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- 10/21/08: Remarks by Henrietta Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance at the White House Development Summit
- 10/08/08: Remarks by Henrietta Fore, USAID Administrator and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance at The President's Freedom Agenda
- 10/01/08: Remarks by Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, at the Ceremony Marking the Full Operational Capacity of Africa Command (AFRICOM)
- 09/25/08: Remarks by Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, at 2008 Millennium Development Goal Malaria Summit, New York - "U.S. Leadership in the Fight Against Malaria"
- 09/22/08: Remarks by Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, at the White House Symposium on Advancing Global Literacy - "U.S. Commitment to Advancing Global Literacy"
 RSS Feed for Recent USAID Speeches and Testimony
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Press Conference
Ambassador James Foley,
Florida Governor Jeb Bush,
and USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios
On United States Assistance to Haiti
June 16, 2004
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Department of State Press Briefing Room
Amb. James Foley (in French): Good evening. I am Ambassador Foley. I am very happy tonight to introduce Governor Jeb Bush of Florida to you. Also, to my left, is Mr. Andrew Natsios, Administrator of USAID, who is accompanying Governor Bush on his visit to Haiti. With further hesitation, therefore, here is Governor Bush.
Governor Bush: Thank you, Ambassador. I briefly would like to say that I am honored to be here representing the State of Florida for several reasons. First, the Prime Minister was a resident of Boca Raton, Florida and we are very proud of that fact. He invited me to come to Haiti to assess the situation and to see how our state and the citizens of our state could help. There are over 400,000 Haitian nationals and Haitians/Americans that live in Florida, and they have a heart to help Haiti.
Today we heard from leaders about specific ways that the State of Florida and the citizens of the state and the Haitian diaspora can help bring about long-standing, sustainable progress for this beautiful country. Thank you.
USAID Administrator Natsios: I'm Andrew Natsios, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. I'd like to first express our deep sympathy on behalf of the U.S. Government from President Bush and from Secretary of State Powell for those who lost their lives or their homes in the terrible flood that took place a few weeks ago.
USAID, at President Bush's instruction, has worked closely with the U.S. military with the NGO community and with the United Nations to provide assistance to the victims of the disaster through water shelter, medicine, and emergency supplies.
I am pleased to announce today a new grant of 1,000 tons of food assistance from United States to the World Food Program of the UN to be provided to the victims of the flood in the flood region.
This will bring USAID's emergency assistance (for the flood) to over 1.3 million dollars.
I would also like to announce that the United States Congress has given approval to us to go forward with an additional 100 million dollars in reconstruction and development assistance for Haiti. This has just been approved a couple of days ago, and so within the next couple of weeks the money will begin flowing and the programs will be organized to improve the lives of the Haitian people.
This money will be spent in the following areas: First is to create short-term and long-term jobs, because we know that economic growth is the most important answer, next to democracy, for Haiti's future. We do know that since the majority of people in Haiti are farmers or hearders that we must spend some of this money in rural areas to improve the agricultural sector. But some of the spending will be on jobs in urban areas, to improve infrastructure like sewage and water systems, rebuild schools and other essential services.
We will also be working with the Ministry of Finance to set up an anti-corruption strike force. We are also working on preparing for the elections that will be held next year, which are very important to political stability in the country. Political stability is an essential condition for economic growth and for investment. Business people are not going to invest in Haiti if there is political instability in the country.
We know that the Haitian people have had their share of calamity and disaster, whether natural or man-made, and so we want to work closely with the new Haitian government and the Ministries to improve life for the people. And we are going to be working closely with the State of Florida and the Haitian/American diaspora in the United States that wants to provide assistance. President Bush has made this a very high priority. That's why I came here personally today to ensure that the Haitian Government knew of the concern the U.S. Government to make this program a success.
Thank you.
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