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Haiti could still benefit from stalled U.S. trade bill, U.S. legislator says

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti A stalled U.S. trade bill designed to bring thousands of apparel assembly jobs to impoverished Haiti could receive a vote in Congress by the end of the year, a U.S. legislator said Monday.

U.S. lawmakers last month delayed consideration of the HOPE bill, but U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee said there's enough bipartisan support to revive the legislation that would extend trade preferences to Haiti's crippled apparel assembly industry.

"The HOPE bill is very much still alive," Jackson-Lee, a Democrat from Texas, told reporters in Haiti's capital at the close of a four-day trade mission to the conflict-torn Caribbean nation.

The HOPE bill ? or the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement ? would grant duty-free access to clothes made in Haiti with fabric from third-countries.

If approved, the legislation could almost immediately create up to 20,000 assembly jobs in Haiti, where a February 2004 revolt toppled former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and threw an already dying economy deeper into ruin.

Explosive street violence in the aftermath of the revolt forced most apparel assembly factories in Port-au-Prince to shut down. Some have reopened, but others say they need U.S. trade protection to get back in business.

Supporters of the bill accused Washington lawmakers who postponed the vote of bowing to pressure from powerful U.S. textile lobbyists opposed to certain provisions, including one that would allow Haiti to use yarn and fabric from Asian competitors.

Jackson-Lee called such concerns "appropriate" but said she and colleagues believe they can "re-ignite the passage" of the HOPE bill before Congress adjourns, probably in December.

"We believe we have the support, Republicans and Democrats, that can give the HOPE bill another hearing," said Jackson-Lee.

Jackson-Lee visited Haiti as co-leader of a 52-person delegation exploring trade and investment opportunities, especially in tourism.

She said a major congressional delegation would visit Haiti in coming months as a follow-up to her trip, and said she would urge Americans to consider Haiti as a future vacation spot.

"The tourism industry is about to emerge again in Haiti," she said. "We want to be part of a new secure Haiti."