[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 135 (Thursday, October 7, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H9639-H9643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               DEBT FORGIVENESS FOR THIRD-WORLD COUNTRIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 1999, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, today was a very historic day in this body, 
and Congress has finished its business at a reasonable time. I wish 
that many more of my colleagues were in town to hear our special order, 
because it addresses an issue that came up in our foreign operations 
bill the other day; and that is the issue of debt forgiveness in the 
developing world.
  In the course of a debate on the legislative bill, an appropriations 
bill like the foreign operations bill, all we had was an hour on the 
rule and an hour on the bill, which is the regular order. But because 
so many Members want to express their support or their opposition to 
the legislation, the most any of us gets to speak is a few minutes if 
we are lucky if we are ranking member, or one or two if we are not.
  The bill covers a wide range of issues. The foreign operations bill 
is the bill which funds our diplomatic efforts abroad. The pillars of 
our foreign policy are promoted in that bill: stopping the 
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, promoting democratic 
values, growing our economy through exports, looking out for our 
national security, and the assistance that we provide for other 
countries is in the national interest of the United States.
  So this is not about charity. It is about acting in our own self 
interest. It also, though, taps the well of generosity and concern that 
the American people have to alleviate poverty in the world and to make 
the world a safer place, promoting our democratic values, which are 
universal, so that the world is a safer place in which we can raise our 
children and our grandchildren.
  That brings us to the point of, making the world a safer place means 
making the world a better place for all of the children of the world. I 
know my colleagues have heard me say the three most important issues 
facing this Congress are our children, our children, our children. By 
that, I mean, not only our children in America, but the fate of 
children throughout the world. They are affected by the economic well-
being of the countries in which they live.
  Many of the countries in the Third World, particularly in Africa, 
some in Latin America, mostly all in the southern hemisphere, have been 
burdened by debt that has been incurred by previous regimes. For 
instance, in South Africa, there is a heavy debt load that has been 
carried over from the apartheid government. Now this new government of 
the last few years has that burden to carry. How can they succeed with 
this drag on their economies? That is repeated over and over.
  I think we have a responsibility in this area because, during the 
Cold War, the Soviets and the United States excerpted their influence 
on the continent of Africa. When the Cold War was over, we up and left, 
leaving the continent awash in weapons and, in many cases, burdened 
down by debt.
  There is a movement afoot. This is not just a U.S. effort to 
alleviate this debt, this is an international issue. There is a 
movement afoot in the religious community. Bishop Desmond Tutu, the 
Nobel Prize winner from South Africa, was well-known to everyone in the 
world, I believe, a champion of reconciliation in South Africa, is part 
of something called the Jubilee, Jubilee 2000.
  That is an effort to have debt forgiveness in the developing world so 
that these new emerging democracies can proceed to meet the needs of 
their people in terms of education and health and the well-being of 
their people, unburdened by debts, especially those incurred by 
previous regimes in their countries and not the democratically elected 
governments that prevail now.

  In our foreign operations bill, there had been a request made by 
President Clinton for several hundred million dollars over a 3-year 
period to forgive debt in that region. During the debate, it was 
contended that, oh, forgiving debt in the Third World was just sending 
checks to these, what did they call them, turbans and tyrants, or 
something, so that they could then put this

[[Page H9640]]

