[House Report 110-586]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



110th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     110-586

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  PROVIDING FOR 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

                                _______
                                

   April 14, 2008.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Welch, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                      [To accompany H. Res. 1103]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 1103, by a nonrecord vote, report the same to 
the House with the recommendation that the resolution be 
adopted.

                SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION

    The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 2634, the 
Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt 
Cancellation of 2007, under a structured rule. The rule 
provides one hour of general debate equally divided and 
controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the 
Committee on Financial Services. The rule waives all points of 
order against consideration of the bill except clauses 9 and 10 
of rule XXI. The rule provides that the amendment in the nature 
of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Financial 
Services now printed in the bill shall be considered as an 
original bill for the purpose of amendment and shall be 
considered as read. The rule waives all points of order against 
the amendment in the nature of a substitute except for clause 
10 of rule XXI. This waiver does not affect the point of order 
available under clause 9 of rule XXI (regarding earmark 
disclosure).
    The rule makes in order only those amendments printed in 
this report. The amendments made in order may be offered only 
in the order printed in this report, may be offered only by a 
Member designated in this report, shall be considered as read, 
shall be debatable for the time specified in this report 
equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an 
opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be 
subject to a demand for a division of the question in the House 
or in the Committee of the Whole. All points of order against 
the amendments except for clauses 9 and 10 of rule XXI are 
waived. The rule provides one motion to recommit with or 
without instructions. The rule provides that, notwithstanding 
the operation of the previous question, the Chair may postpone 
further consideration of the bill to a time designated by the 
Speaker.

                         EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS

    Although the rule waives all points of order against 
consideration of the bill (except for clauses 9 and 10 of rule 
XXI) the Committee is not aware of any points of order. The 
waiver of all points of order is prophylactic. The waiver of 
all points of order against the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute (except clause 10 of rule XXI) includes a waiver of 
clause 7 of rule XVI, relating to germaneness.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    The results of each record vote on an amendment or motion 
to report, together with the names of those voting for and 
against, are printed below:

Rules Committee record vote No. 467

    Date: April 14, 2008.
    Measure: H.R. 2634.
    Motion by: Mr. Sessions.
    Summary of motion: To make in order and provide appropriate 
waivers for an amendment by Rep. King (IA), #6, which modifies 
the definition of an ``eligible low-income country'' to include 
a requirement that an eligible country must be one that 
supports the efforts of the United States to curtail human 
smuggling.
    Results: Defeated 3-7.
    Vote by Members: McGovern--Nay; Matsui--Nay; Cardoza--Nay; 
Welch--Nay; Castor--Nay; Sutton--Nay; Dreier--Yea; Hastings 
(WA)--Yea; Sessions--Yea; Slaughter--Nay.

                  SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER

    1. Frank (MA)/Bachus (AL)/Biggert (AL): The amendment makes 
various technical corrections within the bill's ``Findings'' 
section, and adds under the eligibility criteria the 
requirement that a country must also be complying with minimum 
standards for eliminating human trafficking; cooperating with 
American efforts to stop illegal immigration to the United 
States; and be committed to free and fair elections. (10 
minutes)
    2. Rohrabacher (CA): The amendment adds a provision to 
Section 1626, defining an ``eligible low-income country'' to 
include that the government shall have been chosen by, and 
permits, free elections. (10 minutes)
    3. Hastings (FL): The amendment adds a 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. (10 
minutes)
    4. Weiner (NY): The 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. (10 minutes)

                    TEXT OF AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER

1. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Frank of Massachusetts, 
               or His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  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--''.
                              ----------                              


    2. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Rohrabacher of 
         California, or His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  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.''.
                              ----------                              


3. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Hastings of Florida, or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  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.
                              ----------                              


4. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Weiner of New York, or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 15, beginning on line 9, strike ``but not'' and insert 
``and''.

                                  
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