[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4091 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4091

  To provide debt relief and reconstruction aid to Mozambique and the 
  other countries severely damaged by the recent flooding in southern 
                                Africa.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 2000

 Ms. Waters (for herself, Mr. Meeks of New York, Ms. Lee, Mr. Rangel, 
   Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Payne, Ms. Jackson-Lee of 
Texas, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Jackson 
   of Illinois, Ms. McKinney, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. Hilliard, Ms. 
  Carson, and Ms. Millender-McDonald) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in 
  addition to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, 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 provide debt relief and reconstruction aid to Mozambique and the 
  other countries severely damaged by the recent flooding in southern 
                                Africa.

    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 ``Limpopo River Debt Relief and 
Reconstruction Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Beginning on February 9, 2000, the southern African 
        countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, South 
        Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe began to experience 
        severe flooding caused by days of heavy rain and cyclones, and 
        the Republic of Mozambique bore the brunt of these torrential 
        rains and experienced the worst flooding in 50 years.
            (2) Flooding along the Limpopo River in Mozambique is 
        particularly severe.
            (3) The extent of the death and destruction caused by these 
        floods is still unknown.
            (4) Because of the floods, there are hundreds of thousands 
        of homeless people living in camps in these countries. These 
        displaced people are in desperate need of food, clean water, 
        medicine, blankets and tents.
            (5) Many of these countries' roads and bridges have been 
        completely washed out, and their infrastructure has been 
        severely damaged.
            (6) These countries need long-term economic and technical 
        assistance for the repair and reconstruction of roads and 
        bridges, schools and hospitals, energy infrastructure, 
        telecommunications facilities and other essential 
        infrastructure.
            (7) The governments of these countries cannot adequately 
        address the immediate needs of displaced people or invest in 
        long-term development while continuing to make debt payments to 
        foreign governments.
            (8) Debt cancellation and reconstruction assistance are 
        essential to allow these countries to provide for the needs of 
        their people, repair their damaged infrastructure and rebuild 
        their economies.

                          TITLE I--DEBT RELIEF

SEC. 101. BILATERAL DEBT FORGIVENESS.

    (a) Cancellation of Debt.--Subject to amounts provided in advance 
in appropriations Acts, the President shall cancel all amounts owed to 
the United States (or any agency of the United States) by eligible 
countries (as defined in section 301) as a result of concessional and 
nonconcessional loans made, guarantees or insurance issued, or credits 
extended under any provision of law.
    (b) Special Provisions.--
            (1) Cancellation of debt not considered to be assistance.--
        Except as the President may otherwise determine for reasons of 
        national security, a cancellation of debt under 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.--The authority to provide for 
        cancellation of debt under subsection (a) may be exercised 
        notwithstanding section 620(r) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
        1961 or any similar provision of law.
            (3) Other debt cancellation authorities.--The authority to 
        cancel debt under subsection (a) is in addition to the 
        authority to cancel debt under any other provision of law and 
        does not in any way limit or otherwise affect such other 
        authority.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the cost (as defined in 
section 502(5) of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990) of the 
cancellation of any debt under subsection (a), there are authorized to 
be appropriated to the President such sums as may be necessary for each 
of the fiscal years 2001 and 2002.

SEC. 102. DEBT FORGIVENESS BY PARIS CLUB MEMBERS.

    The Congress urges the President to use the influence of the United 
States within the Paris Club of Official Creditors to urge each nation 
that is a member of the Paris Club of Official Creditors to cancel all 
debt owed to the nation by the government of any eligible country.

SEC. 103. DEBT FORGIVENESS BY INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

    The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States 
Executive Directors at the International Bank for Reconstruction and 
Development, the International Monetary Fund, the African Development 
Bank, and the African Development Fund to use the voice, vote, and 
influence of the United States to urge their respective institutions to 
cancel all debt owed to the institution by the government of any 
eligible country.

                      TITLE II--RECONSTRUCTION AID

SEC. 201. BILATERAL AID.

    Chapter 9 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2292 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``Sec. 495L. Southern Africa Relief and Reconstruction 
Assistance.--
    ``(a) Authorization of Assistance.--The President is authorized to 
provide assistance for relief, reconstruction, and related recovery 
activities in southern Africa as a result of the severe flooding that 
began on February 9, 2000, in the southern African nations of Botswana, 
Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and 
Zimbabwe. Assistance under this subsection shall be provided on a grant 
basis.
    ``(b) Policies and Authorities To Be Applied.--Assistance under 
subsection (a) shall be furnished in accordance with the policies and 
general authorities contained in section 491.
    ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to amounts 
otherwise available for carrying out subsection (a), there are 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as 
may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2001 and 2002.''.

SEC. 202. AID BY PARIS CLUB MEMBERS.

    The Congress urges the President to use the influence of the United 
States within the Paris Club of Official Creditors to urge each country 
that is a member of the Paris Club of Official Creditors to provide 
grants to the government of each eligible country for the repair and 
reconstruction of the infrastructure of the country that has been 
damaged or destroyed by the flooding in southern Africa that began on 
February 9, 2000.

SEC. 203. AID BY INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

    The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States 
Executive Directors at the International Bank for Reconstruction and 
Development, the International Monetary Fund, the African Development 
Bank, and the African Development Fund to use the voice, vote, and 
influence of the United States to urge their respective institutions to 
provide grants to the government of each eligible country for the 
repair and reconstruction of the infrastructure of the country that has 
been damaged or destroyed by the flooding in southern Africa that began 
on February 9, 2000.

                     TITLE III--ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES

SEC. 301. DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE COUNTRY.

    In this Act, the term ``eligible country'' means Botswana, Lesotho, 
Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
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