Norton Heartened by Obama's Action After Haiti Earthquake & Asks Black Community to Take Leadership

Norton Heartened by Obama's Action After Haiti Earthquake and Asks Black Community to Take Leadership

January 13, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), who visited Haiti with a Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) delegation in 2008, said she was relieved and heartened by President Obama's immediate strong action to assist Haiti in one of the most devastating and desperate tragedies in its long history as an independent nation. She said that it is important that the president has taken responsibility for Haiti as an allied nation in the American hemisphere in our sphere of interests. "What is truly disheartening is that Haiti had begun to have success in using Hope II, a bill we passed in 2008 allowing Haiti to qualify for duty-free treatment on exports," Norton said. "Already, Haitians had begun to set up apparel businesses, and Haitians who could not read or write were learning to operate sewing machines that helped them to manufacture goods to sell here and around the world. This natural disaster in one of the poorest countries in our hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world is a heartbreaking setback that requires not only the United States, but the entire world, to rally to assist." Norton said that she also hoped that the African American community, and its many organizations, in particular, would be moved to take a leadership role to boost Haiti's recovery from this disaster.

When Norton travelled with a CBC delegation to Haiti, a 40 percent increase in global food prices had led to food riots that killed at least six people and had prompted the replacement of the prime minister. The delegation met with the prime minister, who has successfully stabilized the country and its economy with steady American assistance.

HAITI EARTHQUAKE QUICK REFERENCE GUIDELatest Updates: www.state.gov/haitiquake/U.S. Citizen Inquiries The U.S. Embassy in Port Au Prince has set up a task force at the Embassy that is taking calls as conditions permit. The Embassy is working to identify U.S. citizens in Haiti who need urgent assistance and to identify sources of emergency help. U.S. citizens in Haiti are urged to contact the Embassy via email (ACSPaP@state.gov) to request assistance.

U.S. citizens in Haiti can call the Embassy’s Consular Task Force at 509-2229-8942, 509-2229-8089, 509-2229-8322, or 509-2229-8672. The State Department has also created a task force to monitor the emergency. People in the U.S. or Canada with information or inquiries about U.S. citizens in Haiti may reach the Haiti Task Force at 888-407-4747; Haiti-Earthquake@state.gov.

Outside of the U.S. and Canada, call 202-501-4444. For further information and updates, please see the State Department’s Consular Affairs website (travel.state.gov). We still encourage you and your constituents to reach out directly to the State Department’s Haiti Task Force at 1-888-407-4747; Haiti-Earthquake@state.gov.

Adoptions Info: U.S. citizens with pending adoption cases in Haiti are requested to contact the Department of State atAskCI@state.govfor information about their adoptioncase. In your inquiry, please include: full name and contact information of parents, full name(s) of child(ren), date(s) of birth of child(ren) [if known], and the name and contact information of orphanage. Your constituents can find additional information about adoptions in Haiti at https://adoption.state.gov/news/Haiti.html#.

Contributions/Donations: The most effective way people can assist relief efforts is by making cash contributions to humanitarian organizations that are conducting relief operations. Information on organizations responding to the humanitarian situation in Haiti may be available at www.reliefweb.int, and at USAID: www.usaid.gov – Keyword: Donations. U.S. citizens who wish to contribute to the relief effort for Haiti after the earthquake, either online or by text message, can visit www.WhiteHouse.gov. The State Department helped set up a short code for those wishing to send immediate monetary assistance. To take advantage of this, people can text "HAITI" to "90999" and $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross, charged to your cell phone bill.

Haitian citizens in the U.S. should call the Haitian Embassy in Washington, D.C., 202-332-4090, or the Haitian Consulate in New York City, 305-859-2003.

Volunteer Opportunities:Additionally, persons who wish to provide assistance or expertise in Haiti are asked to contact the Center for International Disaster Information. The Center, operated under a grant from the United States Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, has established a dedicated page to coordinate Haiti support at: https://www.cidi.org/incident/haiti-10a/, 703-276-1914.