[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 75 (Wednesday, June 8, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1165-E1166]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        BUSH AND THE G-8 AGENDA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 8, 2005

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, the current state of the African continent 
has been an ongoing issue of concern for policy makers in this country 
and elsewhere. As the rest of the world is reaping the rewards of 
development, Africa seems to be sinking deeper into a health and 
poverty crisis.
  In pursuit of a solution, British Prime Minister Tony Blair met with 
President Bush at the White House yesterday to discuss next month's 
Group of Eight (G-8) summit. Specifically, the two men discussed Prime 
Minister Blair's ambitious plan to bring a historic combination of debt 
relief, trade concessions, and aid to the African continent.
  A major component of the plan would entail a large increase of aid 
payments to Africa to around $25 billion annually, before increasing to 
$50 billion annually within three to five years. This would be in-line 
with the UN's goal to have industrialized nations allocate 0.7 percent 
of their GDP to development assistance. While Mr. Blair's exciting 
proposal should be applauded, agreement as to how it will be achieved 
is still awaited.
  Mr. Blair and British Finance Minister Gordon Brown argue that the 
aid should be funded through a mechanism they call the ``International 
Finance Facility'' (IFF). The IFF would raise aid funds by issuing 
bonds on world capital markets. The IFF bonds would be backed by a 
promise from the G7 economic powers to repay them after 2015.
  The Bush Administration has not been supportive of the IFF, which it 
views as incompatible with U.S. Congressional budgetary rules. However, 
while aspects of the IFF proposal may be problematic, the necessity for 
increased aid to Africa is not in question. At current assistance 
rates, Sub Saharan Africa will unquestionably fall short of the 
Millennium Development Goals to cut poverty on the continent in half by 
2015. As such, Blair's call for further aid to the continent is 
merited.
  To its credit, the Bush Administration has substantially increased 
aid to Sub-Saharan Africa, which amounted to around $3.2 billion in 
2004. Though this ranks the U.S. among the world leaders in total 
African assistance, we still trail much of the industrialized world in 
the amount of aid we give as a percentage of GDP. In addition, large 
amounts of the Bush Administration's; aid pledges to Africa have been 
slow in coming. For example, the $4 billion committed to the region 
under the Millennium Challenge Account has yet to actually be delivered 
in earnest. Indeed, a June 8th Op-Ed in New York Times entitled 
``Crumbs for Africa'' describes just how much more we can do.
  On Tuesday, the Bush Administration announced that the U.S. will 
provide $674 million in additional famine assistance to Africa this 
year from funds already appropriated by Congress. While this is to be 
commended, Prime Minister Blair is pushing for a broad, long-term 
effort to help Africa's economy get on its feet, not just emergency 
food aid. He also wants G-8 countries to commit new money for Africa 
rather than reallocating funds already earmarked for foreign 
assistance. It is my hope that the Administration will work with its G-
8 partners in the coming weeks to arrive at a more substantial and 
comprehensive aid package for Africa.
  While the issue of increased aid will be difficult, the related goal 
of debt relief is very attainable, as long as all parties involved 
dedicate themselves to that outcome. Both Prime Minister Blair and 
Finance Minister Brown have voiced optimism about the prospects for 
reaching G-8 agreement on the issue. The U.S. and other G-8 members 
already agree in principle on 100 percent debt relief for Africa's 
poorest nations, but the exact formula for how the debt will be 
cancelled is still being resolved.
  The U.S. is calling for a simple write-off of the debt, while Britain 
and others have called for the debt to be paid off, so as to replenish 
the resources of the International Development Banks. Among other 
things, Blair advocates selling a portion of International Monetary 
Fund (IMF) gold reserves to help pay off the debt. Whatever the 
mechanism, Africa needs debt relief as soon as possible. Many African 
countries are crippled by debt burdens that in some cases consume 
nearly 40 percent of their annual budgets. It is thus imperative that 
negotiations on this issue continue.
  President Bush now has a golden opportunity to join with Prime 
Minister Blair and other members of the G-8 in helping to establish a 
new era for Africa. Such an opportunity is unprecedented in Africa's 
post colonial history. To turn back now would be more than shameful.
  The United States has already spent nearly $200 billion on the war in 
Iraq--a country of 26 million people. Prime Minister Blair is calling 
on us to now spend a few billion dollars more to help save an entire 
continent encompassing over 700 million people. That is what I call 
making our money count, and the legacy of such an effort will yield 
immeasurable benefits for Africa, and the world as a whole.
  Again, I thank Mr. Blair for his bold and ambitious vision, and I 
pray that our country will be able to stand with him in making it a 
reality.

                [From the New York Times, June 8, 2005]

                           Crumbs for Africa

       President Bush kept a remarkably straight face yesterday 
     when he strode to the microphones with Britain's prime 
     minister, Tony Blair, and told the world that the United 
     States would now get around to spending $674 million in 
     emergency aid that Congress had already approved for needy 
     countries. That's it. Not a penny more to buy treated 
     mosquito nets to help save the thousands of children in 
     Sierra Leone who die every year of preventable malaria. 
     Nothing more to train and pay teachers so 11-year-old girls 
     in Kenya may go to school. And not a cent more to help Ghana 
     develop the programs it needs to get legions of young boys 
     off the streets.
       Mr. Blair, who will be the host when the G-8, the club of 
     eight leading economic powers, holds its annual meeting next 
     month, is trying to line up pledges to double overall aid for 
     Africa over the next 10 years. That extra $25 billion a year 
     would do all those things, and much more, to raise the 
     continent from dire poverty. Before getting to Washington, 
     Mr. Blair had done very well, securing pledges of large 
     increases from European Union members.
       According to a poll, most Americans believe that the United 
     States spends 24 percent of its budget on aid to poor 
     countries; it actually spends well under a quarter of 1 
     percent. As Jeffrey Sachs, the Columbia University economist 
     in charge of the United Nations' Millennium Project, put it 
     so well, the notion that there is a flood of American aid 
     going to Africa ``is one of our great national myths.''
       The United States currently gives just 0.16 percent of its 
     national income to help poor countries, despite signing a 
     United Nations declaration three years ago in which rich 
     countries agreed to increase their aid to 0.7 percent by 
     2015. Since then, Britain, France and Germany have all 
     announced plans for how to get to 0.7 percent; America has 
     not. The piddling amount Mr. Bush announced yesterday is not 
     even 0.007 percent.
       What is 0.7 percent of the American economy? About $80 
     billion. That is about the amount the Senate just approved 
     for additional military spending, mostly in Iraq. It's not 
     remotely close to the $140 billion corporate tax cut last 
     year.
       This should not be the image Mr. Bush wants to project 
     around a world that is intently watching American actions on 
     this issue. At a time when rich countries are mounting a 
     noble and worthy effort to make poverty history, the Bush 
     administration is showing itself to be completely out of 
     touch by offering such a miserly drop in the bucket. It's no 
     surprise that Mr. Bush's offer was greeted with scorn in 
     television broadcasts and newspaper headlines around the 
     world. ``Bush Opposes U.K. Africa Debt Plan,'' blared the 
     headline on the AllAfrica news service, based in 
     Johannesburg. ``Blair's Gambit: Shame Bush Into Paying'' 
     chimed in The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia.
       The American people have a great heart. President Bush 
     needs to stop concealing it.

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