 money into Swiss banks and abscond with that money. That is not what 
we are talking about here. That is not what President Clinton was 
advocating.
  So it was an unfortunate characterization of the purpose of debt 
forgiveness and the very important initiative that President Clinton 
was taking. He was doing it on behalf of our own country, but in 
conjunction with multilateral efforts that have been made by the G-7 
and G-8 in order to alleviate debt in the Third World so that these 
economies could have a chance to prevail and these new democracies 
would be able to enjoy some of the benefits of democratic reform and 
market reform in their countries.
  So when we ask for this debt forgiveness and this funding for the 
debt forgiveness, it is part of a multilateral effort which we are one 
part, and it is in conjunction with efforts that the people in these 
countries are taking to help themselves.
  This is not about charity. It is about cooperation. This is not about 
something that is only for the benefit of the recipient. This is about 
initiatives that will redound to the benefit of the American people, 
both in providing markets for our goods, if we need a pragmatic reason, 
but also in addressing the concerns that we have about poverty 
throughout the world, starvation, famines that we would have come in at 
a later time and spend much more money, never be able to make for up 
for the human loss of the people that have died and the malnutrition of 
those who suffer from starvation.
  Of course it would also prevent conflict. Any time that we can 
prevent conflict, I believe that that is our mission, mission of this 
great country.
  I said in the course of the debate that, being from San Francisco and 
having the privilege to represent that magnificent area in this 
Congress, I wanted also, any chance I get, to share with my colleagues 
the message of Saint Francis, who is the patron saint of San Francisco. 
The song of Saint Francis is our anthem. Everyone is familiar with it, 
but I do not know if they know it is the song of Saint Francis. It 
begins: ``Make we a channel of thy peace. Where there is a darkness may 
we bring light. Despair, may we bring love. Hatred, may we bring 
love.''
  Well, that is a big order, and we may not be able to do that, but we 
certainly can be a channel of God's peace to these countries. Helping 
these countries alleviate poverty and get on with the future and their 
economic well-being I think is a force for peace and promoting 
democratic values in those areas.
  Therefore, this Jubilee effort, one that is undertaken by the people 
affected by it, as a way to help them unburden themselves of the debt 
and alleviate poverty, is very important one.
  The President's initiative is a very wise one. The President says 
that these funds would be used to help alleviate the debt, forgive the 
debt if the government itself will spend the money on education and 
health care for the children, the people of their countries. That is a 
very important initiative. In fact, nothing is more important than 
that.
  I do not think that most people in America need to be told how 
important it is for them to have disease controlled where it exists 
abroad so it does not come into our country. The environmental measures 
that this money could be used on to improve the health and the air that 
the people breathe in those areas prevents that pollution from coming 
into our country.
  So, again, it taps the well of good intentions in our country, and it 
has a practical benefit to us. So, again, the Jubilee 2000 is a very 
noble effort, alleviating the Third World debt, forgiving it, because 
there is a good deal of talk about reducing and forgiving some, but we 
want to eliminate the Third World debt, which will be is a very 
important initiative that I believe a country as great as ours can 
cooperate with very readily. It is money very well spent.
  Many of our colleagues are interested in this issue, but this being 
the end of the day, the end of the session for this week and the 
beginning of the Columbus Day weekend, we start today, and we will have 
other special orders on this subject, because there simply was not 
enough time to present the full enthusiasm that we have for this debt 
relief, debt forgiveness, elimination.
  But I am pleased that a very distinguished leader in the Congress and 
the House of Representatives is here tonight. She has worked her whole 
life on the alleviation of poverty in our country and throughout the 
world. She has worked her whole life for economic justice issues. 
Fortunately for us, she is the Ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on 
Domestic and International Monetary Police of the Committee on Banking, 
which is the committee of jurisdiction on the Third World debt. Our 
committee is the appropriating committee. The committee of the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) is the committee of 
authorization where this issue is being debated right now and an 
authorization bill is being prepared.
  So I am very pleased to yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Waters), an international leader on this issue and a person well 
positioned to help very much promote the policy and the funding that 
President Clinton recommended.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased and proud to join the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) here on the floor this evening 
to talk about a subject that I believe is the number one issue 
confronting the world today.

