FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1/26/10

Landrieu Calls for Aid to Haitian Orphans

Senator outlines short-term and long-term solutions to care for children in need of families.             

WASHINGTON — United States Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., called for short-term and long-term efforts to help Haitian orphans, during a bipartisan press conference this morning on Capitol Hill.  Landrieu also re-emphasized the need for federal agencies to develop a coordinated strategic plan to bring relief to these orphans.

“Haiti had 380,000 orphans, as defined by UNICEF, before the earthquake,” said Sen. Landrieu.  “We don’t know if this number has doubled, tripled or potentially even quadrupled, but I promise you it has increased.  We are here today to advocate for a more modern model to identify orphans in Haiti and try to reunite them with their families or find them a family somewhere in the world as quickly as possible.”

In the short-term, Sen. Landrieu is seeking to ensure that all orphan children, whether they were orphans before or because of the quake, are safe and receiving humanitarian assistance.  Sen. Landrieu also urged federal agencies to step up to ensure that the approximately 900 Haitian children who were in the process of being adopted by U.S. citizens are safely and swiftly evacuated to the U.S. and reunited with their prospective adoptive families.

Sen. Landrieu also wants to make sure that the U.S. and the international community look beyond the immediate aftermath of this disaster and focus on providing for the long-term safety and well being of all orphaned children in Haiti.  In order to achieve that goal, the U.S. needs to provide the Haitian government with resources and support to address the needs of providing children with permanent families. 

To bolster that effort, Sen. Landrieu is urging her colleagues to pass the Families for Orphans Act (S.1458).  The bill establishes the Office of Orphan Policy, Development and Diplomacy, with the sole purpose of promoting and supporting the preservation and reunification of families and providing permanent homes for orphans.

Joining Sen. Landrieu at today’s press conference were Sens. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).

 

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