BY SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA.)
Haiti is on the edge of failure. The recent earthquake and the assassination of President Moise Jovenel has pushed already weak institutions and a dangerous security situation over the edge making normal trade impossible. One U.S. industry has been hit particularly hard: rice farmers. Rice exporters from Louisiana have been trying to navigate the security situation in Port-Au-Prince to get life-saving American food into stores, but have been met with the terror of gangs that will not allow them to trade freely. Continuing to ignore the quickly deteriorating situation in our neighbor’s capital city comes at the expense of U.S. economic and national security.