Sen. Curtis introduces bill addressing gang violence in Haiti
Sen. John Curtis joined colleagues on the Foreign Relations Committee in introducing a bipartisan bill to address gang violence in Haiti.
As chair of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Curtis was joined by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen D-N.H., ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, and committee members Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Chris Coons, D-Del., in introducing the Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act.
'This bipartisan bill is a meaningful and logical next step towards addressing and preventing criminal collusion and violence in Haiti,' Shaheen said.
'The ongoing gang violence has displaced more than a million Haitians — including women and children, creating a dire humanitarian catastrophe mere hundreds of miles from U.S. shores," she added.
The bill would 'mandate sanctions against Haitian gangs, armed criminal actors, and their political and economic enablers.' It would also require interagency cooperation in identifying and reporting criminal collusion and threats to U.S. national interests.
'Haiti's deteriorating security situation threatens America's national interests in the region,' Curtis said. 'By mandating targeted, strategic sanctions on Haitian political and economic elites who are colluding with criminal gangs, our bipartisan legislation will help address a growing humanitarian, economic, and national security crisis.'
There are a few key provisions of the Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act.
The bill would mandate sanctions against Haitian gangs as well as political and economic elites who enable the gangs.
It would also require in-depth interagency reporting on the scale and nature of criminal collusion in the country, including identification of the most prominent gangs in Haiti and the elites with significant ties to the gangs.
This legislation would also require 'an assessment of threats to U.S. national interests, democratic governance in the country and the provision of assistance to the Haitian government caused by criminal collusion between gangs and elites,' per the release.
'Americans are safer and more prosperous when Haiti is stable and secure,' Coons said.
In April, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., introduced companion legislation in the House.
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