u.s. pledges $15 million for tsunami aid, page-18

Hi SB2000,

The USA pledge has now actually reached US$35M, with a further US$20M pledged today via USAID. This is in addition to the "dozen C-130 aircraft from the U.S. Pacific Command (that) are transporting relief
supplies, including food, water, blankets and emergency shelter". More, however, can (and should) be dosne.


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Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 21:01:00 -0500
From: "U.S. Dept of State List Manager" >
Subject: Powell Outlines U.S. Help to Tsunami Victims

Powell Outlines U.S. Help to Tsunami Victims

(Stresses need to send appropriate aid to each affected country) (680)
By Peggy B. Hu
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The United States is providing funds, disaster assistance
experts, and relief supplies to help victims of the earthquake and
subsequent tsunamis that occurred in the Indian Ocean December 26,
according to Secretary of State Colin Powell.

In several television interviews December 28, Powell said the United
States has committed $15 million to disaster relief agencies, including
the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, and is
providing disaster assistance experts from the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) and military planes loaded with relief
supplies.

At a briefing later in the day, State Department deputy spokesman Adam
Ereli said Powell met with USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios and they
identified an additional $20 million to add to the $15 million the United
States has already pledged.

Ereli said this money will be disbursed to U.S. missions and to local
nongovernmental organizations and other organizations to get equipment,
supplies and relief to the people in need as those needs are identified
and as institutions are identified that are capable of making use of the
money.

The government of Thailand has granted access to the Utapao Air Base as
a regional hub to coordinate assistance and the White House said a dozen
C-130 aircraft from the U.S. Pacific Command are transporting relief
supplies, including food, water, blankets and emergency shelter.

Speaking on CBS's Early Show, Powell said he believes "a lot more aid
is
going to be needed," but he said that it is important to make a careful
assessment of the different needs of each country in order to allocate aid
as effectively as possible.

Disaster relief coordinators will need to see "what each country can do
for itself and make sure that we apply the aid in those places where it is
most desperately needed," he said on NBC's Today Show. "Some
countries,
larger countries, are able to handle it better than smaller countries or
countries that are less developed," he said.

Speaking on the Fox and Friends, Powell also stressed the importance of
sending appropriate aid.

"We have to make sure that we send people what they really need, and not
just flood them with things they don't need, which then clutters up the
entire transportation system," he said. Powell referred listeners to the
State Department Web site (http://www.state.gov/) for guidance on how to
make appropriate donations toward disaster assistance.

According to Powell, the United States has so far received direct
requests from Sri Lanka for assistance and general requests from the
International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. He said that
he has been in touch with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and "every one
of the foreign ministers of the affected countries to let them know that
they should make their requests known to our embassies so that we can
respond."

In response to a comment made by U.N. Under Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland December 27 regarding the willingness of
different countries to provide financial assistance to relief efforts,
Powell said that the United States "is not stingy."

The United States is "the greatest contributor to international relief
efforts in the world," Powell said on CNN's American Morning. "We
do more
to help people who are suffering from lack of food or poverty or suffering
from HIV/AIDS, and this Administration has a particularly good record in
increasing the amount of assistance that we give to the world. But
obviously we have to see what the need is in this terrible tragedy and we
will respond to the need along with the rest of the international
community."

At the State Department briefing, Ereli said, “We know the needs will be
greater. This is a disaster of almost unimaginable dimension and it's
going to require a massive support for some time." The clear message, he
said, “is that we are committed to helping.”

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:

http://usinfo.state.gov)
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