Klobuchar, Oberstar en route to Haiti

As I write this, a delegation including Minnesota Rep. Jim Oberstar and Sen. Amy Klobuchar is en route to Haiti. According to an Oberstar staffer, the bipartisan group lands at around 11:00 and will pay respects to those who died in the aftermath of the earthquake that struck 30 days ago. Today is a national day of mourning for victims of the quake.

Klobuchar and Oberstar are part of a 12-member delegation of House and Senate members that will be assessing the damage and the U.S. government’s response to the tragedy. Led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the group will meet with Haitian President Rene Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive as well as with members of the U.S. military, the UN, NGOs and USAID.

“In the spirit of President Obama, we go to demonstrate the ongoing American commitment to the Haitian people – that they will not be forsaken or forgotten,” said Pelosi in a statement this morning.

The members of the delegation:

• Speaker Nancy Pelosi
• Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
• Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)
• Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
• Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
• Senator George LeMieux (R-FL)
• Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), Chairman, House Judiciary Committee
• Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), Chairman, House Ways and Means Committee
• Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN), Chairman, House Transportation and Infrastructure  Committee
• Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
• Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
• Congresswoman Donna Christensen (D-V.I.)