Even with the elections looming next week, two South Florida congresswomen spent the past weekend in Haiti as that island nation recovers from Hurricane Matthew.
U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., and Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., were in Haiti where they met with UN and American embassy staffers over the response to the emergency. The two congresswomen also met with Haitian Prime Minister Enex Jean-Charles.
“I am thankful to have Frederica join me on this bipartisan congressional delegation to Haiti to get an on the ground assessment of our hurricane relief efforts,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “With about 1.5 million in need of humanitarian assistance, including approximately 175,000 in evacuation shelters and 806,000 in need of immediate food aid, Hurricane Matthew has had devastating consequences on the people of Haiti. Haiti has suffered through an earthquake and hurricanes in recent years and the U.S. will remain committed to help in the humanitarian response but it is crucial that our assistance is getting to those most affected who are in desperate need of food, water, shelter, and sanitation services. I look forward to meeting with U.S. and UN officials, as well as relief workers, to examine the distribution of essential humanitarian services.”
“This trip to Haiti is very important to me for different reasons,” Wilson said. “I represent members of one of the nation’s largest Haitian-American communities. Many of my constituents still have deep ties to Haiti and are desperate for accurate accounts of the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew from sources they can trust. More important, witnessing and assessing the damage firsthand is the best way to determine the different types and levels of support Haiti will need to rebuild from this latest natural disaster and how I can advocate on the nation’s behalf as it fights to fully recover from both Hurricane Matthew and the 2010 earthquake.”
More than 1,000 Haitians died in Hurricane Matthew earlier this month.
Ros-Lehtinen faces businessman Scott Fuhrman in next week’s election. Wilson is already guaranteed a fourth term in Congress as she has no challengers.
