[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4793 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4793
To provide for the cancellation of debts owed to international
financial institutions by poor countries, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 9, 2004
Ms. Waters (for herself, Mr. Leach, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr.
Bachus, Ms. Lee, and Mrs. Maloney) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the cancellation of debts owed to international
financial institutions by poor countries, and for other purposes.
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 ``Justice and Understanding By
International Loan Elimination and Equity Act of 2004'' or the
``JUBILEE Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Many poor countries have been struggling under the
burden of international debts for many years.
(2) Many poor countries have debts that are odious because
they were incurred by dictatorships that did not use the funds
in ways that benefitted the population of the country.
(3) The international Jubilee coalitions have been working
to raise awareness of the needs of these impoverished countries
for full debt cancellation.
(4) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has imposed
onerous structural adjustment requirements on many poor
countries as a condition of past loans and of participation in
debt relief programs.
(5) Justice requires that these countries receive full
cancellation of their debts.
SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED BY ELIGIBLE POOR COUNTRIES.
Title XVI of the International Financial Institutions Act (22
U.S.C. 262p-262p-8) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 1626. CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED BY ELIGIBLE POOR COUNTRIES.
``(a) In General.--
``(1) Cancellation of debt.--In order to achieve
multilateral debt cancellation and promote human and economic
development and poverty alleviation in eligible poor countries,
the Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts,
within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (World Bank), and the other international
financial institutions (as defined in section 1701(c)(2)), to
accomplish the following:
``(A) Each international financial institution
shall cancel all debts owed to the institution by
eligible poor countries. To the extent possible, each
institution shall finance the debt cancellation from
their ongoing operations, procedures, and accounts.
``(B) Any waiting period before receiving debt
cancellation shall not exceed 1 month from the date of
an eligible poor country's application for debt
cancellation.
``(C) The government of each eligible poor country
shall be encouraged to allocate at least 20 percent of
its national budget, including the savings from the
cancellation of debt, for the provision of basic health
care services, education services, and clean water
services to individuals in the country. In providing
such services, the government should seek input from a
broad cross-section of members of civil society.
``(2) Establishment of framework for creditor
transparency.--In order to ensure that creditor activity is
known and assessed by all stakeholders, the Secretary of the
Treasury shall commence immediate efforts, within the Paris
Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (World Bank), and the other international financial
institutions (as so defined), to ensure that each of such
institutions--
``(A) continues to make efforts to promote greater
transparency regarding the activities of the
institution, including project design, project
monitoring and evaluation, project implementation,
resource allocation, and decisionmaking; and
``(B) supports continued efforts to allow informed
participation and input by affected communities,
including translation of information on proposed
projects, provision of information through information
technology application, oral briefings, and outreach to
and dialogue with community organizations and
institutions in affected areas.
``(3) Availability on treasury department website of
remarks of united states executive directors at meetings of
international financial institutions' boards of directors.--The
Secretary of the Treasury shall make available on the website
of the Department of the Treasury the full record of the
remarks of the United States Executive Director at meetings of
the Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (World Bank), and the other international financial
institutions (as so defined), about cancellation or reduction
of debts owed to the institution involved, with redaction by
the Secretary of the Treasury of material deemed too sensitive
for public distribution, but showing the topic, amount of
material redacted, and reason for the redaction.
``(4) Report from the comptroller general.--Within 1 year
after the date of the enactment of this section, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare and
submit to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and
Urban Affairs of the Senate a report on the availability of the
ongoing operations, procedures, and accounts of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the other
international financial institutions (as so defined) for
canceling the debt of eligible poor countries.
``(5) Annual reports from the president.--Not later than
December 31 of each year, the President shall submit to the
Committees on Financial Services and on International Relations
of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Foreign
Relations and on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the
Senate a report, which shall be made available to the public,
on the activities undertaken under this section, and other
progress made in accomplishing the purposes of this section,
for the prior fiscal year. The report shall include a list of
the countries that have received debt cancellation, a list of
the countries whose request for such debt cancellation has been
denied and the reasons therefor, and a list of the countries
whose requests for such debt cancellation are under
consideration.
``(b) Promotion of Equitable Burden Sharing.--In order to promote
equitable burden sharing by bilateral, multilateral, and private
creditors, the Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate
efforts to ensure that such creditors draw upon their own resources to
finance debt reduction to the extent possible without diverting funds
from other high-priority poverty alleviation programs.
``(c) Eligible Poor Country Defined.--In this section, the term
`eligible poor country' means Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia,
Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African
Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia,
Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica,
Kenya, Lao PDR, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco,
Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Peru,
Philippines, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal,
Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, and
Zambia, but not if--
``(1) the government of the country has an excessive level
of military expenditures;
``(2) the government of the country has repeatedly provided
support for acts of international terrorism, as determined by
the Secretary of State under section 6(j)(1) of the Export
Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)(1)), or
section 620A(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2371(a));
``(3) the government of the country is failing to cooperate
on international narcotics control matters;
``(4) the government of the country (including its military
or other security forces) engages in a consistent pattern of
gross violations of internationally recognized human rights; or
``(5) in the case of Haiti, the government of the country
has not been elected through free and fair elections.''.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMS.
Title XVI of the International Financial Institutions Act (22
U.S.C. 262p-262p-8) is further amended by adding at the end the
following:
``SEC. 1627. PROHIBITION OF STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMS.
``(a) Prohibition of Structural Adjustment Conditions.--In order to
promote human and economic development and poverty alleviation in
eligible poor countries (as defined in section 1626(c)), the Secretary
of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts within the Paris Club
of Official Creditors, as well as the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World
Bank), and the other international financial institutions (as defined
in section 1701(c)(2)), to ensure that the provision of debt
cancellation to the countries is not conditioned on any agreement by
such a country to implement or comply with policies that deepen poverty
or degrade the environment, including any policy that--
``(1) implements or extends user fees on primary education
or primary health care, including prevention and treatment
efforts for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and infant, child,
and maternal well-being;
``(2) provides for increased cost recovery from poor people
to finance basic public services such as education, health
care, or sanitation;
``(3) would have the effect of increasing the cost to
consumers with incomes of less than $2 per day for access to
clean drinking water through--
``(A) decreased public subsidy for water supply,
treatment, disposal, distribution, or management;
``(B) reduced intrasectoral or intersectoral
subsidization of residential water consumers with
incomes of less than $2 per day;
``(C) reduced government ability to regulate; or
``(D) mandated privatization of water; or
``(4) undermines workers' ability to exercise effectively
their internationally recognized worker rights, as defined
under section 526(e) of the Foreign Operations, Export
Financing and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1995 (22
U.S.C. 262p-4p).
``(b) Annual Reports to the Congress.--Not later than December 31
of each year, the President shall submit to the Committees on Financial
Services and on International Relations of the House of Representatives
and the Committees on Foreign Relations and on Banking, Housing, and
Urban Affairs of the Senate a report, which shall be made available to
the public, on the activities undertaken under this section, and other
progress made in accomplishing the purposes of this section, for the
prior fiscal year.''.
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