[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 87 (Monday, June 27, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7430-S7433]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LUGAR:
  S. 1315. A bill to require a report on progress toward the Millennium 
Development Goals, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations.
  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill that calls 
on the administration to assess the progress of poverty reduction 
efforts around the world since September 2000, when the Millennium 
Declaration was unanimously adopted by more than 180 nations, including 
the United States. Each of these nations signed an agreement to work 
toward defined objectives, called the Millennium Development Goals, 
which include the commitments to: build a global partnership for

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development; eradicate extreme poverty by halving the number of people 
living on less than one dollar a day and the number who suffer hunger; 
achieve universal primary education for boys and girls alike; reduce by 
two-thirds the under-5 child mortality rate; halt and reverse the 
spread of AIDS, malaria and other major disease; promote gender 
equality, reduce maternal mortality by two-thirds; and ensure 
environmental sustainability.
  This bill also highlights the important research and recommendations 
of the Report of the Commission for Africa that was commissioned by 
Prime Minister Tony Blair in preparation for the July 2005 G8 Summit in 
Scotland. The report, entitled ``Our Common Interest,'' is an excellent 
study of past development efforts and current opportunities to respond 
to the challenges of extreme poverty in Africa.
  Three important international forums will occur this year that will 
help define the world's response to extreme poverty; the group of Eight 
highly industrialized countries will meet in July at Gleneagles, 
Scotland and will address the challenges and opportunities of the 
African continent; The United Nations Summit to review progress on the 
Millennium Development Goals will occur in September. It will provide 
an opportunity to measure global coherence and commitment to specific 
objectives in eradicating extreme poverty by 2015; and the The Sixth 
Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization will meet in 
Hong Kong in December. Progress toward a genuinely equitable trade 
round in Hong Kong could provide a significant boost to global 
international development.
  This bill asks that the Secretary of State produce a report on the 
commitments made by the United States and the international community 
to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, including the decisions 
made in regard to these goals in the three upcoming summits. It asks 
that the report assess the prospects of achieving these goals by 2015 
and to review policies that maintain continued United States leadership 
in reducing poverty worldwide. The report would be due 60 days after 
the completion of the WTO summit December 13-18, 2005.

  The purpose of this report is to encourage a discussion of the goals 
themselves and the practical challenges with which each of these goals 
must contend. This discussion should take place within and among donor 
and developing governments, on a continuing basis. The upcoming summits 
are an important opportunity to continue that discussion as well as to 
make concrete efforts, and if necessary adjustments, to achieving such 
goals.
  Since the Millennium Summit in 2000, the United States has taken 
steps to invest in development in a more comprehensive manner. 
President Bush made an historic commitment to address the threat and 
impact of HIV-AIDS on the countries most affected by this pandemic. The 
United States also established a bold new development initiative that 
closely parallels important elements of the MDGs and the 
recommendations of the Commission for Africa report. The Millennium 
Challenge Corporation has begun to deliver billions in assistance to 
developing nations that are committed to investing in their own people, 
to ruling justly, and to encouraging economic freedom. In addition, the 
United States removed barriers to trade with eligible African countries 
through the successful Africa Growth and Opportunity Act.
  There are many other significant efforts by the United States to 
address the challenges to poor countries face, from technical 
assistance to bilateral and multi-lateral debt relief, from peacekeeper 
training and equipping to capacity building and emergency assistance. 
Whether bilaterally or through multilateral institutions, the 
international community should capitalize on a coordinated strategy 
that reinforces the prospect of a more peaceful and stable world.
  The commitment of the United States to the moral and humanitarian 
goal of reducing the inequities seen across the developing world is a 
key factor in achieving greater security at home and abroad. Since 
September 11, 2001, our nation has been engaged in a debate over how to 
apply national power and resources most effectively to realize the 
maximum degree of security. Throughout this process, I have been making 
the point that we are not placing sufficient weight on the diplomatic 
and economic tools of national power.
  Even as we seek to capture key terrorists and destroy terrorist 
units, we must be working to perfect a longer term strategy that 
reshapes the world in ways that are not conducive to terrorist 
recruitment and influence. To win the war against terrorism, the United 
States must assign U.S. economic and diplomatic capabilities the same 
strategic priority that we assign to military capabilities. There are 
no shortcuts to victory. We must commit ourselves to the painstaking 
work of foreign policy day by day and year by year. As we undertake 
this mission, we must be persistent in our advocacy among our fellow 
nations to encourage a global partnership and commitment to eradicating 
poverty.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1315

