Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. JACOBS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of H.R. 2471, the Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative Act. I thank Congressman Jeffries for his leadership in offering this important piece of legislation that will ensure that we take stock of U.S. policy in Haiti and measure our progress in addressing corruption, improving governance, and advancing the rule of law.

Haiti is facing one of its worst outbreaks of violence since 1986. This has had a devastating impact on the Haitian people and threatened any long-term progress we have made. We have seen this movie before. Instead of continuing the same approach and hoping for a different outcome, it is critical that as we are conducting our long-overdue review of policy, we are analyzing the drivers and risks of conflict, instability, and violence in Haiti.

This bill sets out to do just that and more. The amendment I offered in committee requires the State Department and USAID to conduct an assessment of conflict, instability, and violence in Haiti, analyzing the systemic patterns and causes of violence and the role of actors and beneficiaries who play a part.

This bill also makes sure that State and USAID are consulting with NGOs and civil society groups in Haiti, a critical step that is often overlooked.

As someone who has worked in conflict stabilization at the State Department, I know how important it is that we understand the root causes of violence in order to craft sound policy and make decisions on where to focus our foreign assistance. This bill would ensure our review of U.S. policy in Haiti takes this important step.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.

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