[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1066 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1066
Recognizing the bravery and efforts of the United States Armed Forces,
local first responders, and other members of Operation Unified Response
for their swift and coordinated action in light of the devastation
wrought upon the nation of Haiti after a horrific 7.0 magnitude
earthquake struck Port-Au-Prince and surrounding cities on January 12,
2010.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 3, 2010
Mr. Meek of Florida (for himself, Mr. Skelton, Mr. Mack, Mr. McKeon,
Mr. Berman, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Hastings of Florida,
Mr. Andrews, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Cooper, Mrs. Davis of
California, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Langevin, Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Tim Murphy of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Payne, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Rush, Mr. Snyder,
Mr. Spratt, Mr. Taylor, Ms. Waters, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Smith
of Washington, Mr. Kissell, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, Mr. Bartlett, Mr.
Conaway, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Wilson
of South Carolina, Mr. Nye, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mr. Platts, Mr. Lamborn,
Ms. Pingree of Maine, Mr. Boren, Mr. Owens, Ms. Tsongas, Mr. Burton of
Indiana, Mr. Thornberry, Mr. Loebsack, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Murphy of New
York, Mr. Massa, and Mr. Wittman) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the bravery and efforts of the United States Armed Forces,
local first responders, and other members of Operation Unified Response
for their swift and coordinated action in light of the devastation
wrought upon the nation of Haiti after a horrific 7.0 magnitude
earthquake struck Port-Au-Prince and surrounding cities on January 12,
2010.
Whereas the recent crisis in Haiti was caused by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, the
worst the nation has experienced in over two centuries;
Whereas the disaster wrought by this earthquake has been catastrophic,
destroying ports, infrastructure, hospitals, schools, homes, and
businesses, making many roads impassable and incapacitating air travel,
and severely hampering the efforts of disaster relief organizations;
Whereas one week after the earthquake hit, electricity was still down, running
water was not available, and food supplies were quickly dwindling;
Whereas the cities of Port-Au-Prince, Jacmel, Gonaives, Petionville, and
surrounding areas have been devastated, affecting an estimated 3,000,000
Haitians;
Whereas the United States Coast Guard was the first to represent the United
States in Haiti after the catastrophic earthquake and was an integral
part of the initial relief efforts;
Whereas the ability of the Coast Guard to act quickly and efficiently set the
foundation for the quickly escalating international response;
Whereas within the first 10 days, 24 United States Navy and Coast Guard vessels,
thousands of international United States Army Reserve rescue workers,
over 14,000 members of the United States Armed Forces, 71 United States
helicopters, and 26 Department of Health and Human Services personnel
arrived or were en route to provide logistical support, secure aid
distribution, and set up temporary housing;
Whereas after just one week, Joint Task Force Haiti (JTF-Haiti) had established
multiple forward operating bases throughout Haiti and immediately
started passing out thousands of meals and bottled water;
Whereas in just one day, JTF-Haiti was able to deliver 396,808 water bottles,
238,585 meals, and 4,900 lbs. of medical supplies to Haitian survivors;
Whereas the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and the United States
Coast Guard have managed the safe arrival and departure of military and
humanitarian flights at Port-Au-Prince Airport;
Whereas within the first 10 days, more than 11,000 United States citizens were
evacuated;
Whereas the USNS Comfort hospital ship arrived in less than a week providing 600
medical personnel and the ability to treat more than a 1,000 patients;
Whereas the USNS Comfort has already treated 1,427 patients from 10 different
hospital sites;
Whereas within the first two weeks, Department of Defense personnel distributed
1,820,463 bottles of water, 1,465,569 meals, and 57,083 lbs. of medical
equipment;
Whereas these operations delivered life sustaining food, water, and medical
supply packages to Haiti's displaced;
Whereas during coordinated relief efforts by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), members of the United States Armed
Forces, including members of the Army Reserves, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Defense, the Department of
State, and the United Nations, personnel and equipment to manage 8
hospitals were delivered to provide crucial emergency medical services,
and 6 field hospitals were set up, resulting in thousands of lives
saved;
Whereas the first responders teams that readily responded to the call for
assistance for the Haitian people within the first 24 hours after the
disaster include the Miami-Dade Search and Rescue Team of Miami-Dade
County, Florida, Fairfax County Search and Rescue Team of Fairfax
County, Virginia, U.S. Urban Search and Rescue Teams (US&R) of Los
Angeles County, New York City Firefighters, the BATAAN Amphibious
Readiness Group (ARG)/Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and the NASSAU
ARG/MEU;
Whereas the coordinated relief efforts of the United States, international
agencies, and the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(MINUSTAH) in the first week resulted in 122 courageous rescues of
Haitians trapped beneath rubble, including a 2-year-old girl who had
been trapped for 6 days;
Whereas during the ongoing relief efforts, USAID, members of the United States
Armed Forces, including members of the Army Reserves, FEMA, the
Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the United Nations
coordinated teams that delivered 1,910 short tons of humanitarian aid in
the first week; and
Whereas additionally, 954 Department of Defense, private, and commercial airlift
sorties have been successfully conducted: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes the efforts of the United States Armed
Forces, local first responders, and other members of Operation
Unified Response for their swift, compassionate, and courageous
action to meet the needs of Haiti's citizens and government and
facilitate the evacuation, safety, and medical attention for
United States citizens impacted by the earthquake in Haiti;
(2) recognizes the remarkable response by the men and women
in the United States Armed Forces for their ability to deploy
such a sizeable force in such a short amount of time while also
engaged in two separate conflicts; and
(3) recognizes the dedication and sacrifice put forward by
United States public servants to procure and deliver the
enormous amounts of food, water, medical and hygienic supplies,
and shelter and for their tireless effort to repair and rebuild
critical infrastructure for the benefit of all Haitians.
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