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Republican Plan To End The Bailout Of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac View the plan here |
Summary of H.R. 2634, “Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2007” |
H.R. 2634, the
"Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of
2008," authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to negotiate with the
Paris Club and international financial institutions a debt relief
agreement for certain low-income countries that have not received debt
relief under previous programs. Such an agreement is expected to
include bilateral and multilateral debt cancellation for low-income
countries that are eligible for International Development Association
assistance. Once negotiated, implementation would require
Congressional approval.
The Jubilee Act builds on the successful debt relief efforts begun
more than a decade ago under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
initiative and continued in the "Enhanced HIPC" and the Multilateral
Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). In countries where debt relief has been
completed, national debt has been reduced by two-thirds and spending on
reducing hunger and improving health, education, and social services
now is four times greater than the amount of previous debt payments.
By doing so, it would serve United States national interests by helping
to combat the poverty that breeds unrest and instability and creates
the conditions that allow dictators and terrorists to thrive. Paying
for the U.S. share of the expected first round of debt relief under the
Jubilee Act would cost no more than 50 cents apiece for every man,
woman, and child in this country.
The bill reported by the Committee on Financial Services by voice
vote makes a number of important improvements to the introduced
version: establishing conditions for receipt of the debt reduction,
breaking debt relief into a two-step process - negotiation, followed by
implementation - and deleting language that would be either
controversial or duplicative of other legislation. It also contains a
"Sense of Congress" section expressing the view that while pressing
forward on new debt-relief programs, the U.S. should become current in
its existing debt relief obligations, which are currently $600 million
in arrears.
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