Conyers, 103 Members of Congress Encourage United Nations to Address Haitian Cholera Crisis

(WASHINGTON) – Today, Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and 103 other Members of Congress sent a letter to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, encouraging her to urge the United Nations to take a leading role in addressing the cholera crisis in Haiti.

The cholera outbreak began in 2010, ten months after Haiti’s tragic earthquake, and “has become one of the largest cholera epidemics in modern history” according to the Pan-American Health Organization.  To date, at least 7,200 Haitians have died from the disease and more than 530,000 people have been infected.    

U.S. Representative
John Conyers, Jr.

“As cholera was brought to Haiti due to the actions of the UN, we believe that it is imperative for the UN to now act decisively to control the cholera epidemic,” they write. “UN authorities should work with Haiti’s government and the international community to confront and, ultimately, eliminate this deadly disease from Haiti and the rest of the island of Hispaniola.  A failure to act will not only lead to countless more deaths: it will undermine the crucial effort to reconstruct Haiti and will pose a permanent public health threat to the populations of neighboring nations.” 

The letter was also signed by Representatives Steve Cohen (D-TN), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), James Moran (D-VA), Ed Towns (D-NY), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Donna Edwards (D-MD), Pete Stark (D-CA), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Corrine Brown (D-FL), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Hansen Clarke (D-MI), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Michael Honda (D-CA), Lacy Clay (D-MO), John Lewis (D-GA), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Frederica Wilson (D-FL), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), Ted Deutch (D-FL), John Olver (D-MA), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Bob Filner (D-CA), James McGovern (D-MA), William Keating (D-MA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Sam Farr (D-CA), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Karen Bass (D-CA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), John Tierney (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Laura Richardson (D-CA), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Peter Welch (D-VT), Bennie Thompson (D-GA), Janice Hahn (D-CA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Al Green (D-TX), Melvin Watt (D-NC), Barney Frank (D-MA), Edward Markey (D-MA), Donna Christensen (D-VI), Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS), Rosa Delauro (D-CT), Jared Polis (D-CO), Danny Davis (D-IL), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Michael Michaud (D-ME), Gene Green (D-TX), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Peter Defazio (D-OR), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Steve Israel (D-NY), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), David Cicilline (D-RI), Andre Carson (D-IN), G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Charles Gonzalez (D-TX), Ron Kind (D-WI), Lucille Royal-Allard (D-CA), David Price (D-NC), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Jose Serrano (D-NY), Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Robert Brady (D-PA), James Langevin (D-RI), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-WA), Susan Davis (D-CA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Brian Higgins (D-NY), James Himes (CT), Terri Sewell (D-AL), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Ed Pastor (D-AZ), and Cedric Richmond (D-LA)

Haiti Cholera Congressional Member Letter to Ambassador Rice, July 17, 2012 Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©