[House Report 117-317]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
117th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { 117-317
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UKRAINE COMPREHENSIVE DEBT PAYMENT RELIEF ACT OF 2022
_______
May 10, 2022.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Ms. Waters, from the Committee on Financial Services, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 7081]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Financial Services, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 7081) to seek immediate bilateral, multilateral,
and commercial debt service payment relief for Ukraine, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an
amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 2
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 3
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation................... 3
Hearings......................................................... 4
Committee Consideration.......................................... 4
Committee Votes.................................................. 4
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 6
Statement of Performance Goals and Objectives.................... 6
New Budget Authority and C.B.O. Cost Estimate.................... 6
Committee Cost Estimate.......................................... 7
Federal Mandates Statement....................................... 7
Advisory Committee Statement..................................... 7
Applicability to Legislative Branch.............................. 7
Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff
Benefits....................................................... 7
Duplicative Federal Programs..................................... 7
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ukraine Comprehensive Debt Payment
Relief Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF MULTILATERAL DEBT PAYMENTS OF UKRAINE.
(a) United States Position in the International Financial
Institutions.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United
States Executive Director at each international financial institution
(as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of the International Financial
Institutions Act) to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United
States to advocate that the respective institution immediately suspend
all debt service payments owed to the institution by Ukraine.
(b) Official Bilateral and Commercial Debt Service Payment Relief.--
The Secretary of the Treasury, working in coordination with the
Secretary of State, shall commence immediate efforts with other
governments and commercial creditor groups, through the Paris Club of
Official Creditors and other bilateral and multilateral frameworks,
both formal and informal, to pursue comprehensive debt payment relief
for Ukraine.
(c) Multilateral Financial Support for Ukraine.--The Secretary of the
Treasury shall direct the United States Executive Director at each
international financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2)
of the International Financial Institutions Act) to use the voice and
vote of the United States to support, to the maximum extent
practicable, the provision of concessional financial assistance for
Ukraine.
(d) Multilateral Financial Support for Refugees.--The Secretary of
the Treasury shall direct the United States Executive Director at each
international financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2)
of the International Financial Institutions Act) to use the voice and
vote of the United States to seek to provide economic support for
refugees from Ukraine, including refugees of African descent, and for
countries receiving refugees from Ukraine.
SEC. 3. REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.
Not later than December 31 of each year, the President shall--
(1) submit to the Committees on Financial Services, on
Appropriations, and on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives and the Committees on Foreign Relations and on
Appropriations of the Senate, a report on the activities
undertaken under this Act; and
(2) make public a copy of the report.
SEC. 4. WAIVER AND TERMINATION.
(a) Waiver.--The President may waive the provisions of this Act if
the President determines that a waiver is in the national interest of
the United States and reports to the Congress an explanation of the
reasons therefor.
(b) Termination.--The preceding provisions of this Act shall have no
force or effect on or after the date that is 7 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
On March 15, 2022, Representative Garcia (IL) introduced
H.R. 7081, the ``Ukraine Comprehensive Debt Repayment Relief
Act of 2022,'' which, as amended and passed by the Committee,
would direct the Department of Treasury to use the voice, vote,
and influence of the U.S. at the international financial
institutions to advocate for: the immediate suspension all debt
service payments owed to these institutions by Ukraine, the
provision of concessional financial assistance for Ukraine, and
to seek to provide economic support for refugees from Ukraine,
including refugees of African descent, and for countries
receiving refugees from Ukraine. The bill also directs the
Secretary of Treasury, in coordination with the Secretary of
State, to commence immediate efforts with official bilateral
creditors and commercial creditor groups to pursue similar
comprehensive debt payment relief for Ukraine. The bill
requires the President to submit an annual public report to
Congress on the activities undertaken under the Act. The
President has the authority to waive the provisions of this Act
if the President determines such a waiver is in the national
interest of the United States and reports to Congress an
explanation of the reasons therefor. The bill sunsets on the
date that is 7 years after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Ukraine currently owes $21.7 billion to multilateral
institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and
the World Bank, $6.5 billion to other bilateral creditors, and
another $3.5 billion to external commercial creditors.\1\ These
debt obligations inhibit the ability of the Ukrainian
government to reallocate resources towards defending against
the Russian invasion and providing much-needed humanitarian
assistance to its internally displaced citizens. Ukraine
currently owes $21.7 billion to multilateral institutions, such
as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank,
$6.5 billion to other bilateral creditors, and another $3.5
billion to external commercial creditors.2 This bill directs
the Treasury to advocate for the immediate suspension of all
debt service payments to the IMF, World Bank, and other
relevant multilateral development banks and similar
comprehensive debt payment relief for Ukraine from bilateral
creditors and commercial creditor groups. This legislation
would seek to eliminate $4.6 billion in Ukrainian debt service
payments in 2022 alone.
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\1\See Annex II, Table 2. ``Ukraine. Decomposition of Public Debt
and Debt Service by Creditor, 2020-22'' from Staff Report for the First
Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement, Requests for Extension and
Rephasing of Access of the Arrangement, Waivers of Nonobservance of a
Performance Criterion, Financing Assurances Review, and Monetary Policy
Consultation: Ukraine, International Monetary Fund (Nov. 2021).
