[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6183-6203]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 JUBILEE ACT FOR RESPONSIBLE LENDING AND EXPANDED DEBT CANCELLATION OF 
                                  2008

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1103 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 2634.

                              {time}  1242


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 2634) to provide for greater responsibility in lending and 
expanded cancellation of debts owed to the United States and the 
international financial institutions by low-income countries, and for 
other purposes, with Mr. Pastor in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the 
first time.
  The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) and the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Bachus) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Chairman, according to the World Bank, more than 10 million 
children in developing countries die every year before the age of 5, 
most from preventable illnesses. More than 1 billion people in 
developing countries do not have access to save drinking water. And 
approximately 100 million school-age children do not attend school.
  In sub-Saharan Africa, 41 percent of the population lives on less 
than $1 a day.
  It was because of these injustices that I first got involved in the 
issue of debt relief, and I would like to thank many of my colleagues 
who have been working with me over the years on debt relief and who 
have joined with me to present this legislation.
  First, I'd like to thank Chairman Barney Frank, who's always been a 
big supporter and a fighter, and who's worked very hard in the past to 
ensure that we are on record doing the right thing for poor children 
and poor families all over the world.
  And of course I've been very pleased to work with the ranking member 
of the Financial Services Committee, Mr. Spencer Bachus, who worked 
with me on Jubilee 2000, and who's been involved in debt relief for 
many, many years.
  I'd like to thank the original cosponsors, Mr. Emanuel Cleaver, Mr. 
Luis Gutierrez, Ms. Carolyn Maloney, Mr. Donald Payne, Ms. Barbara Lee, 
and others such as Ms. Judy Biggert, who serves on our Financial 
Services Committee, and Ms. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is the Ranking 
Member on Foreign Affairs, for all of the work and the assistance and 
the cosponsorship for this legislation.

                              {time}  1245

  In 1999, I worked with my colleagues on the Financial Services 
Committee to pass legislation to provide debt relief to the world's 
poorest countries.

[[Page 6184]]

Our legislation provided complete debt cancellation for the bilateral 
debt that certain poor countries owed to the United States. Several 
other donor countries followed our example and cancelled the debts that 
were owed to them as well.
  Our legislation also directed the Clinton administration to negotiate 
with other world leaders to significantly reduce poor countries' 
multilateral debts. The following year, the House passed my amendment 
to the fiscal year 2001 Foreign Operations appropriations bill, which 
increased funding for debt relief from $69 million to $225 million. 
This amendment proved that Congress supported full funding for the debt 
relief programs.
  Since then, we have continued to work together in a bipartisan way to 
urge not only the Clinton administration but the Bush administration as 
well, the IMF, the World Bank, and other multilateral financial 
institutions to expand debt relief. As a result of our efforts, 23 
heavily indebted poor countries have received complete cancellation of 
their debts.
  Debt cancellation has proven to be effective in freeing up resources 
for poverty reduction. Cameroon is using its savings of $29.8 million 
from debt cancellation in 2006 for national poverty reduction 
priorities including infrastructure, social sector, and governance 
reforms. Uganda is using its savings of $57.9 million to improve energy 
infrastructure, to ease acute electricity shortages, as well as primary 
education, malaria control, health care, and water infrastructure. 
Zambia is using its savings of $23.8 million to increase spending on 
agricultural projects and to eliminate fees for health care in rural 
areas.
  I'm proud to report that debt relief has made a real difference in 
the lives of millions of impoverished people. This came to pass because 
our country showed leadership, and our country showed leadership 
because this Congress showed leadership.
  We are here today to continue our efforts. We are here today to 
enable additional needy and deserving poor countries to benefit from 
the cancellation of their debts. The Jubilee Act would make up to an 
additional 25 low-income countries eligible for debt relief, provided 
these countries meet strict criteria and use the savings for poverty 
reduction programs such as improvements to economic infrastructure, 
basic education, nutrition and health services, and programs to redress 
environmental degradation.
  I would like to share with you a few of the observations and perhaps 
comments that I have learned about since I have been involved with debt 
cancellation.
  Julius Nyerere, the former President of Tanzania, once asked, ``Must 
we starve our children to pay our debts?'' For Tanzania, the answer to 
this question is, ``not anymore.'' That is because Tanzania is one of 
the lucky ones. It is one of the 23 countries that have already 
received complete debt cancellation. Tragically, many other countries 
are still starving their children in order to pay their debts.
  Debt forgiveness is a moral imperative, and it is encouraged by many 
religious traditions. The Bible instructs the people of ancient Israel 
to cancel debts periodically through the celebration of a sabbath year 
every 7 years and a jubilee every 50 years.
  Leviticus 25:10 says, ``Proclaim liberty throughout the lands and to 
all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee for you.''
  Let us once again proclaim a jubilee for millions of people in some 
of the poorest countries in the world.
  I would ask my colleagues to join with me in support of this Jubilee 
Act.
  Before yielding the balance of my time, I would like to thank Speaker 
 Nancy Pelosi for urging us to get this bill up and get it on the floor 
so that we could go on record in support of debt cancellations for the 
poor countries of the world.
  At this time, I would like to yield the balance of my time to 
Chairman Frank, and I ask unanimous consent that he be permitted to 
control the time.
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Massachusetts will be recognized.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Alabama.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Chairman, I ask for such time as I may consume.
  I speak in support of the legislation. First of all, let me thank 
Chairman Frank and Subcommittee Chairman Waters for the bipartisan 
cooperation they've shown in bringing this bill to the floor.
  Mr. Chairman, this legislation is very good legislation. I would urge 
all Members to support it. What the legislation does, as Congresswoman 
Waters said, it allows the administration to negotiate debt relief 
arrangements with the 25 poorest countries of the world. It does not 
require them to enter into any specific agreement. It simply gives them 
that authorization.
  Once they have gone to those countries and negotiated debt relief, 
that agreement then has to come back to the Senate and the House for 
our approval. So we're not approving any specific action today. We're 
simply authorizing them to do what most of us in this body believe is 
the right thing to do, and that's debt relief for the poorest people of 
the world.
  Alexander Solzhenitsyn said that a disaster is defined by magnitude 
and distance. We hear about a million and a half citizens of Darfur 
starving to death, and it is halfway around the world. It somehow does 
not grip us like seeing someone in our own community starve to death on 
the streets. But in reality, 1.5 million people have died in Darfur, 
and they're dying in Sub-Saharan Africa. They're dying in these 25 
countries.
  And people say, how do they die? You hear of 25,000, but what we're 
really talking about is one child at a time, one young person at a 
time, one older lady or grandmother that simply dies because there is 
nothing to eat or because there is no clean water or because there is 
no vaccinations.
  Now, let me give you three reasons why we should support it. People 
say let me answer this first, and I'm going to answer it by submitting 
for the record, and I would ask the Members, if you're trying to decide 
whether to support this legislation or not, I'm going to introduce the 
remarks of Ward Brehm, who is the chairman of the U.S. Africa 
Development Fund. He spoke at this year's prayer breakfast. I wish 
every Member could have been there.

  Remarks of Ward Brehm, Chairman of U.S. African Development Board, 
         National Prayer Breakfast, Thursday, February 7, 2008

       Thank you, Senator Enzi. I am deeply humbled by your 
     introduction and proud to be able to call you my friend.
       Most of you were probably surprised when you picked up the 
     program and saw a speaker you've never heard of before. Me 
     too . . . One month ago, I sent in my registration . . . and 
     was just hoping for a good seat!
       My thanks also to the members of the Senate group for this 
     opportunity. A good friend emailed me last night and said 
     that if God was going to speak through me I didn't need to be 
     nervous. . . .
       God is the one who should be nervous!
       My wife read to me from Scripture last night that Jesus 
     said when two or more gather in His name He will be there. 
     That's good enough for me!
       My work has given me the high privilege of serving you, Mr. 
     President, the American people, and above all, the poor in 
     Africa.
       The best way to help the poor is to help them not be poor 
     anymore. The only way I know how to do that is through job 
     creation, and the very best form of sustainable development 
     is a steady paycheck.
       It's been said that if you give a man a fish, you feed him 
     for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a 
     lifetime. But that's not the full story. If you want to eat 
     for a lifetime, you need to own the pond.
       So a bit of background . . . Despite that eloquent 
     introduction, I am a recovering Type-A controlling 
     businessman. I've been described even by people who like me 
     as someone who is often wrong but seldom in doubt. I was a 
     bit of a problem child growing up. In fact, my pastor since 
     childhood, Arthur Rouner, recently referred to me as a 
     ministerial long shot!
       They say that if God wants to get your attention He will 
     toss a pebble into your life. If that doesn't work He'll 
     throw a rock. As a last resort He'll heave a brick!
       Africa was my brick.
       In 1994, Africa was not on my personal radar screen.
       In fact, the only thing on that radar screen was me.
       In the Los Angeles Airport I bought a copy of Stephen 
     Covey's book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

[[Page 6185]]

       I didn't buy it to learn anything, but just wanted to make 
     sure he got them all right!
       I was intrigued by Covey's notion of paradigms: identical 
     sets of facts can mean something totally different because of 
     your world view.
       Somalia was in the news at the time, and countless numbers 
     of Africans were dying from starvation. I felt no real 
     connection to this humanitarian crisis. My radar screen was 
     full.
       Paradigms usually change because of shock or trauma, but I 
     wondered if it might be possible for someone to change their 
     paradigm on purpose. I supposed that if I were to see people 
     starving, it would change that paradigm and perhaps much 
     more. The thought left me nearly as quickly as it came.
       But God sent me a reminder . . . One week later, I made one 
     of my occasional stops at church . . . My pastor, out of the 
     blue, took me aside and said, ``Ward, I'm going to Africa in 
     two months, and I would like you to go with me.''
       I told him I couldn't believe the coincidence of his 
     invitation given my recent reflections on Somalia. Then I 
     said . . . ``No!''
       He looked at me in a strange way, and he said, ``Would you 
     at least pray about it?'' I looked at him and said, ``You're 
     the pastor; you pray about it. I will think about it but 
     suspect my answer will still be no.''
       He must have prayed hard . . . because two months later, I 
     found myself in the Minneapolis airport with a ticket to 
     Ethiopia in my hand. I was surrounded (for lack of a better 
     word) by church ladies. And they were hugging me . . . Then 
     someone suggested we pray before we departed, so I found 
     myself outside Gate 8A, holding hands with a group of 
     strangers. And as I stand here before the National Prayer 
     Breakfast I can honestly say I uttered my first heartfelt and 
     sincere prayer . . .
       ``Lord . . . Don't let any of my clients see me!''
       And then we flew. 12,000 miles to Africa, and a million 
     miles from my comfort zone. I had the high privilege of 
     having my heart broken. I saw poverty on an obscene level.
       Children with flies on their eyes and for the lack of a 50 
     cent medicine doomed to blindness, the emaciated faces of 
     famine, families shattered by civil war. And in Masaka, 
     Uganda, I held the hand of a 22-year-old Mother as she died 
     of AIDS and then turned and looked directly into the eyes of 
     four brand new orphans.
       I was an eyewitness.
       It put a face on the statistics. I always believed that 
     those statistics were true, but now they were real. It got 
     personal. . . .
       More recently, I took a long walk with a warrior turned 
     pastor friend deep into an unknown wilderness along the 
     northern Rift Valley that divides Northwest Kenya with 
     Uganda. He took me to where they had never seen a person with 
     white skin. When they first spotted me, they thought I was a 
     ghost . . . a dead man walking. For a while, I thought they'd 
     be right.
       I fasted for five days on this walk to experience real 
     hunger, but had brought along protein bars in the case of (as 
     Lodinyo put it) an ``emergency''. At the end of the walk, I 
     collapsed in a borrowed sleeping hut; when I awoke 13 hours 
     later, I saw a little boy peeking through the door. While he 
     was initially terrified, curiosity eventually got the best of 
     him, and I noticed he was concentrating more on my stash of 
     power bars than he was on me. He succeeded in snatching a 
     bar, and immediately ran away. ``Kids are the same 
     everywhere,'' I thought, until I stepped outside the hut, and 
     found a little boy kneeling over his two-year-old sister with 
     a terribly distended stomach, feeding her tiny pieces of 
     protein. . . .
       I found out 3 months later that she had died . . . another 
     paradigm shift.
       Now after more than 30 trips to Africa, the question I have 
     been asked more than any other by my African friends is 
     ``What do you pray for?''
       Most of us among the affluent have too many things. Too 
     much food, multiple cars, great health care, retirement 
     plans, insurance. . . .
       It's only when things fall completely apart, and we're 
     totally out of control that we feel totally dependent, and 
     thus closest to God. Death, cancer, business failure, 
     addiction, divorce, crises; these are the things that drop us 
     to our knees.
       All across the world including America things are 
     continually falling apart for the truly poor . . . They are 
     always out of control, constantly living in a crisis mode, 
     and thus dependent and faithful to God's own commandment that 
     we love Him with all our hearts. God is often all the poor 
     have.
       The leaders that God anoints are their only hope. And 
     despite the often-horrific conditions they live in, the poor 
     are thankful for their very existence.
       Scripture asks, ``Hasn't God chosen those who are poor in 
     the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and inherit the 
     Kingdom?'' Yes, He has. I've seen it with my own eyes.
       The question I'm asked the most by my American friends is, 
     ``Why cross an ocean to help people when you need only cross 
     the street, to help your own?'' It's a great question, and 
     the answer is, of course, that we need to do both.
       Solzhenitsyn said that disaster is defined by two things: 
     magnitude and distance. So a small disaster close to home or 
     a huge disaster faraway, results in what he describes as 
     ``bearable disasters of bearable proportions.'' We've become 
     too good at ``bearing.'' Our hearts should be broken by the 
     things that break the heart of God.
       Specifically in Africa, there are many faraway disasters of 
     epic proportions. In 1994 . . . In Rwanda, a country the size 
     of Maryland, the political genocide claimed over 800,000 
     lives. Nine thousand lives per day for 90 days. That's two 
     World Trade Center disasters per day for 3 months.
       Today . . . in Darfur, Sudan, 1.5 million homeless. 
     Thousands terrorized, raped and killed. AIDS is killing 4,400 
     people per day in Africa, and even more are dying from 
     curable malaria. Epic disasters of epic proportions, far from 
     home for most of us. We have hundreds right here in this room 
     from all around the world, our neighbors this morning . . . 
     who experience these epic disasters close to home.
       I do want to say this while I have the chance with the 
     President sitting right here. Very few people are aware that 
     due to President Bush's commitment and the resulting 
     partnership with Congress there has been an absolutely 
     historic four-fold increase in American assistance to fight 
     poverty and AIDS in Africa.
       In 2003 there were 50,000 Africans on Anti Viral medication 
     and today there are over 1.5 million. I have not met a single 
     person who hasn't agreed with this high calling.
       Proverbs, the book of Wisdom says, ``speak up for those who 
     can't speak for themselves and defend the rights of the poor 
     and destitute.'' You have been that voice and on behalf of 
     the ``least of these'' in Africa as well as the collective 
     American conscience, I want to say . . . ``Thank you Mr. 
     President.''
       Do you remember when Jesus was talking to His disciples, 
     and asked them when He was hungry, why they didn't give Him 
     any food, and when He was naked, why they didn't give Him any 
     clothes? And the disciples said something like, ``Lord, we 
     never did any of those things to You.'' I always thought 
     (like most folks) that Jesus replied ``Whenever you did this 
     to the least of these, you did this unto Me.''
       Except He didn't say that. What He said was, ``Whenever you 
     did this to one of the least of these, you did this unto 
     Me.''
       How often do we forget the word ``one.''
       It changes the meaning of what Jesus said completely. In 
     our quest to be helpful, we can rob the poor of their 
     dignity. In order to be of any help to the poor, we need to 
     understand them, we need to know them, and we need to Love 
     them. They are not a group. The poor is not a species. They 
     are identical to us in their hopes and dreams. They love 
     their families and long for a better life. The only 
     difference is that they are poor.
       And people don't stiffer and die in groups. It's one at a 
     time. And each one of those deaths leaves an identical wake 
     of agony to what you and I and our families would experience.
       So what are we supposed to do with all of this? How does 
     this fit with our own world, so different and so faraway? 
     Frankly, I'm not sure, but we do have some clues . . . Jesus 
     said, ``The poor will always be with you.'' What an odd thing 
     to say. . . . especially coming from Him!
       Jesus also said, ``To whom much has been given, much will 
     be expected.'' So maybe This is a test of sorts. If so . . . 
     how are we doing?
       I have heard stories similar to mine of peoples' lives 
     being changed: from orphanages in Russia to inner-city 
     schools in Minneapolis, from the slums of Calcutta to remote 
     medical clinics in the mountains of Afghanistan, from the 
     streets of Washington, DC, to wretched prisons in East Asia. 
     Indeed, all across the world people are answering Jesus' 
     question, ``Who is my neighbor?''
       And these people are finding themselves changed, engaged, 
     and discovering meaning and relevance by being involved in 
     things much bigger than themselves. . . .
       I believe that, deep down, most people would love to have 
     God change their lives. Here's the thing: If asked, He will, 
     every time, guaranteed. And while these changes may initially 
     seem scary, they ultimately lay a foundation for a life lived 
     on purpose rather than by default.
       I will be forever indebted to Africa. Africa awakened me 
     when I didn't even know I was asleep. I pray that everyone 
     who seeks one will find a similar path.
       I pray that each of you will find your own Africa. . . .
       A few years ago my good friend, Gary Haugen, asked me the 
     most important question of all. . . .
       For those four orphans I was with in Uganda who watched 
     their mother die of AIDS and were suddenly completely on 
     their own . . . For a twelve year old girl kidnapped and sold 
     into slavery in rural India . . . For a single mom evicted 
     and homeless on the streets of DC . . . For each one of them:
       What is God's strategy for letting them know that He is 
     good?
       The mother in Ethiopia sees her baby die of malnutrition. 
     Why would she think God is good? And what is God's strategy 
     For allowing her to know that He loves her?
       The answer is astounding. The answer is . . . us.

