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- WHAT ABOUT THE ELECTIONS?
-
- (Mr. GOSS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
- minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
- Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, U.S. military occupation of Haiti continues,
- but mandate of the Haitian Parliament will end. The time line for new
- parliamentary elections has already slipped from last December to
- perhaps sometime in May. I ask, ``But how can you build a democracy
- without a parliament, without a legislative branch,
- [[Page H 978]]
- especially in Haiti, especially with President Aristide?''
- Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, in 1991 he fell prey to the drive to
- consolidate power that has historically characterized Haitian politics,
- and he has failed to learn a very basic lesson of democracy, and that
- is that shared power makes for better governments, and it is vital for
- true democracy. Lack of progress on the elections in Haiti means
- President Aristide will be ruling Haiti without checks or balances.Mr.
- Speaker, the time for free and fair elections in Haiti is now. We must
- bring our troops home today. Bring on Haitian elections now, and save
- both democracy in Haiti and American taxpayers' dollars.
-
-