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SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
This section establishes the short title of
the bill as the ``Ukraine Comprehensive Debt Payment
Relief Act of 2022.''
Section 2. Suspension of multilateral debt payments of Ukraine
This section directs the Secretary of
Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Director at
each international financial institution to use the
voice, vote, and influence of the United States to
advocate that the respective institution immediately
suspend all debt service payments owed to the
institution by Ukraine.
This section also directs the Secretary of
Treasury, working in coordination with the Secretary of
State, to commence immediate efforts with governments
and commercial creditor groups, through the Paris Club
of Official Creditors and other bilateral and
multilateral frameworks, both formal and informal, to
pursue comprehensive debt payment relief for Ukraine.
Under this section, the Secretary of the
Treasury shall direct the United States Executive
Director at each international financial institution to
use the voice and vote of the United States to support,
to the maximum extent practicable, the provision of
concessional financial assistance for Ukraine and to
seek to provide economic support for refugees from
Ukraine, including refugees of African descent, and for
countries receiving refugees from Ukraine.
Section 3. Report to the Congress
This section directs the President to submit
an annual public report to the U.S. House Committees on
Financial Services, on Appropriations and on Foreign
Affairs and to the U.S. Senate Committees on Foreign
Relations and on Appropriations on the activities
undertaken under this Act.
Section 4. Waiver and termination
This section authorizes the President to
waive the provisions of this Act if the President
determines such a waiver is in the national interest of
the United States and reports to Congress an
explanation of the reasons therefor.
This section also terminates the provisions
under this Act seven years after enactment.
HEARINGS
For the purposes of section 3(c)(6) of House rule XIII, the
Committee on Financial Services' Full Committee held a hearing
on April 6, 2022, to consider H.R. 7081 entitled, ``The Annual
Testimony of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the
International Financial System.''
COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
The Committee on Financial Services met in open session on
March 17, 2022, and ordered H.R. 7081 to be reported favorably
to the House with an amendment in the nature of a substitute by
a voice vote, a quorum being present.
COMMITTEE VOTES AND ROLL CALL VOTES
In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the
following roll call votes occurred during the Committee's
consideration of H.R. 7081: An amendment in the nature of a
substitute, no. 4, offered by Mr. Garcia was AGREED TO by voice
vote.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
STATEMENT OF OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives,
the Committee's oversight findings and recommendations are
reflected in the descriptive portions of this report.
STATEMENT OF PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Pursuant to clause (3)(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the goals of H.R. 7081 are to direct
the Department of Treasury to use the voice, vote, and
influence of the U.S. at the international financial
institutions to advocate for: the immediate suspension all debt
service payments owed to these institutions by Ukraine, the
provision of concessional financial assistance for Ukraine, and
to seek to provide economic support for refugees from Ukraine,
including refugees of African descent, and for countries
receiving refugees from Ukraine.
NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND CBO COST ESTIMATE
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives and section 308(a) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and pursuant to clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for
H.R. 7081 from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
H.R. 7081 would require the Department of the Treasury to
advocate for debt relief, concessional financial assistance,
and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine at international
financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund
and World Bank. It also would require Treasury to provide the
Congress with a report about its actions.
The United States has already provided significant amounts
of assistance to Ukraine. Although it is possible that the
department or other federal agencies would provide bilateral
debt relief, concessional financing, or additional humanitarian
assistance under the bill, CBO has no basis for estimating such
additional amounts.
On the basis of information about the costs of similar
requirements and reports, CBO estimates that implementing H.R.
7081 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2022-2026 period.
Such spending would be subject to the availability of
appropriated funds.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Sunita D'Monte.
The estimate was reviewed by Leo Lex, Deputy Director of Budget
Analysis.
COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE
Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison of the
costs that would be incurred in carrying out H.R. 7081. After
careful review, including discussions with the Congressional
Budget Office, the Committee estimates that H.R. 7081 would
have an insignificant impact on spending.
UNFUNDED MANDATE STATEMENT
Pursuant to Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and
Impoundment Control Act (as amended by Section 101(a)(2) of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, Pub. L. 104-4), the Committee
adopts as its own the estimate of federal mandates regarding
H.R. 7081, as amended prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b)
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this
legislation.
APPLICATION OF LAW TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
Pursuant to section 102(b)(3) of the Congressional
Accountability Act, Pub. L. 104-1, H.R. 7081, as amended, does
not apply to terms and conditions of employment or to access to
public services or accommodations within the legislative
branch.
EARMARK STATEMENT
In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, H.R. 7081 does not contain any
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff
benefits as described in clauses 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule
XXI.
DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee states that no
provision of H.R. 7081 establishes or reauthorizes a program of
the Federal Government known to be duplicative of another
federal program, a program that was included in any report from
the Government Accountability Office to Congress pursuant to
section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program related to a
program identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal
Domestic Assistance.
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