[[Page 6186]]

       Even more astonishing . . . He has no plan B. . . .
       God bless you One and all.

  And what he said is, and I'm going to quote him: ``The question I 
have been asked by most of my American friends, `Why cross an ocean to 
help people when you need only cross the street to help your own?' '' 
He said, ``It's a great question.'' And the answer is, of course, that 
we need to do both.
  He goes on to quote many people that we look to for directions, many 
spiritual leaders of all different religions, including Christ Jesus. 
And that is the answer. Yes, we have an obligation to our nextdoor 
neighbor, but I do believe that we should have at least compassion and 
the desire to help people in other countries. We can do that easily and 
almost without effort, and when you say ``almost without effort,'' 
aren't we talking about money?
  The first round of debt relief for seven countries cost every 
American citizen 50 cents. Fifty cents. But what did that 50 cents do? 
It reduced infant mortality in those countries by 9 percent. Nine 
percent. What is 9 percent? Well, in some of those countries, it was 
literally hundreds of children surviving that wouldn't have survived. 
It also included many little girls, millions, millions of little girls 
that were able to go to school who were never afforded that opportunity 
before, all for a cost of 50 cents.
  This next round of debt relief is estimated to cost $2 for every 
American citizen. Now, how often could you reach in your pocket, could 
you put $2 down, and could you see hundreds of thousands of children 
being given an opportunity to read and write? How many times could you 
reach in your pocket and offer $2 and know that thousands of people 
would survive the night?
  There was a Catholic priest, a nun, Sister Trujillo in Nicaragua, and 
she was asked sometime, how do these people survive? How do they 
survive in such conditions? And she said, I came to say often they 
don't. They don't survive.
  And whether we pass this legislation or not, all over the world in 
these poor countries, tens of thousands of people won't make it through 
the night tonight. They will die. They won't see another day. But if we 
pass this legislation, we can be assured, because we have a track 
record of success, we can be assured that hundreds of thousands will 
survive.
  In some of these countries, and these are stories that are phenomenal 
to me, in many countries for special-needs children, people with Down 
Syndrome, people with severe physical limitations, there was absolutely 
no services, no services. They were basically born into total 
hopelessness. In those countries where we've afforded debt relief and 
their debt services have dropped, there are actually, today, services 
for those children, for handicapped children.
  Anyone who has children, little boys or girls or grandchildren, don't 
you take pride when they start learning how to read, when they start 
learning how to write? If for almost nothing you could ensure that 
little children all over the world have that same right, would you do 
something? I think you would, and you would vote for this legislation.
  Let me give you three reasons again why this is the right thing to do 
not from a moral standpoint but from even from a good government 
economic standpoint.
  First, it's yielded results. Wherever we have done this, we have 
benefited. The United States of America has benefited, these countries 
have benefited, the citizens of these countries have benefited. As I 
said, the poverty rate in the Sub-Saharan African countries which we 
gave debt relief is down 6 percent. Over 1 million children a day are 
receiving health care that weren't receiving it, all for almost no cost 
to us.

                              {time}  1300

  Second, and I think this is essentially important and I want to try 
to find this. This is a quote from the 9/11 Commission. And if you 
don't hear anything else that I say today, you're concerned about our 
country, you're concerned about our security, then realize that debt 
relief is, I believe, dollar for dollar the most effective program in 
assuring our national security because it helps to combat poverty, and 
it is poverty that leads to instability and hopelessness. It creates 
terrorism and terrorist factions to breed and thrive.
  The 9/11 Commission, in talking just about programs such as this, 
said, ``Terrorism is not caused by poverty. Indeed, many terrorists 
come from relatively well-off backgrounds. Yet when people lose hope, 
when societies break down, when countries fragment, the breeding ground 
for terrorism is created.'' They go on to say, ``Where there is not 
basic education, where the children are not afforded an education, 
those are the very countries that the next terrorist threat will come 
from.''
  It's no accident that the U.N. listed Afghanistan prior to the 
Taliban taking over as the country with the fewest number of children 
attending public education, or any education. Now, we have a choice 
that we can stand aside and let these children go to madrassas where 
they're taught to hate America, or we can help these countries help 
their own future generations by allowing them to go into public 
education systems which will not brainwash their children.
  And the beneficiaries will not only be them, it will be us. It will 
be those of us who have had children in the military. I can tell you, 
as the father of a young marine, this bill is very important to me. I 
believe that this bill, as much as anything else, allows, long term, in 
our next generations, us to keep more of our children from having to go 
over and try to combat these terrorist activities.
  Third, it's cost efficient. The U.S. share of the expected first 
round of debt relief under this act, as I said, will cost no more than 
50 cents a piece for every man, woman and child in this country.
  During the debate on this bill, we Republicans asked for and were 
readily joined by the Democrats in asking for some changes in this debt 
modification from the ones that went on in prior years. One, we asked 
the President not to grant debt relief to countries that are not moving 
in the direction of democracy, that are not committed to the rules of 
law which are committed to improving human rights and the 
constitutional rights and the fundamental rights of their citizens. 
Second, there are countries that engage in human trafficking. Under 
this legislation, they are not eligible for debt relief. They will 
either have to turn from those practices or they will be denied even an 
opportunity to negotiate. And third, they cannot harbor or promote 
terrorism.
  Let me simply close by urging the Members; we all want a safer 
country, we want a freer America. And for America to be secure in the 
present global economy we really cannot ignore the rest of the world. 
We cannot just simply watch as these countries slip into chaos and 
discord.
  This legislation, as much as anything we will bring forward this 
year, for almost no money, will, I believe, fundamentally improve lives 
all over this world, all over the globe, but will also be a very good 
investment for the United States of America, both economically, 
militarily and morally.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds 
by way of introducing our next speaker.
  Last Tuesday, I was very pleased to go to a dinner of an organization 
called the Bank Information Center. And it was a gathering of 
representatives all of the groups fighting hard to relieve poverty in 
much of the rest of the world, especially Africa. And they particularly 
wanted to celebrate the anniversary of an amendment that was 
successfully authored by a then very junior Member of the House of 
Representatives that mandated that in international financial 
institutions due attention be paid to matters of the environment and 
human rights and decent standards for individuals. And we have come a 
long way there. That was then known as the Pelosi amendment, because 
the author of it is now the

[[Page 6187]]

Speaker, she has continued that leadership, and I yield her 1 minute.
  Ms. PELOSI. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for 
his kind words of recognition to the Pelosi amendment. And I thank him 
for his tremendous leadership on debt forgiveness, not only now, but 
for a number of years.
  I remember watching the master at work to see Mr. Frank work with the 
then Clinton administration in the year 2000 when we were trying to get 
the millennium debt forgiveness. He, along with Congresswoman Maxine 
Waters, have really made a tremendous difference in all this. And they 
have talked about some of the differences made in the countries, 
Congresswoman Waters did earlier.
  God bless us in this House to be able to serve with Congressman 
Bachus. He has just been such a wonderful leader in the House; his 
value-based policies, sensitive to the needs of people in the world, 
and how that relates to the security of our country, and how this is 
important from the standpoint of security and compassion, but it makes 
good, practical economic sense as well. You're a wonderful leader in 
this regard, and it is an honor to call you colleague, Spencer Bachus, 
distinguished ranking member of the committee.
  This has been a bipartisan initiative from the start. I appreciate 
the letter that was sent out by Chairman Waters and Spencer Bachus, 
Barney Frank, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Judy Biggert, a senior member of the 
Financial Services Committee, as well as Carolyn Maloney from that 
committee, advocating for this Jubilee Act to be passed today and 
spelling out exactly what it does as Mr. Bachus did so very clearly 
just a moment ago. And so with all the recognition to those on the 
committee and those who have worked on this issue, thank you for 
bringing us to this moment on this day.
  And I was very pleased and accept Congresswoman Waters' 
acknowledgment of our insisting that it be brought up today because 
today is the day we welcomed the Holy Father, Pope Benedict, to 
Washington, D.C. Many of us have just returned from the White House, 
where we were very proud of the welcoming ceremony presided over by 
President Bush and Mrs. Bush to welcome Pope Benedict and to be stirred 
by both of their words, the words of our President and also of the Holy 
Father.
  In his remarks, the Holy Father talked about truth and justice and 
freedom. He talked about respecting the dignity and worth of every 
person, regarding each other as brothers and sisters, all God's 
children. He made a beautiful and inspiring speech. And really his 
speech was reflected in the remarks that Spencer Bachus made here in 
that same regard of what our responsibilities are to our brothers and 
sisters.
  Today is the Holy Father's birthday. And as the President said, he is 
spending his birthday with friends. And in friendship, we bring this 
Jubilee Act to the floor today.
  This is not the first resolution to welcome His Holiness to America. 
Last week, we all voted in strong support in a bipartisan way for 
Congressman McCotter's resolution of welcome to the Holy Father. 
Yesterday, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren had legislation on the floor 
relating to religious workers' visas and their ability to work in the 
United States, which is an issue of importance to His Holiness. And now 
today, this very important resolution.
  The former Holy Father, Pope Paul II, said, ``If you want peace, work 
for justice.'' There has always been a connection here. With this debt 
forgiveness, it enables countries to do many more things to promote 
justice in their countries, whether it's the eradication of disease, 
the alleviation of poverty, eliminating some of the factors that 
contribute to the fury of despair that leads to violence that makes the 
world less safe.
  Again, this was a high priority, this debt forgiveness, for John Paul 
II when he was Pope, and he led the Cardinals in America Conference of 
Bishops to advocate for this. But it has not just been a Catholic 
initiative, it has been an interfaith initiative in the country, in the 
world, and certainly in this Congress.
  So it's very exciting, on this Holy Father's birthday, as we welcome 
him to America, we do so in a way, as Mr. Bachus said, that just gives 
the authority to negotiate for these improvements in the forgiveness of 
debt so that we can, again, do what is right for respecting the spark 
of divinity that exists in every person in the world, that we can try 
to bring some justice to it, we, who have so much, for those who are 
also God's children need our help, and give them hope.
  People say to me, where is hope? I say, hope; it's right where it's 
always been. Hope sits right there comfortably between faith and 
charity. We are people of faith who believe in the goodness of people. 
And we have faith that the charity that that will evoke or bring forth 
will help honor the hope that people have in the world.
  So this is a great occasion, again, to welcome His Holiness, to stand 
up for all the people in the world, and to do what he called upon us to 
do this morning, he called upon us, he said, ``we must have the 
courage.''
  Today, I hope that we have a unanimous bipartisan show of courage to 
do what is right. Again, I thank Mr. Frank, Mr. Bachus and 
Congresswoman Waters for their relentlessness on this issue and the 
opportunity that they give us to give hope today.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Chairman, in a minute, I'm going to yield to the 
gentleman from California, but at this time I yield myself such 
additional time as I may use.
  In recognizing the bipartisan nature of our efforts here on the floor 
today and in committee and over the past few years, this has been an 
issue that I think has brought the Congress together. That's not to say 
that Members are not concerned about certain parts. Members have 
expressed, will this work? This may not work, I'm not sure it will 
work. Well, it did work, it did work. We now have a proven track record 
of accomplishment.
  Did we have failures? Yes. Did it work better in certain places than 
others? Yes. Were there places where perhaps it didn't work very well 
at all? Yes. Were there places that it amazed us as to how well it 
worked? And the answer again is yes.
  Let me tell a story that completely blind-sided me. I was in Namibia 
with Bob Goodlatte and Steve King, and we were on an agriculture 
mission. We met with the President. And Namibia, by the way, they were 
not accorded debt relief. They don't have that much debt, so they were 
not one of the countries that we extended debt relief to. So I was 
surprised when the President of that country sat down with us and one 
of the first things he said is, please express our country's gratitude. 
And this is one of the largest countries, geographically, and most 
strategic countries in Africa, right above South Africa. And he said, 
please express to the Congress and the people of the United States my 
thanks for debt relief and the blessings it has brought to this 
country. And I said, well, Mr. President, you didn't receive debt 
relief. He said no, but Namibia is much better off today because of 
debt relief because some of our neighbors did, and those neighbors were 
trying to destabilize our democracy. They were trying to send rebels 
into our country. And it stabilized our borders. And we've been able to 
take money from troops that we had positioned on the border, and also 
money that the United States had supported to help them do that, they 
no longer spend that money because their neighbors are more stable, and 
they are not sending rebels across the border.
  So here is an ally of ours that we've not had to spend money on to 
help defend them from anti-democratic movements simply because the 
countries where those movements came from are more stable. So again, in 
places where we didn't even extend debt relief, we've seen tremendously 
beneficial things.