                              {time}  1715

  I would also like to thank the gentlewoman for all of the years that 
she has put in not only on the issues of debt relief but on the issues 
of foreign affairs and foreign assistance and foreign relations.
  The gentlewoman has become one of our premier experts, and she has 
provided leadership to this House. And it is because of the gentlewoman 
and the knowledge that she brings to these discussions that we are all 
able to advance and to move forward. So I truly appreciate everything 
that the gentlewoman has done and the gentlewoman's leadership in 
pulling together this time tonight for us to further talk about debt 
relief and these very poor countries who are depending on us to come to 
their aid and to their assistance.
  I am so pleased and proud to be a Member of Congress at this 
particular time. Yes, there are many frustrating moments; and, yes, 
there are many disappointing moments, but I am here in this Congress at 
a time when I see both sides of the aisle coming together around debt 
relief. I am the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Domestic and 
International Monetary Policy of the Committee on Banking and Financial 
Services, but I serve on that committee with the chair of that 
committee, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus), a man who is 
obviously a Republican, and I am obviously a Democrat.
  I am considered to be much more liberal; he is considered to be 
conservative. But when we hear the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) 
on this issue, and we see the work that he has brought to this issue, 
it really does make us proud that there are moments and there are 
periods in this great body of ours where we can put aside our 
philosophical differences and come together in the most humane fashion 
to do something good and send out the best messages from us to others 
about who we are and what we care about.
  So the gentlewoman has referenced and referred to Jubilee 2000. This 
is a wonderful moment and a wonderful time. Just as I and the gentleman 
from Alabama have come together, and others from both sides of the 
aisle on the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, on the 
Committee on International Relations, on the Committee on 
Appropriations, all over the world various religious denominations have 
come together as well, and all of these nongovernment organizations, 
all of these nonprofit organizations, consumer-related organizations 
have come together all over the world to embrace debt relief.
  We have all come to the point in time where we understand that it is 
absolutely illogical for us to think that many of these countries are 
able to repay debt that is owed to us and to others. Whether we are 
talking about bilateral or multilateral debt, many of these nations are 
spending a disproportionate amount of their revenue trying to make this 
payment, to the point oftentimes of starving the children and not being 
able to provide for health

[[Page H9641]]

care, not being able to have anything that approaches decent education 
systems.
  So we sit here at a time when the economy is performing rather well, 
at a time when we are able to spread prosperity, and we are taking 
advantage of this time to say this is the time to do it. So we are 
moving forward and everybody is coming on board. As a matter of fact, 
we had some people who started out saying, well, we can do something; 
we can do a little bit of this, a little bit of that. And now we have 
more people moving toward 100 percent. The President of the United 
States, when he addressed the International Monetary Fund conference 
that was here in Washington, D.C., made us proud with his commitment to 
do 100 percent debt relief.
  I know not everybody is there. And even on the appropriations 
subcommittee we do not have the money that has been allocated to the 
tune of what was asked for by this administration. But I am convinced 
that we are going to get there. One way or the other we are going to 
get there. I do believe there is enough of us who are focused, and we 
are focused on this issue, to be able in negotiations, that I know will 
take place no matter what has happened on our appropriations bill. I do 
believe that we will get to negotiations that will help us to 
understand that there must be more money for debt relief.
  I know that there are those who make the argument that somehow we are 
taking all of the taxpayers' money to give to somebody else. And I 
think the gentlewoman made the point the other day that it is less than 
1 percent.
  Ms. PELOSI. It is 6.8 percent that is in the bill. If we did the 
President's request, it would be .8 percent. Less than 1 percent still.
  Ms. WATERS. Less than 1 percent. And I think that should be said over 
and over again so that we can get rid of the notion that somehow we are 
bankrupting our country in order to make this very humane gesture.
  We see pictures of children with extended bellies; we see pictures of 
people who live in remote villages who carry water for miles because 
they do not have running water. We saw, when we traveled to Africa, 
children in makeshift classrooms who have little in the way of books or 
materials but who want to learn. We see countries that are confronted 
with the problem of AIDS, such as we are seeing in Third World 
countries and in Africa.

