By on 0 U.s. �me Cburtml by the inaction otheU.S. �- soon to be tho nds - of �I� win fled tim rounDy in o political pe . n the JeSk>re dermaacy in Haiti, the ·Bum administration allowed the coup-ma1ce k> rule with vir- 1Ual iJq>wity. The Demoaatic Party-COD- 1rollcd Cbngas 1m fBiled to pro­ vide any IeadeJShip or produce any legislative initiati� k> proect the lives of these political refup or k> force Bum's hand aOO have Amtide JeSk>Itd. t On my t trip to Haiti, in February «1987 -one yearaftel' the overthrow of Jean aa� ("Baby Docj Duvalier - I was privileged to be a guest at the fouOOing oonf=rx:e of the COO­ � of Dermaatic MoYemtn KONAKOM. Thousands of Haitiam traveled k> Port..au-Prince to lAy the groUlXfwork for the mocratic movement that ul­ timately brought �r Aristide k> power with 70% of the popular VOle. Together with pro-derooaacy actiwts in the United Sma, aOO tem of tmuwm of members of p� organizatiom - iocJuding the Rainbow Lobby aOO • the New AlliaIre Party-I uOOer­ mk that 1aSk. � the buildup for election; in Haiti progressed, we were actively involved in lobbying � ml raising lOOney t) support the Haitian people'sstrug­ gIc k> mid fair elcdiom. IN 11IE SUMMER of 1900, when the ootoriom DuvaliC'list Roger Lafonaant returned k> Haiti ml anooUlrcd his plam to nul fur the presidency, KONAKOM asked that immediate steps be taken to prevent his planned remobiliZation of the dreaded secret police, the Tontons Maooulr:s. Together with the Rainbow Lobby, I � an Clmrgeocy conference in Washington, at wftlch some 40 Cbngn'ssional of­ fices recdwd a detailed briefing on the de1Mora� political situa­ tion imide Haiti, which iIrludcd a report by tdepmne hook-q> from Port-au-�. In the meantime, KONAKOM was recruiting Haitian dtizem to nul for local office. They appealed k> me thc funds to pay the caOOidate registra­ tion fees. In two weeks I·raised ers of tOO\UlO of dollars k> en­ sure that pro-democracy can­ didates would be on the ballot ��Haiti. These candidates ultimately ran on the ticlcct laded up by � Aristide. Tbe popular vic­ t>ry WM a resowxting triumph fur thepeoplc .. As a presidential auxlida� I I1lve tard for myself the aiminaI silcn:e eX the so-alk:d "big five" Detmcra5 on virtually every . � c:l roB:eID k> our peq>le aI¥l k> 0Cherpeq>1e of color ber m1 imer­ lIltionally. - Clim>1\ Keney, m1 cmq.ny imemitive k> the deIllard of ordinaIyy pcq>le - m1 psr­ dcuIarty . people of roO' - tir dc200aaL)' 8IX1 iJdllioo. Dr. LenoraFuloni is the chair­ pmaa cf the New Alliat« POfty atda procticing � tht!rtJHst in Horlem. Contoct her (# the New AlliancePany, 2032 FifthA� New YorA; NY 10035 and (# (212'fJ964700. I People re pond to hard tim in different ways. Some hold on more tight} y than ever to their acquisi tions, fearing that they might be taken away. Others, eeing that their neighbors have even greater needs, share what little they have out of . comp ion. In W hington during this reces- ion, self-intere t has become more prevalent than compassion. While unemployment, hunger and home­ less increase, special interest group are attempting to consolidate their past gains with desperate resolve. There is simply no other way to ex­ plain the incomprehensible decisions being made by Congress and the Pre ident on how to pend the $1.6 trillion entrusted to them by taxpayers. How else doe one explain that the amount the United State is pending to defend Europe from a non-existent Soviet aony-rougbly $130 billion-is six times greater than what it spends to protect our own children from the very real ravages of hunger and malnutrition? What other reason exists for spend­ ing $100 billion to bail out failed avings and loans while not safeguard ing the investment we have in the health of our children? How is it possible that $61 billion could be marshalled to protect oil prices and the national sovereignty of 2.2 million Kuwaitis, while vir­ tually no new money is said to be available to help feed the 5.5 million infants and children who are hungry in American? SO FAR, compassionate initia­ tives in Washington have not fared well against other special interests. The interests of those who have benefi ted from the Cold War military buildup, and the concerns of investors and bankers are being heard above the cries of our children. The fact is, every fifth child faces hunger in the United States. That is nearly 13.4 million children under the age of 18 who live below the poverty line. Each month, 20 mil­ lion Americans rely on a food bank or soup kitchen for food; three out of four of these hungry people are either children or their parents. It is time that the suffering of these children be recognized as a na­ tional crisis: a crisis more important than oil, savings and loans, and NATO. TO BEGIN ADDRESSING this crisis, Bread for the World,a Chris­ tian citizens' movement against hunger, is urging Congress to in­ crease funding for three programs that have been proven effective for helping hungry children. . Withjust a fraction of the savings from our military budget, we can fully fund cost-effective childhood nutrition and education programs such the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (W1C) and Head Start. We can also expand job skills train­ ing and education for disadvantaged' and unemployed youth through Job Corp. • If we want more romp ionate leadership in our nation, citizens must speak up and insist that babies are more important than bombs or bankers. Dome.tl, hunger ',ct, - One in five children under 18 in the United States is poor. The VIEWS/OPINIONS of peech clute, in virtually every context? I ould argue th t all freedoms only m aningful in the context of individual and group right and re po ibiliti , P rving the dig­ .iity of 11 members of ociety. Freedom to y literally anything on wan regardles of all ocial consequences, and- without concern for tho e ho are viol ted, i no freedom at all. o v o "right" to demean or humiliate tu­ den on the b . of nder, race; exual orientation, or other ctors of difference, beca e this creates tile environment in which learn- ingbeco Imost! ible. 1b , the i ue of free peech d its limi howd be seen not j t from the pe pective of the First Amende­ ment, but the Fourteenth Amend- ou co 10 Dr. annUIg Marable is Profi - sor of Polilical Science and History and the University of Colorado, BoultJer. I • e pon eto atio 5150 billion 51 00 billion 550 billion o ur : Br d f r th 1992 Bud t • Gulf War 561 billion S&L Bailout 51 05 billion 1989 to present NATO 5130 billion Cost of defending Western Europe from o1to(k; FY 92 poverty line for a family of four in 1991 was $13,400. (Bread for the World) - Every 35 seconds an infant is born into poverty in the United States. (Children's Defense Fund) - Each month, 20 million Americans rely on a food bank or soup kitchen for food. Three out of . four persons requesting emergency food assistance are either children or their parents. Over 28 percent of all poor people received no federal as­ sistance in 1990. (Select Committee on Hunger) - Children are the poorest age group, twice as likely to be poor as elderly people. (Select Committee on Hunger) - Children, who account for 15 percent of all homeless people, are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. (Select Com­ mittee on Hunger) - Only one in 10 poor children • a c e Child oocI Hun r 520 billion u.s. food progrom for children; FY 92 rp rati n, Center for 0 fen e Information, _ is African American and living with a single parent on welfare in a central city. More than half of U.S. citizens on welfare are white. (Bread for the World) - Every 14 minutes an infant dies in the first year of life. (Children's Defense Fund) - The United States ranks below 21 developed countries in infant mortality, with 40,000 infants dying before their first birthday. (Bread for the World) - Prenatal care can cost as little as $400 compared to $400,000 sometimes necessary to keep alive a low-birthweight baby in a neonatal intensive care unit. Every averted low birthweight birth would save the U.S. health care system between $14,000 and $30,000. (Bread for the World) - A low-birthweight baby (below 5.5 pounds) is 40 times more likely to die in the first month than a normal weight baby, and is more likely to have developmental delays, learning disabilities or behavioral problems. Undernutrition in preg- nancies is a major cause of low birthweight. (BFW) - Children in programs such as Head Start are twice as likely to graduate from high school and be employed than those in similar cir­ cumstances who do not participate. (Children's Defense Fund) . - Nearly seven out of 10 Job Corps graduates are placed in jobs. (Job Corps) - Families in the richest fifth of the population have 44.6 percent of the total U.S. income, the highest percentage on record, while the poorest fIftilhave the lowest percent­ age of U.S. income ever, 4.6 percent. (Center on Budget and Policy Prioritie . - During the six weeks the United States was fighting in the Per- sian Gulf, 1,250 U.S. infanta and children died from poverty, 4,000 died due to low birthweight and 1,825 were killed or injwed by guns. (National Association of Religious Women) - Federal spending for children's programs .grew at only one-fourth the rate of overall federal spending during the 198Qs. (Bread for the World) - In 1991, the American tax­ payer contributed $154.72 to the B-2 Stealth Bomber, $17736 to the SctL bailout and $3.47 to the Job Corps program. (Job Corps) - $4.21 is returned to the . economy for every dollar invested in the prenatal aspect of WIC, $4.7S for each dollar pent on Head Start and $1.46 for every dollar invested in Job Corp. (Mathematica Policy Re­ search, Inc., Children's Defense . Fund and Bread for the World)