                              {time}  1315

  I want to recognize Mrs. Biggert, the gentlewoman from Illinois. Mrs. 
Biggert, as ranking member of the subcommittee over the past few years, 
has really taken a leadership role in debt relief. She's knowledgeable 
on the

[[Page 6188]]

issues. She has been a real asset, and I thank her.
  Recently, she and I asked two members of the Republican Caucus who 
had been opposed to debt relief issues in the past to travel on a 
delegation to Africa. They did. They came back, and both of them 
immediately within a week called our office, and I think they expressed 
to Chairman Frank, now I've seen with my own eyes many things that 
Members of this body had talked about. I've seen what a little bit of 
money can do and how far it can go. I see not only the great need, but 
I see the ability to address that need for what we in America call an 
almost inconsequential amount.
  And I wish every Member, before they took this vote, could travel to 
Latin America, could travel to Africa, could travel to these countries 
in the Middle East or Asia, and they could witness for themselves many 
of the amazing success stories, countries whose people are better off 
today than they were yesterday. Not because we gave them money because 
this is not what debt relief is about. Debt relief is not about giving 
them foreign aid; it's about allowing them to help themselves, taking 
their money and spending it on their own people so that they won't be 
coming to us for a handout. This is about a hand up, a totally 
different approach, an approach that's working.
  Mr. Chairman, at this time I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Rohrabacher).
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this basic 
legislation, which would instruct, of course, the Secretary of Treasury 
to negotiate debt relief for developing countries, especially those new 
democracies.
  And let me note that much of the debt that we have heard about today 
that has had such a horrible impact on the way of living, on the 
standard of living of people throughout the developing world, that debt 
is basically a result of dictatorship. It is not a result of democratic 
governments making wrong decisions. By and large we're talking about 
governments that have been run by authoritarians and gangsters who are 
putting their own people in debt. I would suggest that anyone who lends 
money to a dictatorship should take notice and they are doing so at 
their own risk. However, these people who establish democratic 
government and replace dictatorships should not be forced to bear the 
burden of having massive debt. This is what keeps these countries down 
even once they've replaced their dictators.
  For example, in the Soviet Union, once the Communist Party was 
displaced and they had free elections, we insisted that they not 
renounce their debt. We did not forgive their debt. That threw the 
Soviet Union into horrible economic chaos, which then democratic Russia 
that was paying for the sins of the Communist dictatorship that 
preceded it. We almost lost democracy in Russia because we were 
insisting on debt repayment and the people didn't have any moral reason 
to pay that back.
  I will have an amendment, and I am very grateful to Barney Frank for 
backing my ability to propose the amendment, that suggests that it be a 
democratically elected government and not just someone who's suggesting 
they will be democratic in the future that gets this debt relief. This 
gives the right kind of incentive.
  The CHAIRMAN. The time of the gentleman from California has expired.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. I would ask for an additional 1 minute.
  Mr. BACHUS. We don't actually have any additional time to yield.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. I would just say that Ethiopia is an example of a 
country that we should not be providing debt relief to until it has 
democratic elections.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, I now yield 3 minutes to a 
former member of our committee whose actions we only mildly begrudge, 
who has been a leader on the issue of trying to provide effective 
poverty relief throughout the world, particularly in Africa, who has 
been a cosponsor of this, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Chairman, I have been called away to an agricultural 
conference. I would ask unanimous consent to yield all time remaining 
to be managed by the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays).
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Connecticut will be recognized.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, let me first just say how happy I am today to 
be able to speak on behalf and in support of H.R. 2634, and I have to 
first thank our Speaker for leading this House in doing the right thing 
on behalf of the poor and those yearning for a better life.
  I also must thank my colleague Congresswoman Maxine Waters for 
introducing this important legislation. She is a true leader in the 
debt relief movement. The world truly owes her a debt of gratitude for 
her consistent work and for never letting up on finding ways to relieve 
the suffering of the poor.
  Also, let me thank Chairman Barney Frank for his leadership and for 
bringing this bill to the floor today in a bipartisan and timely manner 
and for his commitment to help those who need our help, and to Spencer 
Bachus, who has been committed to debt relief since I have been here, 
because they fundamentally believe that this is the morally right thing 
to do. And working together, they have shown the world, really, the 
best in elected leadership in this House.
  So thank you, Chairman Frank.
  Mr. Chairman, as an original cosponsor of this bill, I feel very 
strongly in the power and the benefit of a simple act of forgiveness 
and what that can bring. In my travels to the developing world, I have 
witnessed what Mr. Bachus and what Ms. Waters so eloquently described 
today.
  As a result of this legislation, an additional 27 countries could 
potentially be eligible for expanded debt relief. This speaks volumes 
to what can be done to alleviate poverty or help address crises in the 
developing world, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, such as the 
devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic. These countries would have to meet 
strict criteria to guarantee transparency in their financial management 
systems and ensure that the savings are actually spent on alleviating 
poverty. The bill would also ensure the involvement of civil society 
organizations, so important, to help set priorities for how this money 
should be spent.
  The action we take today is not only the right thing to do for 
countries facing a crushing debt burden, but it speaks volumes about 
our fundamental values as a nation and as a people. This bill does not 
give people fish but the means to catch their own fish, feed their 
families, and live their lives in the manner that all God's children 
deserve.
  Is it any wonder that this bill has the support of over 60 groups led 
by the Jubilee U.S.A. network? Backing this effort, this coalition 
includes such a broad range of organizations from the faith community, 
environmentalists, labor, international development groups, and 
grassroots advocacy organizations.
  The CHAIRMAN. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, I yield the gentlewoman 1 
additional minute.
  Ms. LEE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
  Let me just say these organizations should be saluted today. They 
deserve our support and thanks for their work in raising their voices 
and doing the hard work to help build this great bipartisan support for 
this bill.
  Debt forgiveness is the right thing to do. It is consistent with our 
values as a Nation. And I urge my colleagues to support this bill and 
proclaim today as a day of jubilee.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, just before yielding, I would like to 
explain to my colleagues on the other side that we have 8 minutes left. 
We are going to yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois and 
then reserve our 3 minutes and you are going to have an opportunity to 
go through a number of speakers.

[[Page 6189]]

  With that, I would yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois 
(Mrs. Biggert).
  Mrs. BIGGERT. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this legislation and applaud 
Chairman Waters for her hard work on this legislation.
  Mr. Chairman, I must admit that I wanted to cosponsor this bill for a 
very long time, but the bill as introduced had a number of problems for 
me. But I am pleased to say that they have been resolved, and I want to 
thank Chairman Frank for offering in the Financial Services Committee a 
manager's amendment that addressed many of my concerns and allowed me 
to become a cosponsor and also for the manager's amendment that will be 
brought up today. So I am pleased to join him and Ranking Member Bachus 
in offering a manager's amendment today that makes it an even better 
bill, addressing the most important concerns, including economic 
conditionality that the administration expressed in its statement of 
administration policy issued on Monday.
  Mr. Chairman, over a decade of hard work and determination has 
produced results for the poorest countries in the world. Poverty has 
been reduced and living conditions are improving. Today's bill 
recognizes and builds upon the previous work of this body on debt and 
development issues, and I hope that this trend will continue.
  When I served in 2004 and 2005 on the Domestic and International 
Monetary Policy Subcommittee as the Vice Chair, I was pleased to work 
with many members of the Financial Services Committee, the 
administration, and interested organizations to craft legislative 
language that eventually authorized funding for the Multilateral Debt 
Relief Initiative, or MDRI.
  MDRI expanded the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, HIPC, Initiative 
of 1999. In short, this historic, U.S.-led initiative called on the 
international community to provide up to 100 percent of debt relief and 
performance-based grants to the world's poorest countries. So Congress 
has since then appropriated about two-thirds of its financial 
obligation towards MDRI and HIPC. Unfortunately, I think we fall a 
little bit short on our commitment, but despite this shortfall, the 
program is working for 41 of the poorest countries in the world: 22 
have graduated from the HIPC program, 10 are on their way, and 9 are 
beginning the process. So I'm pleased that the bill under consideration 
today, with both the committee and floor managers' amendments, 
recognizes these facts and seeks to preserve and build upon the 
impressive progress made under MDRI and HIPC.
  So why do we need the Jubilee Act? Well, the fundamental purpose of 
today's legislation is to establish a plan for ``phase two'' of the 
U.S. debt relief initiative. And that's what we need. The bill sets out 
to forgive the debt and issue grants to the next group of the world's 
poorest countries, 24 in total, which do not currently qualify under 
HIPC self-sufficiency and sustainable debt initiatives. Importantly, it 
also seeks to prevent these countries from entering new lending post-
relief debt so that they don't squander the economic and social 
progress achieved through the debt relief.
  I would like to note that the statement of administration policy on 
this bill recognizes that debt relief should be tied to economic 
conditionality to ensure that it will promote economic growth and 
provide real benefits to the poor. In addition, the bill including the 
manager's amendment, would ensure that countries eligible for debt 
relief don't have excessive levels of military expenditures, don't 
support acts of international terrorism, are cooperating with the U.S. 
on international narcotics control matters, and are complying with the 
U.S. standards to eliminate human trafficking and are working with the 
U.S. to stop illegal immigration to the U.S.
  I worked really closely with constituents from my district, and I 
really want to thank Sister Sheila Kinsey, Dan Driscoll-Shaw, Ron 
Durbin, and my other constituents too numerous to mention here for 
their guidance, their compassion, and encouragement of this bill. It's 
an honor to work with them.
  As I close, I just want to say that the important part of our 
discussion today is to recognize that the ultimate goal of both ``phase 
one'' and now ``phase two'' of the U.S. international debt relief and 
poverty reduction initiatives is to improve the life of the people of 
impoverished countries around the world, and this is going to happen 
because of this bill.

                              {time}  1330

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. I now yield 3 minutes to another member 
of the Committee on Financial Services who has been a leader in our 
relationships with the multinational institutions, the gentlewoman from 
Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Chairman, I would certainly like to thank 
Representative Waters, Representative Bachus, Chairman Frank and 
Speaker Pelosi for their outstanding stewardship on debt relief and for 
bringing this important measure to the floor today.
  When governments are burdened with overwhelming and unmanageable 
debt, it prevents them from providing rudimentary quality of life to 
their citizenry, and that is access to clean water, modest shelter, 
basic nutrition, education and health care. When citizens are living on 
less than $1 a day, civility, democratization of institutions and 
innovation are greatly compromised or made improbable.
  Therefore, it is not only our moral obligation to relieve debt, but 
it is in our national interests to promote a sustainable world with 
cooperating partners in our efforts to address global problems such as 
pandemic diseases, climate change and the prevention of genocide and 
terrorism.
  I would urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 2634 and join in this 
day of jubilee.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. I believe the gentleman wants me to 
finish up, so I will yield to one of the congressional leaders on 
affairs on Africa from the Foreign Affairs Committee, the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), for 3 minutes.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Chairman, let me begin by commending Chairman Frank 
for bringing this very important legislation to the floor, and his 
ranking member, Mr. Bachus, who has really been a real champion in 
these issues over the years. Let me give special congratulations to 
Congresswoman Maxine Waters for her tireless effort to bring H.R. 2634, 
the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation 
to the floor for consideration, and her long history of working to help 
the world's countries to elevate their people out of poverty.
  While nonprofit organizations and Members of Congress initially 
fought for debt relief, many of us never imagined that we would still 
find ourselves here today. Unfortunately, with the likes of Debt 
Advisory International, Elliott Associates, the burdensome IMF and 
World Bank policies, we must redouble our efforts to prevent such 
policies and companies from pecking away at the hard-won gains that we 
have made and must continue to make.
  As chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, I 
understand how the redirection of monies towards debt servicing and 
vulture funds has crippled African countries' attempts to improve upon 
development indicators. Sub-Saharan Africa receives approximately $13 
billion in aid every year, yet spends $15 billion in servicing old and 
many times odious debts.
  This type of deficit spending perpetuates the vicious cycle that 
prevents African governments from truly creating their own solutions to 
the challenges that they face.
  Three billion people in nations around the world are living on less 
than $2 per day. For some of these nations, they are beholden to 
servicing debts instead of focusing their financial and human capital 
towards creating the necessary infrastructure to educate, feed, employ 
and care for their people. By eliminating many of the debts that are 
tying their hands, they will be able to direct the necessary energies 
to alleviating poverty in their countries.