  Right next door to us, right in our own hemisphere, we see countries 
that are struggling to make sure that people just have one little piece 
of bread and maybe a little something to drink. Milk is out of the 
question for many of these children. So I do not think any of us can be 
proud that despite that which we do not have, and we would like to have 
for everybody, we have enough that we can share with these very 
desperate souls around the globe. And that is what we are all about in 
America.
  One of the things that we are proudest of is the fact that we believe 
that we are spiritual people; that we believe in a higher being; that 
we worship in so many different ways, in whatever fashion. We feel it 
is important for us to worship. But central to all of that is the 
belief that we can share; that we can help out; that we can extend a 
helping hand. And how better to demonstrate that than through this 
wonderful Jubilee 2000.
  And what a wonderful name for what we are doing. We are celebrating 
our humanity. We are celebrating that, no matter what the distances are 
around this globe, we are one people. We are one people, and we should 
all care about each other. So this debt relief is one of the most 
important actions that we can take.
  We are going to send a message to Zambia, for example, who is 
spending one-third of its government revenue to servicing the debt. We 
are going to send a message to Mozambique, whose debt service payments 
in 1997 absorbed about half of all government revenue. We are going to 
send a message to Nicaragua, where over half of the government's 
revenue was allocated to debt service payments in 1997. We are going to 
send a message to all of these children that we care.
  We are going to proudly attack the fact that almost 200,000 children 
die annually in Mozambique from preventable illnesses, such as malaria, 
measles, and respiratory infection; and only half of the rural 
population has access to safe water. So this is work that we can be 
proud of. This is work that everybody can take part in.
  And, again, I thank the gentlewoman for her leadership, and I am 
proud to be a member of the House Committee on Banking and Financial 
Services offering some leadership in this area. And I look forward to 
the negotiations and the passage of the appropriations line item that 
will fully fund the bilateral debt relief and to using our leverage at 
IMF and the World Bank to make sure that we have multilateral debt 
relief and we work out all of the questions of how we are going to reap 
the benefit of the gold, through gold sales, in a way that will satisfy 
everybody and allay the fears about what it means to be involved in 
utilizing this possibility for helping to pay for this debt relief.
  So I really do appreciate the gentlewoman's leadership.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for 
participating in this special order this evening. But more important, I 
thank her for her leadership on this issue and the voice that she gives 
to the concerns that she expressed this evening. They are concerns that 
she has used every forum at her disposal to espouse this debt relief 
and poverty alleviation throughout the world.
  I did want to reference the gentlewoman's comment about her chairman, 
the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus), and his cooperation on this 
and also recognize the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman 
from Iowa (Mr. Leach), who introduced a bill to provide debt relief to 
ensure that funds released go to anti-poverty programs, including 
education in the beneficiary nations.
  So while we have been talking about some level of debt forgiveness 
all along, and in June the G-7 agreed to cancel up to 90 percent of 
bilateral debt, President Clinton upped the ante on the poor-country 
debt relief the end of September when he announced in his speech at the 
World Bank-IMF annual meeting that the U.S. would forgive 100 percent 
of the debts owed to the United States.
  Of course, we have to have an act of Congress in order to do that. 
And, hopefully, this Congress will support the bipartisan efforts that 
have proceeded largely because of the efforts of the gentlewoman from 
California.
  I wanted to just focus, because the gentlewoman brought up the 
excitement and the enthusiasm that the gentlewoman has for Jubilee 
2000, and give a little background on it. We are part of the USA 
platform for the Jubilee 2000. But before I go into that, the religious 
community, as the gentlewoman mentioned, is very, very involved in 
this. In fact, on the subject of debt forgiveness, Pope John Paul, when 
he met with the President earlier this year, raised the issue when he 
met with President Clinton in St. Louis.
  The Christian Science Monitor has editorialized about this by 
beginning, ``and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.'' And 
they go on to say that, ``The rich predominantly christian industrial 
nations have had a hard time putting into practice the latter part of 
the Lord's prayer phrase in regard to the world's poorest countries.'' 
They said that at the end of April.
  But since that time, with the action of the G-7 and the President's 
statement the other day, I think we are well on our way to a 
recognition that the only way that we are going to help these countries 
reach their fulfillment for their own people and their countries and in 
our own interest is to forgive the debt.
  Jubilee 2000 springs from a biblical tradition. It calls for a 
jubilee year, and now we have one coming up, the Year 2000. In a 
jubilee year, slaves were set free and debts were cancelled. As a new 
millennium approaches, we are faced with a particularly significant 
time for such a jubilee. Many impoverished countries carry such high 
levels of debt that economic development is stifled and scarce 
resources are diverted from health care, from education, and all other 
socially beneficial programs to make debt service payments.
  Imagine having to pay interest on the debt. They are not even paying 
down the principal; they are just paying interest on the debt instead 
of educating the children and giving them health care and, as the 
gentlewoman

