[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1305 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1305

To prohibit funding to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) until debt 
 owed to the United States by heavily indebted poor countries has been 
                               canceled.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 25, 1999

 Mr. Campbell introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
  Committee on Banking and Financial Services, and in addition to the 
 Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit funding to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) until debt 
 owed to the United States by heavily indebted poor countries has been 
                               canceled.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Debt Forgiveness Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The International Bank for Reconstruction and 
        Development and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have 
        classified 40 countries as heavily indebted poor countries 
        (HIPC).
            (2) According to the Department of the Treasury, as of 
        August 1998, these countries owe the United States a total of 
        $6,752,100,000 in concessional, nonconcessional, and guarantee 
        debt.
            (3) 32 of these countries are in sub-Saharan Africa and 83 
        percent of these countries are classified by the United Nations 
        as being in its lowest category of human development based on 
        life expectancy, literacy, and per capita national income.
            (4) Most of these countries receive substantial amounts of 
        development assistance from governments, nongovernmental 
        organizations, and multilateral organizations.
            (5) Since the early 1980s, these poor countries have had 
        increasing difficulty servicing their debt, resulting in the 
        total amount of money being owed by these countries to external 
        creditors to increase from an average of $122,000,000,000 for 
        the 1983-1985 period to $221,000,000,000 for the 1993-1995 
        period.

SEC. 4. CONDITIONAL BAN ON PROVIDING APPROPRIATED FUNDS TO THE IMF 
              UNTIL DEBT OWED TO THE UNITED STATES BY HEAVILY INDEBTED 
              POOR COUNTRIES HAS BEEN CANCELED.

    (a) Prohibition.--None of the funds appropriated in any Act may be 
obligated or made available to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 
until the President--
            (1) has canceled all amounts owed to the United States (or 
        any agency of the United States) by poor countries described in 
        subsection (b) as result of concessional and nonconcessional 
        loans made, guarantees issued, or credits extended under any 
        provision of law; and
            (2) has certified to the Committee on Banking and Financial 
        Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
        Foreign Relations of the Senate that all such amounts have been 
        canceled.
    (b) Eligible Countries.--A country described in this subsection is 
a heavily indebted poor country, as determined by the International 
Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary 
Fund for purposes of the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Debt 
Initiative.
    (c) Additional Requirements.--
            (1) Cancellation of debt not considered to be assistance.--
        A cancellation of debt described in subsection (a) shall not be 
        considered to be assistance for purposes of any provision of 
        law limiting assistance to a country.
            (2) Inapplicability of certain prohibitions relating to 
        cancellation of debt.--A cancellation of debt described in 
        subsection (a) may be exercised notwithstanding section 620(r) 
        of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2370(r)).
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