Call on the Obama administration to respond to the earthquake in Haiti in a comprehensive way.
Our hearts and prayers are with the people of Haiti. We urge the U.S. government and people everywhere to stand in solidarity with our Haitian brothers and sisters by making sure they have everything they need to deal with the devastation brought by the recent earthquake.
The urgent need for immediate responses to this disaster will be followed by a need for sustained support for the rebuilding of many lives as well as the destroyed infrastructure.
The White House is coordinating national emergency, and search and rescue responses through the U.S. Agency for International Development that will be part of a larger international response to this disaster.
What you can do
ACT. Use your voice for Haiti today. Please call the White House at 202-456-1111 and ask President Obama to take 3 specific steps as part of its comprehensive response to the Haiti earthquake: (1) Provide massive assistance for relief and reconstruction in the form of grants, not loans; (2) Cancel the rest of Haiti's debt; and (3) Provide Temporary Protective Status to Haitians living in the U.S.
GIVE. Individuals may give through your local Presbyterian congregation, through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, or by sending a check to:
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700
Please include the special designated giving account DR000064 – Haiti.
Congregations should send donations through their normal mission giving channels.
PRAY. Please continue in prayer for all who have who lost friends and families, those who lost homes, and those seeking a sense of security after being affected by this tragic earthquake.
Learn more about what Presbyterians are doing in Haiti.
General Assembly Guidance
Resolved, That the 210th General Assembly (1998) do the following:
1. Reaffirm the action of the 208th General Assembly (1996) calling for debt relief as found in Hope for a Global Future, which does the following:
a. Calls upon all governments, the multilateral lending institutions, and commercial banks engaged in international lending to strive to insulate the poor of indebted countries from the costs of debt repayment and to consider seriously debt forgiveness or debt relief for the most heavily indebted and poorest countries.
b. Urges all creditor governments, multilateral institutions, and private lenders, in reaching agreements on debt relief, to condition them on the effects debt relief likely will have on the incidence of poverty in debtor countries, and on assurance that debt relief will not reward irresponsible behavior or encourage it in the future. Avoidance of rewards to nations whose leaders have acted irresponsibly may, however, sometimes have to be qualified out of concern for the poor and the environment as innocent victims of others' responsibility.