[[Page H9642]]

said, providing some of the infrastructure necessary to even bring 
water into their villages much less their homes.
  Much of the debt they carry is the result of ill-conceived 
development, flawed policies that creditors required of recipient 
countries in exchange for assistance, and shortsighted decisions by 
their own leaders. Many times these leaders were from previous regimes. 
So we have Democratic reform in some of these countries, and these new 
leaders and these fragile democracies are weighted down by debts 
incurred and funds used up by a previous regime, in many cases that 
they have ousted.

                              {time}  1730

  Much of the borrowing benefited only the elites in the receiving 
countries. Whereas, the burden of paying the debt is falling upon the 
most impoverished members of society. Recognizing that these debts are 
unpayable and exact a great social and environmental toll, the Jubilee 
2000 USA Campaign calls for a time of jubilee and cancellation of the 
debts, and that would be definitive forgiveness of the crushing 
international debt in situations where countries burdened with high 
levels of human needs and environmental distress are unable to meet the 
basic needs of their people; definitive debt cancellation that benefits 
ordinary people and facilitates their participation in the process of 
determining the scope, timing, and conditions of debt relief, as well 
as future direction and priorities for a decent quality of life, 
definitive debt cancellation that is not conditioned on policy reforms 
perpetuate or deepen poverty or environmental degradation and 
acknowledge the responsibility of both lenders and borrowers and action 
to recover resources that were diverted to corrupt regimes, 
institutions and individuals.
  And finally, establishment of a transparent and participatory process 
to develop mechanisms to monitor international monetary flows and 
prevent recurring destructive cycles of indebtedness.
  So there is a vision about where these debt forgiveness can take 
these countries. There is knowledge about how we got to where we were 
and what we can do to make a difference. There is a plan of action well 
planned out. And there is an excitement about this that is building 
consensus in our country and throughout the world, developing a 
grassroots network, conducting this advocacy campaign. This Jubilee 
2000 Campaign is about leadership.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
  Ms. PELOSI. I yield to the gentlewoman from California.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I thought since my colleague had given the 
background and history of Jubilee 2000 that I would just note some of 
the participants in this coalition that we have around the world on 
this very important issue. So I am going to call off a few of these 
names. Maybe I can get most of them in.

       The supporters of the Jubilee 2000 Campaign in support of 
     debt relief include the following:

