states as well as the potential for migration that comes from the level of distress that the people of Haiti or under what I’m hearing is that they’ve had a number of conversations with the current president of Haiti who’s an interim president, and they’ve expressed to him that it’s important to get a presidential Transitional Council in place so that the nation can move forward to bring democracy back, that there’s governance structure in place, and that Haiti can move forward with all of the institutions working to address the myriad of issues that the Haitian people are facing in this moment, from starvation, to lawlessness, all of that needs to be addressed, and that needs to be done through the instruments of government at that need to be stood up by Haitian people for Haitian people.
ANNE-MARIE GREEN: All right, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, thank you so much.
CONGRESSWOMAN CLARKE: Thank you for having me.
