March 31, 2010

Congressman Gregory W. Meeks Attends International Donors’ Conference towards a New Future for Haiti

(NEW YORK, NY)– Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (NY-6), Senior Member of House Committee on Financial Services and Chairman of its Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade, attended today’s International Donors’ Conference towards a New Future for Haiti with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary-General, H.E. Ban Ki-Moon, and Present of Haiti, Rene Preval. International institutions that were in attendance were the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, Caribbean Development Bank and CARICOM.

“There has been much devastation brought to the people and government of Haiti since the horrific earthquake on January 12, 2010. I introduced legislation this past February to establish the Haiti Marshall Plan Committee that would bring together representatives from multilateral development banks, international financial institutions, United States bilateral aid programs and major international charities and nongovernmental organizations to coordinate aid and development initiatives for the country of Haiti in response to this environmental disaster,” stated Congressman Meeks.  Congressman Meeks added, “I also managed the passing of the Haiti Debt Relief Bill in the House Financial Services Committee and on the House floor that called for the immediate cancelation of Haiti’s debts to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank and other multilateral development institutions.”

Congressman Meeks has strongly emphasized the importance of providing both short-term and long term recovery to the country of Haiti. “I have conducted several subcommittee hearings in dealing with the aftermaths of the earthquake in January. My subcommittee hearing on Rebuilding Haiti’s Competitiveness and Private Sector and my subcommittee hearing on Haiti Debt Relief focused on the financial needs and current state of the Government of Haiti, reviewed the HIPC process which Haiti completed in 2009 and made important considerations when considering Haiti debt relief today, as a consequence of the January 12th earthquake by hearing from representatives from the Treasury Department and major non-governmental organizations. By attending this conference today I plan to take this information back to my colleagues in Congress so more legislation can be enacted to provide assistance for an effective plan to aid a strong recovery in Haiti,” stated Congressman Meeks.

Now serving in his sixth full-term, Meeks was elected to the House on February 3, 1998. Representing New York's Sixth Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, Meeks' district covers all towns of Southeast Queens, Far Rockaway and Howard Beach. He is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs.  Congressman Meeks is the Chairman of the International Monetary Policy & Trade Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee.  He is a Member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), New Democrats Coalition and the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC).  He serves as the Co-chair of the Malaysia Caucus, Services Caucus, Dialogue Caucus, OAS Caucus and the Middle East Economic Partnership Caucus.

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