     The Pope
     Africa Faith and Justice Network
     Africa Fund
     Africa Policy Information Center (APIC)
     American Friends Service Committee
     Bread for the World
     Catholic Relief Services
     Center of Concern
     Church of the Brethren/Washington Office
     Church World Service (CWS)/National Council of the Churches 
         of Christ in the USA
     Columban Justice & Peace Office
     Conference of Major Superiors of Men
     Episcopal Church
     Episcopal Peace Fellowship
     Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
     50 Years Is Enough US Network for Global Economic Justice
     Friends of the Earth (FOE)
     Leadership Conference of Women Religious
     Lutheran World Relief
     Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
     Medical Mission Sister's Alliance for Justice
     Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
     Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
     Nicaragua-US Friendship Office
     OXFAM-America
     Preamble Center
     Presbyterian Church/USA
     Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
     Sojourners
     United Church of Christ
     United Methodist Church
     US Catholic Mission Association
     Washington Office on Africa
     Witness for Peace
     African Methodist Episcopal Church
     Church of the Brethren/General Board
     Church Women United
     Dominican Sister of Hope
     Ecumenical Program on Central America & the Caribbean (EIPCA)
     Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)
     Interreligious Foundation for Community Organizations, Inc. 
         (IFCO)
     Lewis Metropolitan C.M.E. Church
     Lutheran World Relief (LWR)
     National Summit on Africa
     NETWORK B A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
     Progressive National Baptist Convention
     Rainbow-PUSH
     RESULTS USA
     Sister of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul/New York
     Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet/Albany Province
     Sisters of St. Joseph/Brentwood, NY Leadership Team
     Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth
     Swedenborgian Church/Social Concerns Education Committee
     Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
     United Methodist Church/General Board of Global Ministries
     Washington Office on Africa

  Is that not a wonderful coalition of people both in the United States 
and from other parts of the world who have joined hands in this great 
Jubilee 2000 celebration by putting substance in a real way to the word 
``celebration in jubilee'' in this wonderful push that we have to 
relieve the debt of the world?
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, that is a wonderful list.
  I was taught by some of those organizations that my colleague has 
named, and we all have benefitted from their grassroots activism on it.
  Many of those same organizations support, for example, microlending, 
which benefits alleviation of poverty among women and lifts up families 
and increases literacy rates, etcetera. So we are talking about new 
approaches, and that is what we need as we go into the new millennium.
  My colleague listed those names, and I just wanted to reference two 
other points before we close here. And that is, I am going to quote my 
colleague as she joined the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) and our own 
ranking member the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce) who has been a 
leader on this issue, too; the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) my 
colleague referenced, the chair of the subcommittee; and the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) in introducing the debt relief 
for poverty reduction act:
  ``Relieving the unsustainable debt burdens of the world's poorest 
countries is one of the foremost humanitarian and moral challenges of 
our time. Debt relief can also benefit the U.S. economy.''
  So, again, it is helping us as we help others.
  I want to also quote, this is a Jubilee Call for Debt Forgiveness. 
This pamphlet is put out by a statement by the Administrative Board of 
the U.S. Catholic Conference. This is the Catholic Conference of 
Bishops in the United States, the voice of the church in the United 
States, and it is the Catholic Campaign on Debt.
  In here, among other things, the bishops say, ``The coming of the 
great Jubilee in 2000 offers us a time to make new beginnings and to 
right old wrongs. Pope John Paul, II, has called repeatedly for 
forgiving international debt as a sign of true solidarity. In this 
statement, we join our voice to his to inform the public about the 
moral urgency of the debt question and to offer some considerations 
about responding to it.''
  So, as I said before, it is the vision, the knowledge, the plan of 
action, and the enthusiasm and excitement that is being engendered by 
this.
  Again, this is in the context of these countries taking actions to 
help themselves. We must lend a helping hand. We cannot ignore the 
efforts that they are making, if not for political reasons or economic 
reasons that benefit the United States, but for the children.
  Those of us who profess to value our religion know that the gospel of 
Matthew is one that we carry heavily on our shoulders, to feed the 
hungry and to minister to the needs of the least of God's brethren.
  OXFAM is another organization that is in their pamphlet, Education 
Now: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty, talks about debt and education and 
it is much easier to have the education without the debt.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman mentioned and I failed to 
mention but I must underscore her recognition of the chairman of the 
full committee the gentleman from Iowa

[[Page H9643]]