[[Page 6190]]

  Debt cancellation works. Zambia is a prime example as to how monies 
freed from servicing a country's debt can be used to better the lives 
of its people. It is using its savings of $23.8 million under the 
multilateral debt relief initiative to increase spending on 
agricultural projects on smallholder irrigation and livestock disease 
control, as well as eliminating fees for health care in rural areas.
  The Jubilee Act will establish an agreement among the U.S., other 
countries and international financial institutions to provide debt 
cancellation for deserving, eligible low-income countries. It will also 
work to create a binding legal framework to ensure that entities, 
particularly unscrupulous vulture funds, will not be able to lie in 
wait in order to seize upon newly awarded debt relief.
  I congratulate Congresswoman Waters on getting this wonderful and 
timely bill to the floor of the House. I encourage other Members of 
Congress to support it.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. I now yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Woolsey).
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding me the time.
  I rise in strong support of H.R. 2634 and am proud to recognize 
Chairman Frank, his Ranking Member Bachus, Congresswoman Waters, 
Representative Lee and Representative Payne because they are leaders in 
this very, very necessary important issue of debt relief. And I want to 
tell you I admire their absolute stick-to-itiveness on this important 
issue, because 7 years ago, grass-roots groups asked Congress and the 
administration to release heavily indebted poor countries from their 
overwhelming debt. In many cases, the debt was acquired under 
dictatorships and despotic regimes. These emerging developing nations 
could not move forward while buried under seemingly crushing debt.
  With bipartisan support, and this is bipartisan in the way it has 
come to the floor, it passed the first time. Now it is improved upon 
and going forward again. It is stronger than it was before. In so 
doing, we forgave debt owed by poor countries, countries that were 
spending vast sums on debt servicing while forgoing investment into 
education or health care, infrastructure and other social services so 
desperately needed in their small countries.
  With this bill, we are putting a downpayment on the future of the 
developing world. We are getting more kids into classrooms. We are 
providing life-saving health care. We are building the pathways for 
entrepreneurship.
  And I thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for your leadership, and I honor 
one more time, as we all have, Congresswoman Waters for her stick-to-
itiveness in making these wonderful, important issues come forward and 
pass positively.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, this is a moving moment to 
come to the floor of the House. And I was moved by the words of our 
Speaker, quoting the Pope and saying that we must have courage. Then, 
of course, the ranking member from Alabama got up and said, Chairman 
Frank, that there were those who came back and said, I have seen it 
with my own eyes.
  And this is what this bill is about. It is about people understanding 
that extending the opportunity to teach individuals the ability to 
fish, to reduce the debt, gives them a lifelong opportunity of 
survival.
  Let me thank Chairman Frank, Congresswoman Waters and the ranking 
member of the full committee, my subcommittee chair, Mr. Payne, and Ms. 
Lee for their stick-to-itiveness on a very important concept, reduce 
the debt on the continent of Africa, and you give the opportunity to 
children and others to survive.
  This is not a give-away. It is an effective tool to reduce poverty in 
some of the world's poorest countries. I've had the privilege and honor 
of representing this nation in my visits to place like Zambia, 
Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ghana in those early days, Nigeria, Angola and 
places where you might not imagine the poverty, Lesotho. Debt relief 
initiatives passed in 1999 and 2005 are benefiting more than two dozen 
countries in Africa and Latin America, just to the south of us.
  Uganda is using the $57.9 million it has saved from debt cancellation 
on primary education to ensure a future for its children as well as 
much-needed improvements in malaria control, health care and 
infrastructure.
  Many of us take for granted our public school system. But are you 
aware that children stay out of school because they don't have the 
fees, they don't have the money for books, and they don't have the 
money for clothing? In most African countries, and maybe in Latin 
American countries, school is not free. There is no concept of ``public 
school.'' Zambia, one of the poorest nations, is using its savings of 
$23.8 million on agricultural projects and to eliminate fees for health 
care in rural areas. Debt cancellations enable programs in Uganda and 
Zambia to directly help the people.
  This is the face of America and the face of our faith, and it is 
saying that we care for the least of those. We are, in fact, a good 
Samaritan.
  And so today, as we stand here, this is a time of jubilee, for this 
legislation not only reduces or excuses debt, but it also helps to 
restructure and finance new opportunities. This Act calls for the 
development of a responsible financing prime rate for the future. Debt 
forgiveness is a good short-term solution.
  The CHAIRMAN. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 additional 
minute.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I thank the distinguished gentleman. Debt 
forgiveness is a good short-term solution, but to be truly effective, 
we must find a way to fix the broken system of international lending.
  I am very grateful that our Financial Services Committee has been one 
of the most proactive in time of need. They are facing the economic 
crisis of Americans. They have not forgotten you. They are facing the 
economic crisis around the world. They are restructuring and looking at 
how we can unify our financial system here. We are, in fact, the 
keepers of our brothers and sisters as I started out by saying. We must 
have the courage that has been dictated to us and said to us today by 
the Pope who is visiting America. And it is good for our colleagues, 
who may doubt this legislation, to go and see it with their own eyes. 
Once they do so, they will understand that this is absolutely the right 
direction. And might I just thank the AFL-CIO, the American Jewish 
World Service, the Church World Service, the DATA organization and 
others for their support.
  I ask my colleagues to support this.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2634, the 
Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation. I 
am proud to join over 100 of my colleagues in cosponsoring this timely 
legislation. I would like to thank my colleague, Congresswoman Waters, 
for introducing this bill, as well as the Chairman of the Financial 
Services Committee, Congressman Frank, for his leadership on this 
important issue.
  Countries throughout the world suffer from the heavy burden of debt. 
The inability of nations to escape from these financial commitments has 
profound impacts on any attempts they make at poverty reduction, health 
care, economic development, and sustainable growth. The Highly Indebted 
Poor Countries, HIPCs, the majority of which are located in Africa, are 
particularly crippled by debt. Nearly three years ago, we saw an 
outpouring of support for debt relief as G8 leaders met in Gleneagles, 
Scotland, to pursue a policy of poverty reduction. While some positive 
progress has been made since that meeting, it is absolutely undeniable 
that this is an issue on which a great deal remains to be done.
  Today, we have an opportunity to take a positive and concrete step 
toward ending global poverty by helping needy and deserving low-income 
countries. The Jubilee Act expands existing debt relief programs for 
the world's poorest countries, and it includes measures to ensure that 
the benefits of debt relief are not eroded by future abusive lending.
  Debt relief has, in the past, proved an effective tool to reduce 
poverty in some of the world's poorest countries. Debt relief 
initiatives passed in 1999 and 2005 are benefiting more than two dozen 
countries in Africa and Latin America. Uganda is using the $57.9 
million it has saved from debt cancellation on primary

[[Page 6191]]

education, to ensure a future for its children, as well as much needed 
improvements in malaria control, healthcare, and infrastructure. Zambia 
is using its savings of $23.8 million on agricultural projects, and to 
eliminate fees for healthcare in rural areas.
  Debt cancellation has enabled programs in Uganda and Zambia to 
directly help the people of these nations. However, there are many 
impoverished and deserving countries that do not currently benefit from 
debt relief. The International Monetary Fund, IMF, and the World Bank 
continue to place restrictive conditions on debt cancellation, calling 
for policies requiring the privatization of essential services and the 
liberalization of trade in sensitive sectors in exchange for debt 
cancellation. These conditions are currently holding up desperately 
needed debt relief in several eligible countries, including Haiti, the 
Democratic Republic of Congo, and Liberia.
  Mr. Chairman, the legislation we are considering today will not only 
bring the benefits of debt cancellation to more countries than ever 
before, it will also ensure that these benefits are felt by all strata 
of society. This bill would direct the Secretary of the Treasury to 
negotiate an agreement with the IMF and World Bank, as well as other 
bilateral and multilateral creditors, to make up to 25 additional low-
income countries eligible for complete debt cancellation. Governments 
of these countries will be required to allocate the money saved through 
debt cancellation to poverty reduction programs, such as initiatives to 
improve economic infrastructure, basic education, nutrition, health 
services, and programs to redress environmental degradation.
  This legislation does not remove all conditions from debt relief 
programs. Countries still must demonstrate transparent and effective 
budget and financial management systems, and they can be excluded from 
debt relief if they do not. In addition, countries committing massive 
violations of human rights are not eligible, nor are countries that 
support international terrorism, have excessive levels of military 
expenditures, or fail to cooperate on international narcotics control. 
The Jubilee Act encourages the developing of responsible financing 
standards, and assures financial transparency and accountability.
  Finally, but perhaps most importantly, the Jubilee Act calls for the 
development of a responsible financing framework for the future. Debt 
forgiveness is a good short-term solution, but to be truly effective we 
must find a way to fix the broken system of international lending. Of 
particular concern to me has been the proliferation of vulture funds, 
which, like their avian namesake, seek to make a profit off of already 
weakened prey.
  Mr. Chairman, vulture funds purchase the debt of countries (or 
companies) in financial distress. They then hold out for the full value 
of the debt, plus any interest, which they pursue through litigation, 
much of which takes place in U.S. courts. The inability of nations to 
escape from these financial commitments has profound impacts on any 
attempts they make at poverty reduction, health care, economic 
development, and sustainable growth. The Highly Indebted Poor 
Countries, HIPCs, the majority of which are located in Africa, are 
particularly crippled by debt. Though these countries may not appear to 
be the most profitable prey for vulture funds, which in theory prefer 
to purchase debt that a country has, or may in the future develop, the 
ability to pay, according to reports there are numerous lawsuits 
currently pending against HIPC countries.
  Vulture funds, together with other forms of irresponsible lending, 
undermine international efforts to provide much needed debt relief to 
the world's most indebted poor countries. The Jubilee Act directs the 
Secretary of the Treasury to develop and promote policies to prevent 
bilateral, multilateral, and private creditors from eroding the gains 
of debt relief through irresponsible or exploitive lending. I am 
particularly pleased that this legislation takes this important step 
toward fixing broken systems of international lending.
  I am proud to support the Manager's Amendment to this legislation, 
introduced by Congressman Frank, which adds additional conditions to 
the eligibility criteria for debt relief, including complying with 
minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking, cooperating with 
American efforts to stop illegal immigration, and being committed to 
free and fair elections.
  I also support the amendment offered by my colleague Congressman 
Hastings of Florida. This amendment adds a Sense of Congress stating 
that, due to the current humanitarian and political instability in 
Haiti, including food shortages and political turmoil, the Secretary of 
the Treasury should use his influence to expedite the complete and 
immediate cancellation of Haiti's debts to all international financial 
institutions, or if such debt cancellation cannot be provided, to urge 
the institutions to immediately suspend the requirement that Haiti make 
further debt service payments on debts owed to the institutions. After 
deadly food riots last week in Port-au-Prince, which resulted in the 
death of a Nigerian UN peacekeeper, I believe that this amendment is 
both crucial and timely.
  I also support the amendment introduced by my colleague Mr. Weiner. 
This amendment modifies the qualification for ``eligible low-income 
country'' to include those countries that are eligible for both 
International Development Association loans and World Bank loans.
  Mr. Chairman, if we are serious about meeting the Millennium 
Development Goals, we must take concrete steps toward reducing poverty. 
Debt cancellation is a proven way to do this. This legislation has the 
support of numerous organizations doing excellent work around the 
world, including the AFL-CIO, American Jewish World Service, Church 
World Service, DATA, Debt AIDS Trade Africa, Jubilee USA Network, the 
ONE Campaign, Oxfam America, and RESULTS.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important 
legislation.
  Mr. SHAYS. Let me ask my colleague, does he just have one last 
speaker?
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Yes.
  Mr. SHAYS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
  I yield myself the remaining time. I appreciate first the work of 
Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Congressman Spencer Bachus to bring the 
Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 
2008 to the floor, and in particular, my chairman, Barney Frank, who 
continues to be an American first and is an outstanding chairman of the 
Finance Committee and puts all the partisan stuff second. I appreciate 
that.
  Debt cancellation has proven to reduce poverty and save lives. It 
sends a strong message that we care about the rest of the world. It is 
sound economics, and it is humane.
  The debt cancellation support by Congress in 1999 and 2005 has 
reached more than 2,000 countries in Africa and Latin America as has 
been described already. When Uganda is using $57.9 million freed by 
debt cancellation to increase spending on primary education, malaria 
control, health care and infrastructure, that is good for every Ugandan 
citizen, its neighbors and the world at large.
  Today's legislation, adopting an additional nine impoverished 
countries to the list of countries eligible for debt cancellation and 
making an additional 15 countries eligible for relief is a very 
positive step. The bill costs an estimated $197 million if all nine 
countries enter into the agreement, and $119 million if Vietnam decides 
not to participate.
  This is reasonable expenditure, a wise investment and a significant 
effort of goodwill by our country towards the world community.
  While I support this legislation, debt relief by itself will not lead 
to reforms that are needed in many of these countries. Investment in 
foreign policy programs that promote world stability is crucial, and 
that is why oversight is so important.
  Many of us in this Chamber believe responsible debt relief is not 
only the right thing to do, but it is also in our national security 
interests, particularly when coupled with reforms that will lead to 
substantial development. Developing nations that improve economically 
and help their citizens out of poverty and despair are much less likely 
to develop in ways that make them a threat to their neighbors and the 
greater world.
  I urge passage of H.R. 2634, the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending 
and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2008, and I again thank all those 
involved, the chairman of the full committee Mr. Frank, Ms. Waters and 
my ranking member, Spencer Bachus.
  I yield back my time.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. I yield myself the remaining time.
  I join in thanking all those who participated. It may seem that this 
is an orgy of self-congratulations but it really is a celebration of an 
important point, namely that we are capable of disagreeing with each 
other strongly on very important public policy issues without that 
injuring our ability to cooperate in other areas where we can agree.

