NFDA staff participated in a conference call with the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) today. Staff learned that HHS, in conjunction with DMORT and the Department of Defense Mortuary Affairs, is very close to having details about the process for repatriating the remains of identified American citizens finalized. NFDA staff hopes to hear something in the next few days; we will share any information we learned on
www.nfda.org/haiti.
NFDA has been contacted by several members of Congress who are concerned about the recovery, identification, processing and repatriation of the remains of American citizens who died in Haiti. Among those who contacted NFDA is Rep. Paul Broun, M.D., R-Ga., a member of the House Homeland Security Committee. NFDA has also been in contact with Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-Ohio, about this issue. NFDA staff shared the joint statement that it issued yesterday with Reps. Broun and Wilson in hopes of illuminating the concerns the deathcare community has about the treatment of the dead in Haiti.
