Bipartisan Group Of U.S. Lawmakers Suggest Obama Administration Exercise Leadership In Urging U.N. Accountability For Haitian Cholera Epidemic

The Guardian: Congress faults Obama for not being tough with U.N. over Haiti’s cholera crisis
“A bipartisan group of 158 members of Congress has accused the Obama administration of a failure of leadership over the cholera scandal in Haiti in which at least 30,000 people have died as a result of an epidemic caused by the United Nations for which the world body refuses to accept responsibility. … Led by John Conyers, a Democratic congressman from Michigan, and Mia Love, a Republican congresswoman from Utah, the letter‘s signatories include many of the most senior voices on foreign affairs on Capitol Hill…” (Pilkington, 6/29).

New York Times: Lawmakers Urge John Kerry to Press U.N. for Haiti Cholera Response
“…In a letter sent to Mr. Kerry … the lawmakers expressed exasperation with what they described as the United Nations’ failure to ‘comply with its legal and moral obligations to provide cholera victims with access to an effective remedy.’ The letter also chided the Obama administration for ‘the State Department’s failure to take more leadership in the diplomatic realm,’ saying this could be perceived as a limited American commitment to ‘an accountable and credible U.N.’ While most of the signers were Democrats, the letter was extraordinary partly because of its bipartisanship in a climate of polarized politics in Washington…” (Gladstone, 6/29).

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