[[Page 6192]]



                              {time}  1345

  The Committee on Financial Services has some very sharp divisions, 
for example, in the role of the Federal Government in helping to build 
affordable housing and the rules that should apply there on the 
restrictions that should apply. I am very proud that has not in any way 
hindered us from working together on these things which are both in the 
national interest and in the interests of humanity.
  Talking about the committee, I do want to mention one other person 
who has played a very important role here, no longer a Member, but the 
former chairman of the committee, the gentleman from Iowa, Mr. Leach.
  The initial effort to put through debt relief was over the objection 
of the leadership of the House and the administration, the Republican 
House leadership and the Clinton administration. They weren't opposed 
to it in principle, they were hesitant. A group of Members pushed it 
through, and among those was the then chairman of the Committee on 
Financial Services, Mr. Leach, and we are following in the footsteps of 
those actions.
  There are just a couple of points about this that I want to stress. 
We have some amendments. I will be agreeing to all the amendments. One 
or two may need some little work later on. But there is an important 
principle here.
  During the nineties in particular, we had a great deal of turmoil in 
the world because as the international institutions, the World Bank and 
the International Monetary Fund and the others, provided some financial 
assistance to low-income countries, they also provided some very 
intrusive prescriptions about public policy and decisions. If you are 
going to talk about democracy, Mr. Chairman, you have to honor it. You 
can't be for democracy only when you know you are going to agree with 
the outcome.
  For the international institutions, with the backing of the American 
government all too often, and other governments, to have used the need 
of these countries for assistance, financial assistance, as a lever to 
dictate what should have been left to the democratic process, was 
harmful theoretically and practically. It led to decisions being 
imposed which undermined popular support for the governments and even 
for the concept of democracy.
  So what we say in this legislation, and I know the President raised 
some concerns about it, there is a constitutional issue here, we think 
we are very clear, when the Congress of the United States authorizes 
activity that will reduce revenue to the government, not by an enormous 
amount, as the gentleman from Connecticut mentioned, but we are talking 
here about revenues, when we say we are willing to forgo some of these 
revenues because we think much more good will come from forgoing them 
than we could do with collecting them in this situation because of the 
need for stability and peace in the world, we have a right to set the 
terms under which it happens, and we say in here that there shall be no 
intrusion into the democratic processes.
  We also say, and it is perfectly consistent, we do insist that there 
be democratic processes. This is not a bill that says no conditions. It 
sets conditions. The conditions are democracy. The conditions are no 
corruption, transparency and democracy in the sense of votes and 
democracy in the sense of free speech and democracy in the sense of 
people knowing what is happening.
  We do say we want a framework of honesty and openness, which hasn't 
always been there. We will talk a little bit later about some of the 
differences about interpretation of that. Essentially it goes in the 
right direction.
  I do want to note, this is a decision that it is not appropriate in 
the guise of providing financial assistance for international 
institutions or other governments to dictate to the recipient 
government issues that ought in a normal society be the subject of a 
democracy.
  I repeat my gratitude that we have got broad support for this. I 
think there is an overwhelming consensus that reducing the debt of 
those countries which are trying to do the right thing for their people 
is, of course, primarily in the interest of the poor children and the 
other poor people in those countries, but also in our interest in 
trying to promote a stable and peaceful world.
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Chairman, for over 20 years, 
creditor nations have been passing bilateral agreements to forgive debt 
in poor and developing countries.
  Since 1991, the United States has waived roughly $23.9 billion in 
debt.
  Now the House of Representatives is considering further debt relief 
for 23, possibly 24, nations under H.R. 2634. After two decades of 
making loans with taxpayer dollars to countries that clearly are unable 
to pay it back, we're asking Americans to do it again.
  The U.S. national deficit is $9.4 trillion, and we're asking 
hardworking, taxpaying Americans, our children and grandchildren, to 
waive an additional $6.1 billion in loan assistance we've provided to 
developing countries.
  This is simply illogical, which is why I offered my amendment to this 
bill in Rules on Monday. The amendment would prohibit the waiving of 
any debt owed to the United States if the United States carries a 
federal deficit.
  Of course, the majority decided to shortchange the debate and to make 
my amendment not in order.
  I feel for these poor, developing countries, and their people. But we 
have some real crises here in the United States with 223,000 homes in 
foreclosure in February, the unemployment rate at 4.8 percent, and more 
than 46.6 million Americans without health care insurance.
  I know my constituents can think of a million things to do with $6.1 
billion in debt cancellation for foreign nations. With this type of 
logic, it's no wonder Americans consider to question the mental 
stability of their Members of Congress.
  Until the United States is in the black and no longer has a federal 
deficit, I urge Members to protect American taxpayer dollars. I urge 
Members to vote against this restrictive rule and oppose this ill-
conceived bill.
  Mr. STARK. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of 
legislation that will save thousands of lives around the world. By 
allowing poor countries to use scarce resources to provide for the 
health and well being of their citizens rather than to repay debt to 
wealthy nations, we are doing what is humane, right, and just.
  Many nations struggling to escape the grip of poverty are imprisoned 
by debt that siphons off large portions of their budgets. In many 
cases, any type of debt relief is conditioned on adoption of policies 
that privatize large sections of the economy and primarily benefit 
international corporations. Such a ``Hobbesian choice'' undermines 
sovereignty and exacerbates poverty. There is another way that can lift 
up nations and allow them to invest in their own citizens rather than 
sending money to foreign capitols, while maintaining control of their 
own economies. The ``Jubilee Act'' before us today provides such an 
alternative.
  This legislation will expand our existing debt relief program to 
cancel the debts of the world's 24 poorest countries and provide 
greater relief to many more without imposing harsh economic conditions. 
Even under the current limited relief program, numerous countries have 
made great strides:
  Mozambique was able to vaccinate 500,000 additional children;
  Uganda doubled enrollment in public schools;
  Zambia hired 4,500 new teachers and eliminated health care fees.
  Imagine the progress that can be made if we pass this bill and bring 
debt relief within reach of virtually all of the world's most 
impoverished nations.
  Debt cancellation under this legislation is not simply a handout that 
could be used by corrupt regimes to enrich their cronies or build their 
militaries. This legislation makes eligibility contingent on using the 
savings to reduce poverty. Countries are ineligible if their government 
lacks transparency, violates human rights, or spends excessively on 
defense.
  We have a moral obligation to help alleviate suffering in our own 
country and around the world. At a time when much of the world has lost 
faith in America as a beacon of freedom and compassion, it is also in 
our self-interest to restore this lost faith and lift countries out of 
poverty. I hope all of my colleagues will join me in voting for this 
legislation.
  Mr. FARR. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to express my support for 
the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation 
Act.
  This Jubilee Act is a vital piece of legislation that will liberate 
poor countries from the burden of heavy indebtedness. These countries

[[Page 6193]]

simply cannot invest in their futures if they are tethered to the 
illegitimate debts of their past.
  Today we have the opportunity to take a major step forward in our 
effort to combat global poverty and elevate our Nation's moral standing 
in the world. For that we should all feel a great sense of 
accomplishment.
  By one simple act here in the U.S. House of Representatives, we have 
the ability to strike a blow against one of the great scourges of the 
world: poverty. I have spent a lifetime in public service fighting the 
root causes of poverty--from my time in Colombia as a Peace Corps 
volunteer, straight through to this vote today as a Member of Congress.
  It has long been apparent to me that steady and adequate investments 
in health care, education, housing, and sanitation are absolute 
minimums to be able to eliminate poverty and hopelessness. And this 
bill makes those investments possible for a whole swath of the world 
where they would not be otherwise.
  This bill lifts the burden of past debts off the backs of governments 
that are behaving responsibly and have a proven record of investing in 
their own people. This is important to note, because many of these 
indebted nations incurred their debt, not under their current 
democratically elected governments, but under past autocratic regimes 
that pilfered the money and left the people of these countries in utter 
poverty.
  The Jubilee Act is a follow-on extension to a debt relief program 
with proven results. Since 1996, 30 countries have received nearly $80 
billion in some form of debt relief. The money that these countries 
have saved in debt financing charges have gone directly into fighting 
poverty. By passing this bill, an additional 24 countries will have the 
opportunity to throw off the yoke of severe debt and begin anew to 
confront the conditions that perpetuate poverty with additional 
resources at their disposal.
  I am pleased to join today with so many of my colleagues, from both 
political parties, to reinvigorate our effort to fight global poverty. 
I am pleased to join today with so many of my colleagues, from both 
political parties, to reinvigorate our effort to fight global poverty.
  Mr. CARSON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2634, the 
Jubilee Act. This bill seeks to help those struggling under the most 
grievous economic circumstances abroad. It reflects a strong bipartisan 
effort to assist in full debt cancellation for 24 of the world's 
poorest countries.
  Under this bill, introduced by Congresswoman Waters, debt relief 
would be extended to countries not currently eligible under the IMF's 
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries program. Nine of these countries would 
receive immediate assistance under this act while the remaining 
countries would have to meet stringent standards in order to receive 
the forgiveness.
  These standards would ensure countries receiving assistance do not 
acquire new debt or encourage bad actors within their government. 
Countries would not be eligible for assistance if they lack 
transparency in their budget, commit human rights violations, support 
international terrorism, have excessive levels of military funding, or 
fail to cooperate on international narcotics control issues. The bill 
further provides that external financing needs of these countries are 
met through grants rather than loans to prevent them from falling 
victim to exploitive lending in the future.
  Debt relief for the most severely disadvantaged throughout the world 
concerns us all as global citizens and numerous constituents in my 
district have reached out to me expressing their overwhelming support 
for this compassionate bill. I am proud to be a member of the committee 
that passed this bill with a favorable recommendation and of this House 
which has moved this legislation today. H.R. 2634 helps our world's 
neediest individuals, many of which have suffered under repressive 
regimes, move forward and use their countries' future capital on 
important economic growth activities and health care.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to express my full support for 
H.R. 2634, the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt 
Cancellation of 2008. This is extremely important legislation that will 
have no budgetary impact on the United States Federal budget but stands 
to have a lasting and life changing impact for up to 24 additional poor 
countries. The Jubilee Act is one of the most humanitarian efforts this 
Congress could undertake.
  Poverty is one of the greatest ills to plague mankind. We have recent 
evidence of the impact of poverty in the demonstration of desperately 
hungry people for food no longer affordable because of economic forces 
beyond their control. Those who survive in poverty are under constant 
threat of death. The debt forgiveness offered by the Jubilee Act will 
enable poor countries to address the issues of poverty, create 
opportunities for economic growth and establish sound governing 
practices. The Jubilee Act also promotes responsible development 
assistance by prioritizing grants over loans, which is an important 
measure to prevent these countries from falling back into debt.
  It is inconceivable for the United States not to act immediately in 
passing this legislation; there are many poor countries desperately 
awaiting our assistance. By granting authorization for the U.S. 
Treasury Department to begin negotiations within the World Bank, the 
International Monetary Fund and other multilateral creditors is the 
first step towards improving the lives of so many impoverished people. 
Above all other reasons, we are morally obligated to help those less 
fortunate, therefore I urge my colleagues to support the Jubilee Act 
for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation Act.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  The CHAIRMAN. All time for general debate has expired.
  Pursuant to the rule, the amendment in the nature of a substitute 
printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the 
purpose of amendment under the 5-minute rule and shall be considered 
read.
  The text of the committee amendment is as follows:

                               H.R. 2634

       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 ``Jubilee Act for Responsible 
     Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds the following:
       (1) Many low-income countries have been struggling under 
     the burden of international debts for many years.
       (2) Since 1996, when the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries 
     Initiative (HIPC) was created, more than 30 nations have seen 
     some form of debt relief totaling approximately 
     $80,000,000,000.
       (3) Congress has demonstrated its support for bilateral and 
     multilateral debt relief through the enactment of 
     comprehensive debt relief initiatives for heavily indebted 
     low-income countries in--
       (A) title V of H.R. 3425 of the 106th Congress, as enacted 
     into law by section 1000(a)(5) of the Act entitled ``An Act 
     making consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2000, and for other purposes'', approved 
     November 29, 1999 (Public Law 106-113; 113 Stat. 1501-311) 
     and the amendments made by such title;
       (B) title II of H.R. 5526 of the 106th Congress, as enacted 
     into law by section 101(a) of the Act entitled ``An Act 
     making appropriations for foreign operations, export 
     financing, and related programs for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2001, and for other purposes'', approved 
     November 6, 2000 (Public Law 106-429; 114 Stat. 1900A-5); and
       (C) title V of the United States Leadership Against HIV/
     AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-
     25; 117 Stat. 747) and the amendment made by such title.
       (4) In 2005, the United States and other G-8 nations 
     reached an agreement to provide cancellation of 100 percent 
     of the debts owed by eligible poor nations to Paris Club 
     members, the IMF, the World Bank, and the African Development 
     Bank. The Inter-American Development Bank reached an 
     agreement in early 2007 to provide similar treatment.
       (5) The 2005 agreement led to the creation of the 
     Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). As of April 2007, 
     22 nations have seen the majority of their debts to the IMF, 
     World Bank, and African Development Bank cancelled under the 
     terms of the MDRI. In March 2007, the Inter-American 
     Development Bank announced it would provide full debt 
     cancellation to 5 Latin American countries on MDRI terms.
       (6) Resources released by debt relief efforts to date are 
     reaching the poor. Cameroon is using the $29,800,000 of 
     savings it will gain from the MDRI in 2006 for national 
     poverty reduction priorities, including infrastructure, 
     social sector and governance reforms. Uganda is using its 
     $57,900,000 savings in 2006 on improving energy 
     infrastructure to try to ease acute electricity shortages, as 
     well as primary education, malaria control, healthcare and 
     water infrastructure (specifically targeting the poor and 
     under-served villages). Zambia is using its savings of 
     $23,800,000 under the MDRI in 2006 to increase spending on 
     agricultural projects, such as smallholder irrigation and 
     livestock disease control, as well as to eliminate fees for 
     healthcare in rural areas.
       (7) While debt cancellation has a record of success, there 
     remains an unfinished agenda on international debt. There are 
     a number of challenges to both the effective reduction of 
     poverty and inequality and the achievement of broader debt 
     cancellation.
       (8) 2007 is an important year to address the unfinished 
     agenda on international debt as the global Jubilee debt 
     campaign has declared 2007 a ``Sabbath year'', 7 years after 
     the historic Jubilee 2000 campaign.

[[Page 6194]]

       (9) A critical issue which needs to be addressed on debt is 
     the way that non-concessional lenders stand to gain 
     financially from lending to poor countries that have 
     benefited from debt relief without having paid for past debt 
     relief or facing the prospect of paying for the future relief 
     of unsustainable and irresponsible new lending. In these 
     cases, the gains of debt relief for poor debtor countries are 
     at risk of being eroded. This takes the form of new lending 
     to countries that have received debt cancellation from 
     countries including China.
       (10) It is also essential that all lenders and borrowers 
     accept co-responsibility and learn from past mistakes--as 
     evidenced by the debt crisis itself--by making more 
     productive investment choices and engaging in more 
     responsible lending and borrowing in the future. In October 
     2006, Norway became the first creditor to accept co-
     responsibility for past lending mistakes and cancelled the 
     debt of 5 nations on the grounds that the loans reflected 
     poor development policy.
       (11) A growing number of governments and intergovernmental 
     bodies, including the United Kingdom, the European 
     Commission, and Norway, are raising concerns about the 
     harmful impacts of economic policy conditionality. Many 
     impoverished countries that have received debt cancellation 
     under the HIPC and MDRI initiatives have done so at a high 
     social cost, because they have had to implement economic 
     policy conditions such as privatization of public utilities 
     and other basic services, adhere to budget ceilings imposed 
     by the IMF, and comply with other harmful requirements. Some 
     of these policies have had the effect of limiting fiscal 
     space for productive investment and threatening growth and 
     human development. Several countries currently eligible for 
     debt cancellation under the HIPC or MDRI programs are facing 
     extended delays in receiving cancellation because they are 
     struggling to comply with such requirements from the IMF and 
     World Bank.
       (12) There is also an urgent need to look beyond the 
     constraints of current debt relief initiatives to address the 
     need for expanded debt cancellation. The current initiatives 
     allow countries to qualify for relief based on economic 
     criteria rather than human needs. A January 2007 report by 
     the United Nations Human Rights Council found that 
     eligibility for debt cancellation should be expanded to cover 
     all low-income countries.
       (13) The Government of the United Kingdom has proposed that 
     qualification for the MDRI be extended to the 67 nations 
     which qualify for assistance exclusively from the 
     International Development Association. To be eligible for 
     cancellation, countries must meet requirements pertaining to 
     public financial management, anti-corruption measures, and 
     budget transparency.
       (14) Since debt cancellation is an essential component of 
     the United States development assistance strategy and the 
     United States has been able to lead the debt cancellation 
     efforts of the international community by example, the United 
     States should continue to work to improve and expand 
     initiatives in this area.
       (15) The United States has been a leader in supporting debt 
     relief efforts to date and should continue to work to improve 
     and expand initiatives in this area.

     SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED BY ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME 
                   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 LOW-INCOME 
                   COUNTRIES.

       ``(a) In General.--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 negotiate an agreement to 
     accomplish the following:
       ``(1) Cancellation by each international financial 
     institution of all debts owed to the institution by eligible 
     low-income countries, and, to the extent possible, financing 
     the debt cancellation from the ongoing operations, 
     procedures, and accounts of the institution.
       ``(2) Cancellation by the United States of all debts owed 
     to it by eligible low-income countries.
       ``(3) Ensuring that any waiting period for the enhanced 
     debt cancellation is not excessive.
       ``(4) Ensuring that the provision of debt cancellation to 
     eligible low-income countries is not followed by a reduction 
     in the provision of any other development assistance to the 
     countries by international financial institutions and 
     bilateral creditors.
       ``(5) Encouraging the government of each eligible low-
     income country to allocate at least 20 percent of its 
     national budget towards poverty-alleviation programs such as 
     the provision of basic health care services, education 
     services, and clean water services to all individuals in the 
     country.
     This subsection shall not be interpreted to authorize the 
     Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement to 
     accomplish any of the foregoing without express congressional 
     authorization to do so.
       ``(b) Establishment of Framework for Creditor 
     Transparency.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall commence 
     immediate efforts, within the Paris Club of Official 
     Creditors, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, 
     and the other international financial institutions (as so 
     defined), to ensure that each of the institutions--
       ``(1) continues to make efforts to promote greater 
     transparency regarding the activities of the institution, 
     including credit, grant, guarantee, and technical assistance 
     operations, following a policy of maximum disclosure; and
       ``(2) supports continued efforts to allow informed 
     participation and input by affected communities, including 
     translation of information on proposed projects, provision of 
     information (including draft documents) through information 
     technology application, oral briefings, and outreach to and 
     dialogue with community organizations and institutions in 
     affected areas.
       ``(c) Establishment of Framework for Responsible Lending.--
     The Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate 
     efforts to--
       ``(1) develop and promote policies to ensure all creditors, 
     with no distinction, will contribute to preserving the gains 
     of debt relief for low-income debtor countries;
       ``(2) provide that the external financing needs of low-
     income countries are met primarily through grant financing 
     rather than new lending;
       ``(3) seek the international adoption of a binding legal 
     framework on new lending that--
       ``(A) guarantees that no creditor can take or expect to 
     take financial advantage of acquired or newly awarded debt 
     relief through the terms and rates of such lending to 
     beneficiary countries;
       ``(B) is binding on all creditors, whether multilateral, 
     bilateral or private;
       ``(C) foresees, as a sanction for creditors who violate it, 
     an equitable share in the burden of the losses from any 
     future debt relief needed by the sovereign debtor to whom 
     lending was irresponsibly provided;
       ``(D) provides for decisions on irresponsible lending to be 
     made by an entity independent from the creditors; and
       ``(E) enables fair opportunities for the people of the 
     affected country to be heard; and
       ``(4) support the development of responsible financing 
     standards where creditors and aid/loan recipients alike 
     adhere to standards to assure transparency and accountability 
     to citizens, human rights, and the avoidance of new odious 
     debt, while encouraging the development of renewable energy 
     and helping countries to transition away from dependence on 
     oil.
       ``(d) GAO Audit of Debt Portfolios of Countries With 
     Questionable Loans.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United 
     States shall undertake an audit of the debt portfolios of 
     previous governments in countries such as the Democratic 
     Republic of Congo and South Africa, where there is 
     significant evidence that odious, onerous, or illegal loans 
     were made to the government. Each such audit shall--
       ``(A) consider debt owed to the World Bank, the IMF, and 
     the other international financial institutions (as so 
     defined), export credit debts owed to governments, and debts 
     owed to commercial creditors, and assess whether or not past 
     investments produced the intended results;
       ``(B) investigate the process by which the loans were 
     contracted, how the funds were used, and determine whether 
     United States or international laws were violated in the 
     contraction of these loans, and whether any of the loans were 
     odious or onerous; and
       ``(C) be planned and executed in a transparent and 
     consultative manner, engaging congressional bodies and civil 
     society groups in the countries.
       ``(2) Report.--Within 2 years after the date of the 
     enactment of this section, the Comptroller General of the 
     United States shall prepare and submit to the Committees on 
     Financial Services and on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
     Representatives and the Committees on Banking, Housing, and 
     Urban Affairs and on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report 
     that contains the results of the audits undertaken under 
     paragraph (1).
       ``(e) 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 boards of directors of the International 
     Monetary Fund, the 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.
       ``(f) 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 Committees on Financial Services and on Foreign 
     Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committees on 
     Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and on Foreign Relations 
     of the Senate a report on the availability of the ongoing 
     operations, procedures, and accounts of the IMF, the World 
     Bank, and the other international financial institutions (as 
     so defined) for canceling the debt of eligible low-income 
     countries.
       ``(g) 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 Foreign Affairs 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

[[Page 6195]]

     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 debt cancellation has been 
     denied and the reasons therefor, and a list of the countries 
     whose requests for debt cancellation are under consideration.
       ``(h) Eligible Low-Income Country Defined.--In this 
     section, the term `eligible low-income country' means a 
     country--
       ``(1) that is eligible for financing from the International 
     Development Association but not the World Bank, and does not 
     qualify for debt relief under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative 
     (as defined in section 1625(e)(3)) and under the Multilateral 
     Debt Relief Initiative;
       ``(2) that has transparent and effective budget execution 
     and public financial management systems which ensure that the 
     savings from debt relief are spent on reducing poverty;
       ``(3) the government of which does not have an excessive 
     level of military expenditures;
       ``(4) the government of which has not 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));
       ``(5) the government of which is cooperating on 
     international narcotics control matters; and
       ``(6) the government of which (including its military or 
     other security forces) does not engage in a consistent 
     pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized 
     human rights.''.

     SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON CONDITIONALITY OF DEBT RELIEF FOR 
                   ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES.

       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. LIMITATION ON CONDITIONALITY OF DEBT RELIEF FOR 
                   ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES.

       ``(a) In General.--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 ensure that debt 
     cancellation is provided to eligible low-income countries (as 
     defined in section 1626(h)) without any conditions except 
     requiring the government of such a country to--
       ``(1) take steps so that the financial benefits of debt 
     relief are applied to programs to combat poverty (in 
     particular through concrete measures to improve economic 
     infrastructure, basic services in education, nutrition, and 
     health, particularly treatment and prevention of the leading 
     causes of mortality) and to redress environmental 
     degradation;
       ``(2) make policy decisions through transparent and 
     participatory processes;
       ``(3) adopt an integrated development strategy to support 
     poverty reduction through economic growth, that includes 
     monitorable poverty reduction goals;
       ``(4) implement transparent policy making and budget 
     procedures, good governance, and effective anticorruption 
     measures;
       ``(5) broaden public participation and popular 
     understanding of the principles and goals of poverty 
     reduction, particularly through economic growth, and good 
     governance;
       ``(6) promote the participation of citizens and 
     nongovernmental organizations in the economic policy choices 
     of the government; and
       ``(7) produce an annual report disclosing how the savings 
     from debt cancellation were used, and make the report 
     publicly available and easily accessible to all interested 
     parties, including civil society groups and the media.
       ``(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.''.

     SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of the Congress that to further the goals 
     of debt reduction for low-income countries, in addition to 
     the efforts described in this Act, the United States should 
     pay off outstanding arrearages of $595,800,000 to the 
     International Development Association and regional 
     development banks, and become current on all debt reduction 
     efforts, including those carried out by the International 
     Development Association and under the Enhanced Heavily 
     Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and the Multilateral Debt 
     Relief Initiative.

  The CHAIRMAN. No amendment to the committee amendment in the nature 
of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in House Report 
110-586. Each amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the 
report, by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered read, 
shall be debatable for the time specified in the report, equally 
divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent of the 
amendment, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject 
to a demand for division of the question.


  Amendment No. 1, as Modified, Offered by Mr. Frank of Massachusetts

  The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 1 printed 
in House Report 110-586.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, I offer that amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 1 offered by Mr. Frank of Massachusetts:
       Page 6, beginning on line 17, strike ``economic policy 
     conditionality'' and insert ``certain economic policy 
     conditionalities''.
       Page 6, beginning on line 22, strike ``economic'' and all 
     that follows through ``IMF,'' on line 24 and insert ``certain 
     economic policy conditions, including the privatization of 
     essential basic services such as water,''.
       Page 7, line 22, strike ``requirements'' and insert 
     ``economic criteria''.
       Page 9, line 5, insert ``, without undermining the 
     financial integrity of the institution'' before the period.
       Page 9, line 14, insert ``, or to other countries eligible 
     for assistance from the International Development 
     Association'' before the period.
       Page 15, line 9, insert ``from'' before ``the''.
       Page 15, line 20, strike ``repeatedly''.
       Page 16, line 1, insert ``with the United States'' after 
     ``cooperating''.
       Page 16, line 2, strike ``and''.
       Page 16, line 5, strike ``consistent''.
       Page 16, line 6, strike ``rights.'' and all that follows 
     through the second period and insert ``rights (as defined in 
     section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (Public Law 
     87-195));''.
       Page 16, after line 6, insert the following:
       ``(7) the government of which has not been identified in 
     the most recent Trafficking in Persons Report issued by the 
     Department of State as not fully complying with minimum 
     standards for eliminating human trafficking and not making 
     significant efforts to do so;
       ``(8) the government of which has been determined by the 
     President to be cooperating with United States efforts to 
     stop illegal immigration to the United States; and
       ``(9) the government of which has been determined by the 
     President to be committed to free and fair elections.''.
       Page 16, beginning on line 21, strike ``without any 
     conditions except requiring the government of such a country 
     to--'' and inserting ``only on the condition that the 
     government of such a country--''.

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, In consultation with the 
minority, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be amended.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will report the modification.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Modification to amendment No. 1 offered by Mr. Frank of 
     Massachusetts:
       Page 3, in the first undesignated line, strike ``only on 
     the condition that'' and insert ``subject to all and only the 
     following conditions: That''.

  The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, the amendment is modified.
  There was no objection.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 1103, the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) alluded earlier to this amendment. We reject 
the kind of conditions that try to set tax policy or education policy 
or resource policy within a country, because if you go with democracy, 
you allow the countries to make them. But we did have a right, we 
thought, to set some conditions that affect us. We set forth some 
conditions involving democracy and openness, in consultation with the 
minority. We were reminded of some other conditions. So this adds to 
the conditionality.
  If this amendment is adopted, there will be conditions requiring that 
people assuage terrorism, that they work with us on immigration, and 
that they avoid any participation in human smuggling.
  I believe that these are agreed on, and in fact in some cases were 
put forward at the request of the minority. In some cases we thought 
they were clear. But one of the things I learned when you are 
legislating is never object to redundancy. It is better to say it twice 
than to have some ambiguity about whether you offered it at all.
  So I offer this amendment I believe on behalf of the leadership and 
the membership of both sides of the committee.

[[Page 6196]]

  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition, although I 
am not opposed to the amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, the gentleman from Connecticut is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this bipartisan manager's 
amendment. I would like to thank Chairman Frank, Mr. Bachus and Mrs. 
Biggert for their work on the amendment, which addresses several 
concerns that Members had with the version of the bill reported by the 
Committee on Financial Services. With the adoption of this amendment, 
the Jubilee Act will be a better bill.
  The manager's amendment clarifies the conditions for that relief. 
Specifically, it will ensure that countries receiving debt relief 
comply with specific outlined conditions. By doing do, these countries 
will be held accountable, and, as a result, the debt relief accorded 
them will be effective in alleviating poverty, establishing sustainable 
development and ensuring good governance.
  Beyond clarifying the requirements for eligible countries, this 
amendment adds three more: Requiring greater cooperation with the U.S. 
on human trafficking, preventing illegal immigration to the U.S., and 
promoting Democratic standards within the country benefiting from debt 
relief. These additional measures will have a positive effect not only 
on the recipient nations, but on the U.S. as well.
  Finally, the manager's amendment makes clear that countries that have 
engaged in human rights violations and aided terrorism are excluded 
from receiving debt relief.
  This manager's amendment represents progress towards making this a 
more effective measure. I again commend the sponsors of the amendment, 
and urge its adoption.
  Without objection from the chairman, I would like to yield 1 minute 
to my colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher), who 
had wanted a minute when we didn't have time. I would like to give him 
a minute at this time.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Let me congratulate and thank Congressman Frank. 
Barney has been very fair. He backed my ability to have an amendment on 
the floor, and I will talk about that amendment next. But let me note 
when he stated that our goal is debt relief for these countries that 
are trying to do right for their people, I think that in the manager's 
amendment, and the Congressman did reach out to try to find language 
that was agreeable, but I don't think that we have reached that 
language.
  I think there is still wiggle room in the language of the manager's 
amendment that would permit countries that are governed by 
authoritarian people who are claiming that they are going to have 
democratic elections is still there. Our State Department quite often 
supports those governments and would like to claim they are heading in 
that direction, like the government of Ethiopia, which in their last 
election threw everybody who won the elections in jail. But now they 
are our greatest ally in Africa. The State Department would love to 
have debt relief to a country like that. We shouldn't be doing that.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, I will finish by saying the 
gentleman from California was gracious and said I had been fair and he 
talked about my not being partisan. I want to congratulate him for his 
lack of partisanship, because having served the majority of his time 
here under Republican administrations, he retains a deep distrust of 
the State Department, including the current State Department, and 
apparently his point is he cannot trust the current State Department to 
enforce democracy.
  I am inclined to appreciate his point. And while we have some 
differences, I did want to give him credit for his very bipartisan 
skepticism.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHAYS. I want to emphasize we support this amendment, and I yield 
back.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), as modified.
  The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the ayes 
appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings 
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Massachusetts, as 
modified, will be postponed.


               Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Rohrabacher

  The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 2 printed 
in House Report 110-586.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 2 offered by Mr. Rohrabacher:
       In section 1626(h) of the International Financial 
     Institutions Act, as proposed to be added by section 3 of the 
     bill, strike ``and'' at the end of paragraph (5), strike the 
     period at the end of paragraph (6) and insert ``; and'', and 
     add at the end the following:
       ``(7) the government of which was chosen by and permits 
     free and fair elections.''.

  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 1103, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Rohrabacher) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Chairman, the amendment I am offering is easy to 
understand. It insists that if we provide debt relief, the recipient 
country's government must have a democratically elected government. The 
reason this is important is very clear. The dictators and kooks and 
gangsters who rule many Third World nations and developing countries 
will simply steal more if we give them the chance. Those who steal from 
their people will steal from us. Debt relief to dictators is a license 
to steal.
  I understand there are those who believe that we should not set such 
a high standard of having a democratically elected government as a 
prerequisite to debt relief. If dictatorships are overthrown, it is 
postulated then that democratic reformers will need time to hold a free 
election. The monetary impact of that short time period in order to 
have a free election organized is minimal and the number of such cases 
are very, very few. But that is the worst case scenario. The price of 
debt relief will in fact prevent foot dragging so there will be free 
elections at a quicker pace.
  On the other hand, a standard of requiring only a commitment to 
future and free elections opens the door to large scale manipulations 
and backtracking on democratic commitments by dictators or by those 
holding power after dictators have been overthrown. Give those in power 
in the Third World countries a chance to put off elections and they 
will just do that. Giving them the wrong incentives and opening up the 
door to false promises for future elections and giving them a benefit 
for it enables large scale theft.
  The chances of this negative impact, of having a lower democratic 
standard, is great as compared to the number of minimal cases that we 
will have if we are just asking true democratic reformers to hold 
elections before we give debt forgiveness.
  We have seen it over and over again in the Third World. Third World 
politicians claim they will hold elections, but never quite seem to get 
there.

                              {time}  1400

  If we don't act to close it, this loophole will have a huge impact 
and allow debt relief to governments that have not instituted and have 
no real intent of instituting Democratic reform.
  Yes, I have no faith in our State Department or this administration 
to enforce that rule to see if they are really intent on democracy. If 
our standard is

[[Page 6197]]

that words are enough, the tough guys of the world who rule too many 
countries will lie and get their hands on the loot with our State 
Department's approval, surprise, surprise.
  That's why my amendment is important. We should side with the 
Democratic reformers, not those who simply use the right words.
  I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, which makes sense, 
and reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, I seek recognition.
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, I know I am taking the time 
in opposition. I am not so much in opposition, but I am about as close 
to it as anybody we are going to find here, so I think I qualify.
  I agree very much. On a case-by-case basis, I believe the gentleman 
from California and I would agree at each instance. And so I hope the 
amendment is adopted.
  I would make one point, as I thought about it. It does reinforce the 
point that we should not be imposing on the recipient government's 
policy choices that a democratic government ought to make. The flip 
side of a commitment to democracy is recognizing the validity of those 
decisions.
  I also agree with the gentleman. His wording is better than the 
wording I put in here for the future, permits free and fair elections, 
although there is always, when you are talking about the future, some 
weasel word.
  I will work with the gentleman going forward. I am going to suggest 
to him maybe later that we might empower them to do a moratorium for a 
short period of time on payments in the following situation. We have 
had cases where bad governments were overthrown by people who are 
democratic. East Timor is an example. There is Ghana, where Jerry 
Rawlings overthrew a government and then had an election. His party is 
now in the opposition. Uganda. The gentleman is right. Ordinarily it 
may not take that much time, but things could be so chaotic, like in 
Liberia, when the new government came in there with some bad people. 
Maybe a year would be too little.
  I will be talking to him later. I hope this amendment is adopted. 
Perhaps we could provide a temporary moratorium for a government that 
took over in those circumstances for perhaps 6 months or a year. But 
that's something we might work out.
  The gentleman seems to agree that that is something that, while no 
commitment is obviously made, that we could work on.
  I hope the amendment is adopted.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. I appreciate that thought very much.
  Again, I appreciate the fairness that I have been treated with. I 
will show my bipartisanship a little more. I think that I have been 
treated more fairly and a number of my Republican colleagues have been 
treated more fairly since the Democrats have become the majority than I 
was treated by my own leadership.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Would the gentleman yield?
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Sure, I would yield.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. I know the gentleman joins me in looking 
forward to continued years of such treatment.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Well, I won't go that far, but I do appreciate the 
fact that there has been this effort to reach out and treat people 
fairly on our side of the aisle.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).
  The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the ayes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings 
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from California will be 
postponed.


           Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. Hastings of Florida

  The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 3 printed 
in House Report 110-586.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the 
desk.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 3 offered by Mr. Hastings of Florida:
       At the end of the bill, add the following:

     SEC. ___. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

       (a) Finding.--The Congress finds that Haiti is scheduled to 
     send $48,700,000 in debt payments to multilateral financial 
     institutions in 2008.
       (b) Sense of the Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress 
     that, due to the current humanitarian and political 
     instability in Haiti, including food shortages and political 
     turmoil, the Secretary of the Treasury should use his 
     influence to expedite the complete and immediate cancellation 
     of Haiti's debts to all international financial institutions, 
     or if such debt cancellation cannot be provided, to urge the 
     institutions to immediately suspend the requirement that 
     Haiti make further debt service payments on debts owed to the 
     institutions.

  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 1103, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Hastings) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an 
amendment to the Jubilee Act which urges expedited international debt 
relief for Haiti. The current situation in Haiti, a nation that has 
been historically afflicted by violence and natural disasters, is 
increasingly desperate and volatile.
  In recent days, thousands of Haitians have flooded the streets of 
Port-au-Prince and other cities throughout the country in desperation 
to decry rapidly escalating food prices in a nation where three-
quarters of the population lives on under $2 a day. The cost of staple 
foods in Haiti has skyrocketed 50 percent within the last year.
  Haiti is not only the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, but 
it also ranks third behind Somalia and Afghanistan as the nation with 
the highest per capita daily deficit in calorie intake. Recent anger 
over food prices threatens the stability of this Caribbean nation 
already haunted by chronic hunger.
  The humanitarian crisis in Haiti underscores the importance of quick 
and deliberate leadership by the United States. Haiti still is 
scheduled to pay almost $50 million in 2008 to unilateral financial 
institutions.
  This amendment would put Congress on record encouraging the expedited 
cancellation of Haiti's international debt to help alleviate poverty 
and increased stability in Haiti. The United States government cannot 
and should not turn a blind eye again to the struggles of this 
undeveloped, underdeveloped, impoverished nation.
  I applaud President Bush's recent announcement that he would release 
$200 million in U.S. emergency food aid to help alleviate food 
shortages in developing countries, including in Haiti, but these funds 
are not nearly enough to assist with the immediate or long-term 
humanitarian crisis. They fall far short of putting Haiti on a 
sustained path to development. I ask the President and all of us to do 
more.
  This amendment is an initial step in the right direction. We could 
follow it up with giving temporary protective status, as President 
Preval of Haiti has requested and President Bush could grant. I ask for 
my colleagues to support this amendment and ask that they join us in 
supporting our Haitian friends.
  Yesterday, 247 Haitians were sent back by the Coast Guard, and the 
Coast Guard has increased its vigilance in the area in light of this 
impending crisis. At a time of extreme instability and crisis, Congress 
must not turn its back on Haiti.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition, although I am 
not in opposition.
  The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, the gentleman from Connecticut is 
recognized for 5 minutes.

[[Page 6198]]

  There was no objection.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I don't want to be silent to the concerns 
that my colleague from Florida Mr. Hastings has expressed.
  Haiti is a country that has tremendous poverty, and while his 
resolution speaks to the HIPIC package of the 43 nations who have 
already been authorized for debt forgiveness. I hope the folks in the 
administration are listening to his concern that is shared by so many.
  While the legislation before us deals with countries to be added to 
the list, I think he is right in pointing out a concern that I know 
many on this side of the aisle share. Haiti is a country in desperate 
need of help, and it is a very close neighbor and friend and we need to 
do everything we can to help it.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have 
remaining?
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Florida has 2 minutes remaining.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. At this time I am very pleased to yield 1 
minute to the gentlelady from Texas, my colleague and good friend, 
Sheila Jackson-Lee.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I thank the distinguished gentleman and 
member of the Rules Committee, Mr. Hastings. I acknowledge, again, the 
members of the Financial Services Committee and Congresswoman Maxine 
Waters.
  I salute the gentleman for this forthright and vital acknowledgment 
and sense of Congress in this bill.
  Mr. Chairman, people are starving in Haiti. Haitians are starving, 
they are in the streets. They are crying out for relief. As was said 
earlier, this is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. 
President Preval has made a commitment to this Nation, and he has 
worked hard on political stability.
  We have seen incarcerated persons who are held as political prisoners 
be released. But I think it is crucial that we join in a unified voice 
today to acknowledge that we stand against the starvation and the 
financial crisis that is in Haiti.
  This is an important statement to cancel the debt to all 
international financial institutions and also such debt cancellation 
cannot be provided, to urge the institutions to immediately suspend the 
requirement.
  I thank the distinguished gentleman for yielding to me, and I join 
them also on the request for TPS. I support the Hastings amendment.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of 
our time.
  Mr. Chairman, I wish to thank Chairman Frank for the expeditious 
handling of this matter. In addition, I thank my good friend from 
Connecticut for his statement and his support of this amendment.
  This is an important initial step toward finally freeing Haiti from 
its onerous debt. Not only our administration, but the institutional 
community has some responsibilities in this matter that they can 
discharge much.
  My appeal goes way beyond just the American responsibility. I ask the 
international community to weigh in and deal with this subject in a 
meaningful way to give this opportunity the relief that it rightly 
deserves.
  I ask for my colleagues' support.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Hastings 
amendment to H.R. 2634 which expresses the sense of Congress that 
Haiti's debts should be immediately forgiven. This amendment seeks to 
empower a nation that has endured a turbulent past and has fought 
courageously to achieve a relative measure of stability.
  As the world has experienced a 40 percent rise in global food prices 
since mid-2007, Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, 
has keenly felt this increase on a greater scale. Eighty percent of 
Haiti's population lives on less than $2 a day. The cost of staple 
foods which Haiti's economy depends on, such as rice, beans, fruit, and 
condensed milk, has gone up 50 percent in the past year.
  The high cost of food in Haiti has led to anti-government protests 
and riots, in which at least 5 people have died and 40 people have been 
wounded. These extreme reactions to the humanitarian crisis will 
jeopardize Haiti's security and the capacity of its democratic 
institutions to govern effectively. To put it simply, Haiti's democracy 
cannot survive if it is unable to ensure that its people have access to 
basic food commodities at a reasonable price.
  The Hastings amendment reinforces the point that Haiti is scheduled 
to send $48,700,000 in debt payments to multilateral financial 
institutions in 2008--money that could be better spent on providing for 
its people.
  In light of this devastating global food crisis and the crisis in 
Haiti, we must urge the Secretary of the Treasury to do all that he can 
to expedite the complete and immediate cancelation of Haiti's debts to 
all international financial institutions.
  This is a reasonable amendment that responds to an urgent need, and I 
urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings).
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 4 printed 
in House Report 110-586.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, it's my information that 
the author did not intend to offer it.


                      Announcement by the Chairman

  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, proceedings will 
now resume on those amendments printed in House Report 110-586 on which 
further proceedings were postponed, in the following order:
  Amendment No. 1, as modified, by Mr. Frank of Massachusetts.
  Amendment No. 2 by Mr. Rohrabacher of California.
  The Chair will reduce to 5 minutes the time for any electronic vote 
after the first vote in this series.


  Amendment No. 1, As Modified, Offered by Mr. Frank of Massachusetts

  The CHAIRMAN. The unfinished business is the demand for a recorded 
vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Frank), as modified, on which further proceedings were postponed and on 
which the ayes prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 424, 
noes 0, not voting 12, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 196]

                               AYES--424

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Bachmann
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrett (SC)
     Barrow
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Bordallo
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (TX)
     Braley (IA)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Butterfield
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson
     Carter
     Castle
     Castor
     Chabot
     Chandler
     Christensen
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Cohen
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Lincoln
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English (PA)
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Everett
     Fallin
     Farr
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Flake
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Fortuno
     Fossella
     Foster
     Foxx
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gilchrest
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Granger
     Graves
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene

[[Page 6199]]


     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hall (TX)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hobson
     Hodes
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Inslee
     Israel
     Issa
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Jordan
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Klein (FL)
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kucinich
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCollum (MN)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Murtha
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Neugebauer
     Norton
     Nunes
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Paul
     Payne
     Pearce
     Pence
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Salazar
     Sali
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Sestak
     Shadegg
     Shays
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Souder
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sutton
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh (NY)
     Walz (MN)
     Wamp
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Wexler
     Whitfield (KY)
     Wilson (OH)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman (VA)
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--12

     Bachus
     Brady (PA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Faleomavaega
     Fattah
     Gillibrand
     Mack
     Meek (FL)
     Peterson (PA)
     Rush
     Wilson (NM)
     Wynn

                              {time}  1435

  Messrs. KILDEE, WALSH of New York, CLEAVER and WELDON of Florida 
changed their vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the amendment, as modified, was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


               Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Rohrabacher

  The Acting CHAIRMAN (Mr. Jackson of Illinois). The unfinished 
business is the demand for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) on which further 
proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice 
vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 382, 
noes 41, answered ``present'' 2, not voting 11, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 197]

                               AYES--382

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Baird
     Barrett (SC)
     Barrow
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Bordallo
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (TX)
     Braley (IA)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson
     Carter
     Castle
     Castor
     Chabot
     Chandler
     Christensen
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Lincoln
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English (PA)
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Everett
     Fallin
     Farr
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Flake
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Fortuno
     Fossella
     Foster
     Foxx
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gilchrest
     Gillibrand
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Granger
     Graves
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Hall (NY)
     Hall (TX)
     Hare
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hobson
     Hodes
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Inslee
     Israel
     Issa
     Jefferson
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jordan
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Klein (FL)
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCollum (MN)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, Gary
     Mitchell
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Murtha
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Neugebauer
     Norton
     Nunes
     Oberstar
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Salazar
     Sali
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schwartz
     Scott (VA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Sestak
     Shadegg
     Shays
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Solis
     Souder
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sutton
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh (NY)
     Walz (MN)
     Wamp
     Wasserman Schultz
     Watson
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Wexler
     Whitfield (KY)
     Wilson (OH)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman (VA)
     Wolf
     Wu
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                                NOES--41

     Baldwin
     Blumenauer
     Butterfield
     Capuano
     Cleaver
     Cohen
     Gutierrez
     Hinchey
     Honda
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kilpatrick
     Kucinich
     Lee
     Lewis (GA)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McNulty

[[Page 6200]]


     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Nadler
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Payne
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Richardson
     Scott (GA)
     Serrano
     Snyder
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Waters
     Watt
     Woolsey
     Wynn

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--2

     Clarke
     Ellison
       

                             NOT VOTING--11

     Brady (PA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Faleomavaega
     Fattah
     Harman
     Mack
     Meek (FL)
     Moore (KS)
     Peterson (PA)
     Rush
     Wilson (NM)


                  Announcement by the Acting Chairman

  The Acting CHAIRMAN (during the vote). Members are advised that they 
have 2 minutes, approximately 2 minutes on this vote.

