Sean Penn to Senate: Haiti on 'razor's edge' [View All]

[Kadie]

Sean Penn to Senate: Haiti on 'razor's edge'
By Moni Basu, CNNMay 19, 2010 4:36 p.m. EDT

(CNN) -- Sean Penn could have been walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. Instead, he was under the Capitol Dome in Washington on Wednesday to testify about Haiti.



Penn's newest film, spy thriller "Fair Game," will debut Thursday at Cannes, but the day before, the Oscar-winning actor was seated before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as witness to an emergency.

"I come here today in the hope that we will address with bold clarity the razor's edge upon which Haiti lies," he said.

He called on lawmakers to demand transparency as the island nation moves forward in recovering from the massive earthquake that struck January 12.

"In an emergency, donors offer money and expect it to be spent helping people," Penn said. "I hope we are here today to encourage just that."

Penn, who founded the J/P Haitian Relief Organization, has been living in a tent in Port-au-Prince, helping manage one of the devastated capital's largest camps for the displaced.

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http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/19/senate.haiti.sean.penn/index.html?section=cnn_latest