SECRETARY CLINTON
January 14, 2010
Let me start by just thanking General Darnell and the whole team here at PACOM for taking us in and allowing us to have the opportunity to communicate as broadly as we needed to.
As I said earlier this morning, I’ve been staying in close touch with our team back in Washington to monitor developments in the wake of this catastrophic earthquake. And we’ve received a lot of additional information. I’ve spoken with the President, with the National Security Council, with Secretary Gates, Administrator Shah, as well as numerous other State Department officials, to talk through exactly what is happening on the ground. I delayed my departure this morning in order to make additional calls, to gather more information, and to get thoroughly briefed by the military as well as our civilian teams about how quickly assistance was flowing, what kind of assistance was needed.
In addition, I’ve spoken with a number of international leaders – the president of the Dominican Republic, which has been very helpful in providing direct assistance. As you know, they share a border with Haiti. They suffered some minor damage, but they have been sending assistance over their border to try to help, including food and medical personnel. Their military airport is also serving as a staging ground for others who are trying to get into Haiti.
I spoke with the Canadian foreign minister. Canada has a longtime commitment to Haiti, which they are very focused on doing all they can now to continue, as well as to add additional resources. I spoke with the French foreign minister, who informed me that there were planes coming from France and from some French nearby islands in the Caribbean.
The Brazilian foreign minister and I discussed the loss of life in the UN mission. The Brazilians, as you know, play a major role in Haiti and have been extremely supportive of the Haitian people over the last number of years. President Lula spoke with President Obama. We will be closely coordinating as we go forward.
I’ve spoken to a number of others, but I think that the general impression is that we are facing a disaster of as yet unknown magnitude. And the problems that we’re going to confront over the next days in particular as we try to launch successful search-and-rescue missions, followed up by the immediate pressing need for food and water in particular, are just of unimaginable extent. Therefore, I’ve decided to cancel the remainder of my trip and return to Washington this afternoon.
The President has ordered an aggressive and coordinated strategy to address the difficult conditions we face in providing assistance to the Haitian people and then following through in the weeks and months ahead to help with their reconstruction. The President has named our new USAID Administrator Raj Shah to coordinate that effort. I have every confidence that Raj will continue in that role with the same caring and competence that he has always shown. We are obviously bringing in additional resources to support him. He just took the job, was sworn into the job a couple of days ago and had not had a chance to really staff up USAID, which many of you know has been depleted over the last years. So we are working to augment what Raj has on hand.
I want to take a moment to thank the tens of thousands of people who have already donated to relief efforts. As a reminder, you can donate by texting Haiti, H-a-i-t-i, to 90999 and $10 will automatically be billed to your cell phone. We’ve already raised nearly a million dollars through this State Department text messaging initiative.
There continue to be a great deal of inquiries about friends and family in Haiti. There are up to 45,000 American citizens in Haiti. And the public number to call for questions or information is in the State Department and that number is 1-888-407-4747.
GUARDIAN CHRONICLE
UNITED STATES
ASSISTANCE TO HAITI
NEWS COVERAGE
Philip J. Crowley
Assistant Secretary
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
January 13, 2010
HAITI
Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and Fairfax County Search and Rescue Teams have arrived and begun work / Teams from Los Angeles and Miami-Dade are preparing to depart for Haiti
The Secretary has spoken to the Foreign Minister of France Kouchner, Foreign Minister of Brazil Amorim, Foreign Minister of Canada Cannon, and the President of the Dominican Republic Fernandez
A number of countries have offered assistance / Believe that search and rescue assets from France and the United Kingdom are en route
U.S. Embassy is accounting for American citizens / In process of alerting Americans / Small number of American citizens at the airport / Two C-130s on the ground to evacuate Americans / Coast Guard has evacuated a small number of injured Americans
Aware of three possible American casualties / Still trying to confirm
U.S. Coast Guard is looking at the port / Port received substantial damage / Limits ability to dock ships
People can text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10 to assist with relief efforts / More than 82,000 donors / $828,140 has been donated so far
315 Flatbush Avenue, suite 537
Brooklyn, New York 11217
(718) 374-5228
THE BLACK LAW ENFORCEMENT ALLIANCE CALLS ON THE UNITED NATIONS TO BEGIN IMMEDIATE INTERNATIONAL SPONSORED EMERGENCY AIR AND SEA EVACUATIONS IN HAITI
To GUARDIAN CHRONICLE Written by Mr. Marquez Claxton: Contact: (917) 939-375 January 15, 2010
The BLACK LAW ENFORCEMENT ALLIANCE is calling on the United Nations to begin emergency evacuations of the sick, injured, elderly and youth in Haiti. BLACK LAW ENFORCEMENT ALLIANCE Director Marquez Claxton states, “International immigration rules and historical global indifference cannot prevent us from saving lives. The ongoing rescue and relief effort is missing the evacuation component. We encourage the global community to continue to provide life-sustaining resources to Haiti. In addition to the ongoing rescue & relief effort, we are calling on the United Nations to begin an international, well-coordinated, prioritized evacuation in Haiti. Severely injured people, buried under mounds of concrete are not rescued if you merely dig them out and place them on top of the rubble with aspirin & alcohol. Haiti’s already inadequate medical facilities have been destroyed and unless there is an unprecedented, international sponsored medical evacuation, many of the surviving injured, including the elderly and youth will die. This is the time for the world to prove their humanity.”
The BLACK LAW ENFORCEMENT ALLIANCE recommends:
Utilization existing medical facilities in the Dominican Republic as island coordinating center for triage and travel preparations
treatment of sick & injured not stable to be air/sea evacuated
Coordinated, international medical air/sea evacuation
Conferral with & notification to foreign family members
Transport to treatment facilities near existing foreign family members (if possible)
BLACK LAW ENFORCEMENT ALLIANCE
(718) 374-5228 |