Senate HERO Offers More Than Just HOPE

If you want to know what it is like to be Sisyphus in Congress, just ask Senator Mike DeWine (OH). This week, the Senator reintroduced the Haitian Economic Recovery Opportunity Act (HERO). The bill, which would amend the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act to allow certain apparel articles to enter the United States duty free, has been introduced by the Senator in each of the last three sessions of congress.

It was not that long ago that Haiti had, what some would describe as a respectable manufacturing sector. However, add to the mix poor governance, lack of reinvestment in infrastructure, a debilitating CDC ruling, and a couple of coup d’etats and before you know it that sector of the economy, which provided thousands of jobs, has packed up and gone elsewhere.

The HERO bill, which passed the Senate last year by unanimous consent, was consequently stripped, regurgitated and left to die in the House as the HOPE bill. The bill introduced this week, will allow up to 3.5% of total U.S. imports to arrive from Haiti duty free, if the President certifies that Haiti has satisfied the requirements of the bill. Make no mistake, this is not a handout. It requires Haiti to move in the direction of a democratic, free-market system, while providing a much needed boost to Haiti’s dying economy.

Is the HERO bill the answer to all of Haiti’s problems? No, and no one is claiming it to be. Will the HERO bill encourage international business to invest in Haiti? Perhaps. Will the HERO bill indicate to Haiti that we (the United States) are serious about addressing the debilitating poverty facing the country? Most definitely.

Senator DeWine (along with the bills co-sponsors Senators Nelson, Lugar, Biden, Coleman, Dodd, Durbin, McCain, Lieberman, Martinez, Bingaman, Sununu, Jeffords, Lautenberg, Chafee, Voinovich, and Smith) should be commended for his tireless commitment to providing the smallest of olive branches to our impoverished neighbors to the South.

To the rest of the Senate and Members of the House of Representatives, it is time to either pass the HERO bill or explain why it continues to stall in the halls of congress. Haiti deserves that much.