       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 ``International Cooperation to 
     Meet the Millennium Development Goals Act of 2005''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, the 
     United States joined more than 180 other countries in 
     committing to work toward goals to improve life for the 
     world's poorest people by 2015.
       (2) Such goals include reducing the proportion of people 
     living on less than $1 per day by \1/2\, reducing child 
     mortality by \2/3\, and assuring basic education for all 
     children, while sustaining the environment upon which human 
     life depends.
       (3) At the 2002 International Conference on Financing for 
     Development, the United States representative reiterated the 
     support of the United States for the Millennium Development 
     Goals and advocated, along with other international 
     participants, for a stronger focus on measurable outcomes 
     derived from a global partnership between developed and 
     developing countries.
       (4) On March 22, 2002, President Bush stated, ``We fight 
     against poverty because hope is an answer to terror. We fight 
     against poverty because opportunity is a fundamental right to 
     human dignity. We fight against poverty because faith 
     requires it and conscience demands it. We fight against 
     poverty with a growing conviction that major progress is 
     within our reach.''.
       (5) The 2002 National Security Strategy of the United 
     States notes that ``a world where some live in comfort and 
     plenty, while half of the human race lives on less than $2 
     per day, is neither just nor stable. Including all of the 
     world's poor in an expanding circle of development and 
     opportunity is a moral imperative and one of the top 
     priorities of U.S. international policy''.
       (6) The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the 
     United States concluded that the Government of the United 
     States must offer an example of moral leadership in the world 
     and offer parents and their children a vision of the future 
     that emphasizes individual educational and economic 
     opportunity as essential to the efforts of the United States 
     to defeat global terrorism.
       (7) The summit of the Group of Eight scheduled for July 
     2005, the United Nations summit scheduled for September 2005, 
     and the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade 
     Organization scheduled for December 2005 will provide 
     opportunities to measure and continue to pursue progress on 
     the Millennium Development Goals.
       (8) The summit of the Group of Eight scheduled for July 6 
     through July 8, 2005, in Gleneagles, Scotland, will bring 
     together the countries that can make the greatest 
     contribution to alleviating extreme poverty in Africa, the 
     region of the world where extreme poverty is most prevalent.
       (9) On June 11, 2005, the United States helped secure the 
     agreement of the Group of Eight Finance Ministers to cancel 
     100 percent of the debt obligations owed to the World Bank, 
     African Development Bank, and International Monetary Fund by 
     countries that are eligible for debt relief under the Highly 
     Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, the initiative 
     established in 1996 by the World Bank and the International 
     Monetary Fund for the purpose of reducing the debt burdens of 
     the world's poorest countries, or under the Enhanced HIPC 
     Initiative, as defined in section 1625 of the International 
     Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262p-8), which are poor 
     countries that are on the path to reform.
       (10) The report prepared by the Commission for Africa and 
     issued by Prime Minister Tony Blair on March 11, 2005, 
     entitled ``Our Common Interest'', called for coherence and 
     coordination in the development of an overarching package of 
     actions to be carried out by the countries of Africa and the 
     international community to address the complex

