[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 102 (Wednesday, July 21, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H6518-H6519]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 AMENDING THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE ACT OF 2003 TO EXTEND THE AUTHORITY 
TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES SEEKING TO BECOME ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES 
                        FOR PURPOSES OF THAT ACT

  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H. R. 4660) to amend the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 to extend 
the authority to provide assistance to countries seeking to become 
eligible countries for purposes of that Act, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4660

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

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) On March 14, 2002, the President stated: ``America 
     supports the international development goals in the U.N. 
     Millennium Declaration, and believes that these goals are a 
     shared responsibility of developed and developing 
     countries.''.
       (2) Section 201(b)(4) of H.R. 1950, as passed by the House 
     of Representatives on July 16, 2003, states that it is the 
     policy of the United States to support compacts of the 
     Millennium Challenge Account which, among other things, aim 
     ``to reduce poverty by significantly increasing the economic 
     growth trajectory of beneficiary countries through investing 
     in the productive potential of the people of such 
     countries''.
       (3) On May 10, 2004, the President recognized the link 
     between global poverty and the national security of the 
     United States by stating: ``In many nations, poverty remains 
     chronic and desperate. Half the world's people still live on 
     less than $2 a day. This divide between wealth and poverty, 
     between opportunity and misery, is far more than a challenge 
     to our compassion. Persistent poverty and oppression can 
     spread despair across an entire nation, and they can turn 
     nations of great potential into the recruiting grounds of 
     terrorists.''.
       (4) Section 602 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 
     U.S.C. 7701) states that a purpose of that Act is ``the 
     elimination of extreme poverty''.
       (5) The Report of the Committee on International Relations 
     to accompany H.R. 2441 of the 108th Congress (H. Rept. 108-
     205) states that ``[f]or the Millennium Challenge Account to 
     be successful as an incentive for future reform as well as a 
     reward for past reform, it must offer opportunities for those 
     low-income countries whose institutions do not yet meet all 
     the eligibility criteria but who are demonstrating partial 
     success in meeting the eligibility criteria''.
       (6) The purpose of section 616 of the Millennium Challenge 
     Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7715), and the ``threshold program'' 
     established pursuant to such section by the Millennium 
     Challenge Corporation, in consultation with the United States 
     Agency for International Development, is to provide 
     assistance to the low-income countries described in paragraph 
     (5) in order to assist such countries to become eligible 
     countries under the Act.
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to amend the 
     Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 to authorize funding of the 
     ``threshold program'' under section 616 of such Act for the 
     same duration as the authorization of funding for the overall 
     Millennium Challenge Act of 2003.

     SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN 
                   CANDIDATE COUNTRIES.

       Section 616(d) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 
     U.S.C. 7715(d)) is amended by striking ``for fiscal year 
     2004'' and inserting ``for a fiscal year''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Iowa (Mr. Leach) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos ) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach).


                             General Leave

  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Iowa?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4660 is an amendment to the Millennium Challenge 
Account, or MCA, of 2003 to extend the authority to provide assistance 
to countries seeking to become eligible countries for purposes of that 
act.
  Last session, Congress authorized the Millennium Challenge Account to 
provide substantial development assistance to high-performing, low-
income countries through fiscal year 2005. Recently, the Board of 
Directors of the Millennium Challenge Corporation selected 16 countries 
that are eligible to receive MCA assistance.
  At issue with this resolution is the problem of how to deal with 
countries that just missed passing the eligibility bar.
  The Millennium Challenge Account authorized the MCC to provide 
limited assistance through a threshold program to these countries for 
the purpose of improving in the areas where they fell short. This was 
done partly in recognition of the fact that many threshold countries 
have limited resources to invest in the well-being of their people.
  This amendment will authorize funding of the threshold program and 
match the duration of the threshold program to that of the MCA. This 
will allow us to continue to support the preparation of worthy 
threshold countries for their full participation in the Millennium 
Challenge Account.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe this bill will improve the Millennium 
Challenge Account program and advance the interests of the United 
States. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume 
and I rise in strong support of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, half of the world's population still lives on less than 
$2 a day. What this means is that approximately 3 billion men, women, 
and children, or a population 10 times the size of ours, awake each 
morning to little food, dirty water, inadequate shelter, and no health 
care.

                              {time}  1915

  Alleviating this crushing poverty around the globe is a moral 
imperative, but it is also related to our national interests.
  Persistent poverty has made generations of men, women, and children 
vulnerable to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. It 
has also bolstered the appeal of extremist ideologies which preach hate 
and intolerance. Mr. Speaker, the Millennium Challenge Account has 
already begun to mitigate the effects of global poverty and to provide 
poor citizens around the world with the tools for their advancement.
  But for the MCA to succeed fully and to maintain solid congressional 
support, the Millennium Challenge Corporation must undertake serious 
efforts to expand the number of countries that will benefit from the 
millennium initiative.
  The lucky 16 countries that are currently eligible to receive MCA 
assistance represent only about 3 percent of the world's poor. The most 
effective way to expand the number of poor countries that can receive 
MCA funds is through a program for threshold countries that just miss 
clearing the eligibility bar. Unfortunately, the threshold program is 
only authorized through the current fiscal year. My legislation helps 
ensure that the millennium initiative continues to be available to as 
many poor people as possible by reauthorizing the threshold program for 
as long as the MCA operates.
  Mr. Speaker, in order for the MCA to achieve its stated goal of 
reducing poverty, the CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation must 
focus his attention on more than just stimulating economic growth in 
eligible countries. Our experience in our own country has made it 
painfully clear that trickle-down economics tends to push the working 
poor further into misery rather than provide them with better economic 
opportunities.
  Effective poverty reduction requires investments in education, 
health, and other sectors which directly contribute to building the 
human capacity of these countries. It demands policies that close the 
gap between the rich and the poor in developing nations by providing 
equal access to assets such as

[[Page H6519]]

land, and real poverty reduction requires that special attention be 
paid to poor farmers and to women who bare a disproportionate burden 
under poverty.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress granted the executive branch unprecedented 
flexibility in how the MCA funds were to be expended, because the 
executive branch promised us that it would make it easier to achieve 
the program's objectives. Poverty reduction is one of the primary goals 
of the MCA. Early signs indicate that the administration may be 
squandering its opportunity to meet this goal. It may erode bipartisan 
congressional support for the program. I hope that this is not the case 
and that Presidential support for my legislation will allay these 
concerns. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4660.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hensarling). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4660, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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