Haiti earthquake: Obama orders U.S. government agencies to make the disaster their No. 1 priority

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Reporting from Washington -- President Obama, signaling ‘one of the largest relief efforts in history’ for victims of the earthquake in Haiti, said today that he has ordered an immediate investment of $100 million in U.S. aid.

‘This investment will grow over the coming year,’ said the president, standing with several Cabinet members and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whom Obama said he has ordered to make the disaster in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince the No. 1 priority of all their agencies.

U.S. armed forces are on the way to Haiti, the president said, citing several Coast Guard cutters already deployed, elements of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and a Marine Expeditionary Force en route.

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-- Mark Silva

Photo gallery: Earthquake hits Haiti | Twitter: Reports from Haiti | Resources: How to help

Top photo: President Obama delivers brief remarks on Haiti recovery efforts. From left are Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Vice President Joseph Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. Credit: Credit: Ron Sachs / European Pressphoto Agency