Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2008
April 16, 2008
Rep. Maxine Waters [D-CA]: Mr. Chairman, according to the World Bank, more than 10 million children in developing countries die every year before the age of 5, most from preventable illnesses. More than 1 billion people in developing countries do not have access to save drinking water. And approximately 100 million school-age children do not attend school.
In sub-Saharan Africa, 41 percent of the population lives on less than $1 a day.
It was because of these injustices that I first got involved in the issue of debt relief, and I would like to thank many of my colleagues who have been working with me over the years on debt relief and who have joined with me to present this legislation.
First, I'd like to thank Chairman BARNEY FRANK, who's always been a big supporter and a fighter, and who's worked very hard in the past to ensure that we are on record doing the right thing for poor children and poor families all over the world.
And of course I've been very pleased to work with the ranking member of the Financial Services Committee, Mr. SPENCER BACHUS, who worked with me on Jubilee 2000, and who's been involved in debt relief for many, many years.
I'd like to thank the original cosponsors, Mr. Emanuel Cleaver, Mr. LUIS GUTIERREZ, Ms. CAROLYN MALONEY, Mr. DONALD PAYNE, Ms. BARBARA LEE, and others such as Ms. JUDY BIGGERT, who serves on our Financial Services Committee, and Ms. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, who is the Ranking Member on Foreign Affairs, for all of the work and the assistance and the cosponsorship for this legislation.
In 1999, I worked with my colleagues on the Financial Services Committee to pass legislation to provide debt relief to the world's poorest countries. Our legislation provided complete debt cancellation for the bilateral debt that certain poor countries owed to the United States. Several other donor countries followed our example and cancelled the debts that were owed to them as well.
Our legislation also directed the Clinton administration to negotiate with other world leaders to significantly reduce poor countries' multilateral debts. The following year, the House passed my amendment to the fiscal year 2001 Foreign Operations appropriations bill, which increased funding for debt relief from $69 million to $225 million. This amendment proved that Congress supported full funding for the debt relief programs.
Since then, we have continued to work together in a bipartisan way to urge not only the Clinton administration but the Bush administration as well, the IMF, the World Bank, and other multilateral financial institutions to expand debt relief. As a result of our efforts, 23 heavily indebted poor countries have received complete cancellation of their debts.
Debt cancellation has proven to be effective in freeing up resources for poverty reduction. Cameroon is using its savings of $29.8 million from debt cancellation in 2006 for national poverty reduction priorities including infrastructure, social sector, and governance reforms. Uganda is using its savings of $57.9 million to improve energy infrastructure, to ease acute electricity shortages, as well as primary education, malaria control, health care, and water infrastructure. Zambia is using its savings of $23.8 million to increase spending on agricultural projects and to eliminate fees for health care in rural areas.
I'm proud to report that debt relief has made a real difference in the lives of millions of impoverished people. This came to pass because our country showed leadership, and our country showed leadership because this Congress showed leadership.
We are here today to continue our efforts. We are here today to enable additional needy and deserving poor countries to benefit from the cancellation of their debts. The Jubilee Act would make up to an additional 25 low-income countries eligible for debt relief, provided these countries meet strict criteria and use the savings for poverty reduction programs such as improvements to economic infrastructure, basic education, nutrition and health services, and programs to redress environmental degradation.
I would like to share with you a few of the observations and perhaps comments that I have learned about since I have been involved with debt cancellation.
Julius Nyerere, the former President of Tanzania, once asked, "Must we starve our children to pay our debts?" For Tanzania, the answer to this question is, "not anymore." That is because Tanzania is one of the lucky ones. It is one of the 23 countries that have already received complete debt cancellation. Tragically, many other countries are still starving their children in order to pay their debts.
Debt forgiveness is a moral imperative, and it is encouraged by many religious traditions. The Bible instructs the people of ancient Israel to cancel debts periodically through the celebration of a sabbath year every 7 years and a jubilee every 50 years.
Leviticus 25:10 says, "Proclaim liberty throughout the lands and to all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee for you."
Let us once again proclaim a jubilee for millions of people in some of the poorest countries in the world.
I would ask my colleagues to join with me in support of this Jubilee Act.
Before yielding the balance of my time, I would like to thank Speaker Nancy Pelosi for urging us to get this bill up and get it on the floor so that we could go on record in support of debt cancellations for the poor countries of the world.
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Contact: Michael Levin
202-225-2201