                              {time}  1444

  Messrs. JACKSON of Illinois, CLEAVER and GUTIERREZ changed their vote 
from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  So the amendment was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The question is on the committee amendment in 
the nature of a substitute, as amended.
  The committee amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended, 
was agreed to.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Under the rule, the Committee rises.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mrs. 
Tauscher) having assumed the chair, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Acting 
Chairman of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, 
reported that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill 
(H.R. 2634) to provide for greater responsibility in lending and 
expanded cancellation of debts owed to the United States and the 
international financial institutions by low-income countries, and for 
other purposes, pursuant to House Resolution 1103, he reported the bill 
back to the House with an amendment adopted by the Committee of the 
Whole.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, the previous question is 
ordered.
  Is a separate vote demanded on any amendment to the amendment 
reported from the Committee of the Whole? If not, the question is on 
the amendment.
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third 
reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.


     Motion to Recommit Offered by Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida

  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Madam Speaker, I offer a motion to 
recommit.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the bill?
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Yes, in its current form.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to 
recommit.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida moves to recommit the 
     bill, H.R. 2634, to the Committee on Financial Services with 
     instructions to report the same back to the House forthwith 
     with the following amendments:
       Page 16, line 2, strike ``and''.
       Page 16, line 6, strike the 1st period and all that follows 
     and insert ``; and''.
       Page 16, after line 6, insert the following:
       ``(7) the government of which does not have business 
     interests with Iran.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Madam Speaker, this motion to 
recommit is frankly very simple. All it basically says is that 
countries that have business relationships with Iran are not eligible 
to be considered under this debt relief program. Let me repeat that.
  This motion to recommit is frankly very, very simple. It just states 
the following, that countries that have a business relationship with 
Iran are not eligible to be considered under this debt relief program.
  Now, the underlying bill in front of us today has a very noble goal, 
Madam Speaker. It is to work comprehensively to ensure that poor 
countries that have heavy international debt are able to relieve these 
debts through certain responsible actions. But the question is, should 
we separate these goals, these noble goals, from our broader foreign 
policy interests?
  The Iranian regime, we all know, has a very active program to acquire 
weapons of mass destruction, and therefore, it makes it one of the most 
dangerous regimes in the entire world.
  In addition, Madam Speaker, as we heard just recently, just last week 
from General Petraeus, we are increasingly concerned by the Iranian 
terrorist regime's efforts on behalf of terrorist elements in Iraq and 
elsewhere. The lives of our troops are at stake, and any country that 
assists Iran economically should not benefit from the bill in front of 
us today.
  Our country, obviously the United States, does not have diplomatic or 
financial ties to Iran, and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect 
that countries that choose to participate in our debt relief program 
should shatter whatever economic ties they currently have with that 
terrorist regime. And if they don't have them now, if they don't have 
those ties now, they clearly should not develop them as long as they 
want or expect debt relief from us through this program.
  Let's send the right message today, Madam Speaker. Americans are very 
generous and responsible in regard to the treatment of countries that 
owe us great debt. But we are also extremely concerned with the very 
dangerous actors abroad, around this world.
  So that's why, Madam Speaker, I respectfully ask to pass this motion 
to recommit today and make sure that our friends abroad appreciate how 
seriously we take this matter.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I rise to claim the 5 
minutes in opposition; although I'm open to persuasion.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. First of all, let me ask, if I could, the 
gentleman says, the government of which does not have business interest 
with Iran. Would this wording cover the Government of Iraq?
  I would yield if someone would tell me that, that they may not be 
eligible for debt relief. Although we give them a lot of money, I don't 
think we lent it to them. But would someone tell me if this would 
include the Government of Iraq as currently constituted?
  I would yield for a response. I yield to anyone who would respond.
  I yield to the gentleman from Florida.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Iraq is not eligible under this 
bill.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. I understand that. Iraq is not currently 
there, but here's the deal. This is not just for now. It is conceivable 
to me that Iraq will end up owing us money. I hope it will, because 
we've sure given them a lot, and if they don't owe us any money, it's a 
big gift.
  So the question is going forward, if in the future, because there is 
no current list of countries, we're talking about an eligibility 
criteria. Would this prevent debt relief from the United States or the 
International Monetary Fund, to the World Bank, to Iraq going forward?
  I would yield to anyone who would answer.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. If the gentleman would yield.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Yes.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Again, your bill, as you know, 
specifically deals with countries that owe the United States right now. 
You're talking about a hypothetical, whether one country in the future.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. I will take back my time because I'm 
trying to get an honest answer.
  We are setting policy here, not just for this week. We are saying 
here that if you do business with the government, if your government 
has business interests with Iraq, you're ineligible. I think it is fair 
to ask whether Iraq, if it were to become eligible in other ways, would 
be covered. That's not a trick question. Would this have the effect of 
excluding Iraq from such a program in the future?
  I yield for an answer.

[[Page 6201]]


  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Yes.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. And I will try to see if I can make 
this answer understood.
  In the first place, obviously no country would benefit more from not 
having a nuclear Iran.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Reclaiming my time, we only get 5 
minutes. You know, if the minority had wanted to put this forward as an 
amendment, we could have debated it. They did it this way. So we can 
debate all of the other things. It's a very straightforward question.
  You limit eligibility under this program. Iraq might very well owe us 
money. The question isn't nuclear weapons. It is, would this prevent 
Iraq from being eligible, these criteria. And I would hope someone 
would answer that.
  I will yield again for an answer.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. If the gentleman will yield again, 
and I will try to answer it again.
  Your bill does not deal with Iraq. It does not affect Iraq. If you 
don't like the answer, that's one thing, but that's what the answer is.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. No. The answer is, of course, one that 
leads me to suggest that the answer really is ``yes.'' When people 
dance around and won't give you the answer, Madam Speaker, the answer 
is ``yes.''
  Apparently, under the criteria set forward here, while Iraq is not 
now on the list for relief, it could not get it in the future. We will 
be setting policy that would have screwed you up because apparently, as 
this is defined, I infer that the Government of Iraq is covered because 
if the Government of Iraq wasn't covered by this, the answer would be 
``no.'' When I don't get ``no,'' but when I get a discussion of nuclear 
weapons and what's currently in the bill and I don't get an answer to 
the question, then it is clear to me.
  So Members, I guess, are free to vote on this.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Would the gentlemen yield?
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. No, I'm sorry.
  Here's the response. The minority had the right to offer this in a 
way in which we could debate it. They didn't choose to do that. They 
chose to do it in this limited fashion.
  So it does look to me like you are having problems here that does the 
Government of Iraq have business interests with Iran. I know there are 
close ties between the Governments of Iraq and Iran. There's 
interchangeability.
  I think this is a pretty sketchy way to go forward. I'm not sure that 
there are any other countries. I think Iraq may be one of the few that 
doesn't. It's fairly narrowly drawn, but that's of great concern. And I 
couldn't get a direct answer, and I don't know if anybody really knows 
it.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Will the gentleman yield for a one-
word answer?
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Yes.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. You're asking if it's ``yes'' or 
``no.'' The answer is ``no.''
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. So the gentleman is telling me that the 
Government of Iraq has no business interests in Iraq?
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. What I'm telling the gentleman--
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. No. I'm asking the question, does the 
government--
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Not as it concerns with this bill.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. No, I'm sorry. The gentleman does not 
seem to understand the rules. I'm giving you a lot more of my time. 
Well, I guess free speech that we put in is for other countries.
  Look, I understand the thought. The minority thought they came up 
with a clever idea and they outsmarted themselves. They put language in 
here that I think would interfere with the ability to have economic 
relations with Iraq. And apparently what I'm being told is if you 
believe that the Government of Iraq has no business interests with 
Iran, then you can vote for this bill and not worry about Iraq.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion to recommit.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the 
yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 291, 
nays 130, answered ``present'' 1, not voting 9, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 198]

                               YEAS--291

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Altmire
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Barrow
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Berkley
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boren
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chandler
     Coble
     Cohen
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Lincoln
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Donnelly
     Doolittle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English (PA)
     Everett
     Fallin
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Flake
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Fossella
     Foster
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gillibrand
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Granger
     Graves
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Hall (NY)
     Hall (TX)
     Hare
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth Sandlin
     Hill
     Hobson
     Hodes
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Hooley
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jordan
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Klein (FL)
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Melancon
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Mitchell
     Moore (KS)
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Nadler
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Ortiz
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Perlmutter
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (WI)
     Salazar
     Sali
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schwartz
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Sestak
     Shadegg
     Shays
     Shimkus
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Space
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Towns
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh (NY)
     Walz (MN)
     Wamp
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Wexler
     Whitfield (KY)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman (VA)
     Wolf
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                               NAYS--130

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Becerra
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boswell
     Braley (IA)
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Castor
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (CA)
     Delahunt
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Ellison
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Gilchrest
     Gonzalez
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez

[[Page 6202]]


     Hastings (FL)
     Higgins
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Holt
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Kucinich
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Loebsack
     Markey
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum (MN)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McNulty
     Meeks (NY)
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Peterson (MN)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Richardson
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ryan (OH)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sarbanes
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Shea-Porter
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Tsongas
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Welch (VT)
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--1

       
     Sherman
       

                             NOT VOTING--9

     Brady (PA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Fattah
     Harman
     Mack
     Meek (FL)
     Peterson (PA)
     Rush
     Wilson (NM)

                              {time}  1521

  Messrs. CONYERS, KUCINICH, PASTOR, and STARK changed their vote from 
``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Messrs. CARSON of Indiana, DAVIS of Alabama, LAMBORN, COSTELLO, 
CRAMER, HOLDEN, CARDOZA, COSTA, YARMUTH, MELANCON, KENNEDY, WEXLER, 
BOUCHER, GORDON of Tennessee, FOSTER, COHEN, HODES, AL GREEN of Texas, 
HARE, KANJORSKI, DICKS, SALAZAR, KILDEE, ORTIZ, BACA, REYES, MOORE of 
Kansas, MURPHY of Connecticut, COURTNEY, DAVIS of Illinois, THOMPSON of 
California and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. DeGETTE, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. 
HERSETH SANDLIN, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mrs. 
LOWEY, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Ms. HOOLEY, Mrs. BOYDA of 
Kansas, Ms. DeLAURO, and Ms. MATSUI changed their vote from ``nay'' to 
``yea.''
  So the motion to recommit was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the 
instructions of the House in the motion to recommit, I report H.R. 2634 
back to the House with an amendment.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Amendment offered by Mr. Frank of Massachusetts:
       Page 16, line 2, strike ``and''.
       Page 16, line 6, strike the 1st period and all that follows 
     and insert ``; and''.
       Page 16, after line 6, insert the following:
       ``(7) the government of which does not have business 
     interests with Iran.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the amendment.
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third 
reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 285, 
noes 132, not voting 15, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 199]

                               AYES--285

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Alexander
     Allen
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Bono Mack
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown (SC)
     Butterfield
     Camp (MI)
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Castle
     Castor
     Chandler
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Cole (OK)
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis, Lincoln
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ellison
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English (PA)
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Fallin
     Farr
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Frank (MA)
     Frelinghuysen
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gilchrest
     Gonzalez
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hare
     Hastings (FL)
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hobson
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inglis (SC)
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     King (NY)
     Kirk
     Klein (FL)
     Knollenberg
     Kucinich
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCollum (MN)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meeks (NY)
     Michaud
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pearce
     Pelosi
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Pickering
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (AL)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shays
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Shuler
     Simpson
     Sires
     Skelton
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh (NY)
     Walz (MN)
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Weller
     Wexler
     Wilson (OH)
     Wittman (VA)
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)

                               NOES--132

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Altmire
     Bachmann
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Boozman
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Carney
     Carter
     Chabot
     Coble
     Conaway
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     Dent
     Drake
     Duncan
     Ellsworth
     Everett
     Feeney
     Flake
     Forbes
     Fossella
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Gallegly
     Gillibrand
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Hall (TX)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hoekstra
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Issa
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jordan
     Keller
     King (IA)
     Kingston
     Kline (MN)
     Lamborn
     Lampson
     Latta
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCarthy (CA)
     McHenry
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Paul
     Pence
     Petri
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Price (GA)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Regula
     Reynolds
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Sali
     Saxton
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shuster
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Taylor
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Walberg
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield (KY)
     Wilson (SC)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--15

     Brady (PA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Carson
     Fattah
     Gordon
     Hall (NY)
     Harman
     Mack
     Meek (FL)
     Melancon
     Peterson (PA)
     Rush
     Slaughter
     Waxman
     Wilson (NM)

                              {time}  1529

  So the bill was passed.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.

[[Page 6203]]

  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Stated for:
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 199, I was unavoidably 
detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''
  Mr. HALL of New York. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 199, I was 
already on my way to question witnesses at the Transportation and 
Infrastructure hearing. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''
  Mr. FATTAH. Madam Speaker, had I been present for the vote on H.R. 
2634, the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt 
Cancellation Act, I would have voted ``aye.''

                          ____________________