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     interlocking issues that challenge the continent, many of 
     which have already been addressed individually in previous 
     summits and under the Africa Action Plan enacted by the Group 
     of Eight.
       (11) The United States has recognized the need for 
     strengthened economic and trade opportunities, as well as 
     increased financial and technical assistance to Africa and 
     other countries burdened by extreme poverty, through 
     significant initiatives in recent years, including--
       (A) the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3701 
     et seq.) that has opened United States markets to thousands 
     of products from Africa;
       (B) the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief 
     developed under section 101 of the United States Leadership 
     Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (22 
     U.S.C. 7611), the major focus of which has been on African 
     countries;
       (C) the Millennium Challenge Corporation established under 
     section 604 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 
     U.S.C. 7703) that is in the process of committing new and 
     significant levels of assistance to countries, including 
     countries in Africa, that are poor but show great promise for 
     boosting economic growth and bettering the lives of their 
     people; and
       (D) the United States has canceled 100 percent of the 
     bilateral debt owed to the United States by countries 
     eligible for debt relief under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative.
       (12) The report prepared by the Commission for Africa 
     entitled ``Our Common Interest'' includes the following 
     findings:
       (A) The people of Africa must demonstrate the leadership 
     necessary to address the governance challenges they face, 
     setting priorities that ensure the development of effective 
     civil and police services, independent judiciaries, and 
     strong parliaments, all of which reinforce a stable and 
     predictable economic environment attractive to investment.
       (B) Many leaders in Africa have pursued personal self-
     interest rather than national goals, a tendency that has been 
     in some instances exacerbated and abetted by the manipulation 
     of foreign governments pursuing their own agenda in the 
     region to the detriment of the people of Africa.
       (C) More violent conflict has occurred in Africa during the 
     period between 1965 and 2005 than occurred in any other 
     continent during that period, and the countries of Africa 
     must engage on the individual, national, and regional level 
     to prevent and manage conflict.
       (D) The capacity to trade is constrained by a derelict or 
     nonexistent infrastructure in most African countries as well 
     as by the double-edged sword of tariff and nontariff barriers 
     to trade that complicate markets and discourage investment 
     both within and beyond the continent.
       (E) The local resources for investment in people and the 
     institutions necessary for good governance have been 
     squandered, misappropriated, and, to an increasingly 
     devastating effect, spent on servicing debt to the developed 
     world. Such resources should be reoriented to serve the needs 
     of the people through the use of debt forgiveness and support 
     for institutional reform and internal capacity building.
       (F) Failing to prevent conflict in Africa results in 
     incalculable costs to African development and expense to the 
     international community and the investment in preventing 
     conflict is a fraction of such costs and expenses, in human, 
     security, and financial terms.
       (G) Despite difficulties, there is optimism and energy 
     reflected in the scope of activities of individuals such as 
     2004 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Wangari Maathai, as well as 
     those of improved regional organizations such as the African 
     Union and the New Partnership for Economic Development's Peer 
     Review Mechanism, and subregional entities such as the 
     Economic Community of West African States, the Inter-
     Governmental Authority on Development, and the potential of 
     the Southern African Development Community.
       (H) Political reform in Africa has produced results. For 
     example, while in 1985 countries of sub-Saharan Africa ruled 
     by dictators were the norm, by 2005 dictatorships are a 
     minority and democracy has new life with governments chosen 
     by the people increasing fourfold since 1991.
       (13) The report prepared by the Commission for Africa 
     entitled ``Our Common Interest'' includes the following 
     recommendations:
       (A) At this vital moment when globalization and growth, 
     technology and trade, and mutual security concerns allow, and 
     common humanity demands, a substantial tangible and coherent 
     package of actions should immediately be taken by the 
     international community, led by the most industrialized 
     countries, in partnership with the countries of Africa, to 
     address the poverty and underdevelopment of the African 
     continent.
       (B) The people of Africa must take responsibility and show 
     courageous leadership in addressing problems and taking 
     ownership of solutions as the means for ensuring sustainable 
     development, while implementing governance reform as an 
     underlying prerequisite for foreign assistance effectiveness.
       (C) Each developed country has unique strengths and 
     capacity to add value to a comprehensive assistance plan and 
     should join their individual efforts to a coherent whole that 
     is more efficient and responsive to Africa and the people of 
     Africa.
       (D) The international community must honor existing 
     commitments to strengthen African peacekeeping capacity and 
     go beyond those commitments to invest in more effective 
     prevention and nonmilitary means to resolve conflict through 
     such regional organizations as the African Union and the 
     subregional Economic Community for West African States.
       (E) A massive investment in physical infrastructure should 
     be made to support commerce, extend governance, and provide 
     opportunities for education, healthcare, investment and 
     growth.
       (F) Donors and the governments of the countries of Africa 
     should devote substantial investment in the men and women of 
     Africa through the education and health sectors, enabling and 
     extending recent gains made to reach far more broadly into 
     remote regions.
       (G) The public sector should actively engage the private 
     sector in driving growth through partnerships by reforming 
     the laws, bureaucracy, and infrastructure necessary to 
     maintain a climate that fosters investment by developing 
     public-private centers of excellence to pursue such reforms.
       (H) The countries of Africa must maximize the participation 
     of women in both business and government, protect the rights 
     of women, and work to increase the number of women in 
     leadership positions so as to capitalize on the ability of 
     women to deliver scarce resources effectively and fairly.
       (I) The international community must work together to 
     dismantle trade barriers, including the immediate elimination 
     of trade-distorting commodity support.
       (J) International donors should strengthen multilateral 
     institutions in Africa to respond appropriately to local and 
     regional crises as well as to promote economic development 
     and ensure the people of Africa are granted a stronger voice 
     in international forums.
       (K) The international community must join in providing 
     creative incentives for commercial firms to research and 
     develop products that improve water, sanitation, health, and 
     the environment in ways that would dramatically reduce 
     suffering and increase productive life-spans in Africa.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
     ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee 
     on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on 
     International Relations of the House of Representatives.
       (2) Group of eight.--The term ``Group of Eight'' means the 
     forum for addressing international economic, political, and 
     social issues attended by representatives of Canada, France, 
     Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the 
     United States.
       (3) Millennium development goals.--The term ``Millennium 
     Development Goals'' means the goals set out in United Nations 
     Millennium Declaration, resolution 55/1 adopted by the 
     General Assembly of the United Nations on September 8, 2000.

     SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the President should continue to provide the leadership 
     necessary at the summit of the Group of Eight scheduled for 
     July 2005 at Gleneagles, Scotland, to encourage other 
     countries to develop a true partnership to pursue the 
     Millennium Development Goals;
       (2) the President should urge the Group of Eight to 
     consider the findings and recommendations contained in the 
     report prepared by the Commission for Africa entitled ``Our 
     Common Interest'', as a fundamental guide on which to base 
     their planning, in partnership with the nations of Africa, 
     for the development of Africa;
       (3) the Group of Eight, as well as governments of the 
     countries of Africa and regional organizations of such 
     governments, should reaffirm and honor the commitments made 
     in the Africa Action Plan enacted by the Group of Eight in 
     previous years; and
       (4) the international community should pursue further 
     progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals at 
     the summit of the Group of Eight scheduled for July 2005, the 
     United Nations summit scheduled for September 2005, and the 
     Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization 
     scheduled for December 2005.

     SEC. 5. REPORT.

       (a) Requirement.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
     the conclusion of the World Trade Organization Ministerial 
     meeting in Hong Kong that is scheduled to be held December 13 
     through December 18, 2005, the Secretary of State in 
     consultation with other appropriate United States and 
     international agencies shall submit a report to the 
     appropriate congressional committees on the progress the 
     international community is making toward achieving the 
     Millennium Development Goals.
       (b) Content.--The report required by subsection (a) shall 
     include the following:
       (1) A review of the commitments made by the United States 
     and other members of the international community at the 
     summit of the Group of Eight scheduled for July 2005, the 
     United Nations summit scheduled for September 2005, and the 
     Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization 
     scheduled for December 2005, that pertain to the ability of 
     the developing world to achieve the Millennium Development 
     Goals.
       (2) A review of United States policies and progress toward 
     achieving the Millennium

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     Development Goals by 2015, as well as policies to provide 
     continued leadership in achieving such goals by 2015.
       (3) An evaluation of the contributions of other national 
     and international actors in achieving the Millennium 
     Development Goals by 2015.
       (4) An assessment of the likelihood that the Millennium 
     Development Goals will be achieved.
                                 ______