(Mr. Leach). I do not know if there could have been anyone else that 
could have executed this in the way that he has done.
  As my colleague knows, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) is a 
highly respected Member of this House who has given leadership to that 
overall committee on many very important issues, none more important 
than this one. And it is because of his patience, it is because of the 
high esteem in which he is held in this House that he was able to work 
so well with all of these groups that make up Jubilee 2000.
  So I would like to thank my colleague for the special recognition she 
has paid to him and to say on my behalf that the gentleman from Iowa 
(Mr. Leach) probably will mark this success that we are going to have 
as one of the highlights of his career.
  I know that he has done many things and he has been involved in many 
complicated pieces of legislation that have had far-reaching effects. 
But this molding and shaping and moving of debt relief for the world 
and the countries that need it so desperately will go down in history 
as one the most important efforts that he has made.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleague in saluting the 
gentleman from Iowa (Chairman Leach). I do not know where he is on 
total debt forgiveness, but I know that he is a champion of debt 
relief. I do not want to speak for him to associate him here with the 
Jubilee 2000. But he certainly has taken us a long way down the road.
  Those of us who are concerned about this issue, as my colleagues 
knows, are very blessed to have him in this position that he is in 
because he understands financial institutions, international financial 
institutions, but he is also an expert on foreign policy and what is in 
the national interest of our country. So his two main committee 
assignments converge on this issue and his understanding of that will 
serve the poor people of the world well.
  And the ranking member on the committee the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. LaFalce) has a very clear understanding of the foreign policy 
implications. He understands the financial institutions. But he also 
understands the domestic situation in the United States. That is why I 
was so pleased that he joined the gentleman from Iowa (Chairman Leach) 
and others of us to meet with representatives of the IMF, the World 
Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Treasury Department to 
impress upon them how important the alleviation of poverty is to 
Congress in a bipartisan fashion.
  I was very pleased with the comments that the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. LaFalce) made that day, which the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. 
Bachus) the ranking member made that day and the gentleman from Iowa 
(Chairman Leach) to the representatives of the banks so that they knew 
that this thrust that we had about alleviating poverty and providing 
for the humanitarian needs should be the thrust of the actions of the 
international financial institutions in addition to the debt 
forgiveness.
  This effort is bipartisan. It is bicameral. We have champions in the 
Senate, as well. And it now has the added benefit of the President of 
the United States weighing in very heavily on this issue, again 
speaking to the international financial institutions last week when 
they were in Washington.
  It is also an international effort. It is ecumenical. All of the 
religions are joining in and working together. I cannot think of 
another issue that had such consensus across the board among so many 
divergent groups.
  So where there is a will there is, hopefully, a way for us to do 
this; and in doing so, we will make a very serious difference.
  Let us hear it. Bravo for Jubilee 2000 to use this landmark, this 
milestone, this date of the year 2000 for us to say, okay, we have 
talked about it a long time. We have nipped at the edges about it for a 
number of years. Now let us just put it behind us so that we and these 
countries can go into the next year, the next century, the next 
millennium with a chance of doing the right thing by the people and 
especially the children.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) 
who really has been working on this for a long time, he preceded me and 
once was the chair of the subcommittee and he has been working very 
closely with the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce) working at some 
very important details of shaping and forming the final legislation in 
this effort. So I want to say bravo to them.
  Once again, let me just conclude my remarks by saying bravo to my 
colleague for all the time and effort that she has spent even until 
tonight staying late to take this issue up. And, of course, she 
certainly did not have to add one more hour to her schedule.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for that. I am glad 
that she mentioned the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) because 
he is a champion on this.
  There are many champions on the House on both sides of the aisle on 
this issue, and we are going to have to have another special order so 
that they can speak to the issue and, if not, that we can speak to 
their efforts. We are grateful to all of them for what they have done.
  I thank the gentlewoman for joining me here this evening.
  Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of ecumenism, of bipartisanship, and in 
helping the poor people of the world, as we help ourselves, I yield 
back the balance of my time.

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