[stop-imf] Lee/Waters bill: Cancel Debt, Savings for AIDS

[Robert Weissman]

To see a clean copy of this very good bill, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/

107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1567

To encourage the provision of multilateral debt cancellation for countries
eligible to be considered for assistance under the Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries (HIPC) Initiative or heavily affected by HIV/AIDS, and for other
purposes.


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 24, 2001

Ms. LEE (for herself and Ms. WATERS) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

A BILL

To encourage the provision of multilateral debt cancellation for countries
eligible to be considered for assistance under the Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries (HIPC) Initiative or heavily
affected by HIV/AIDS, and for other purposes.

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds the following:

              (1) According to the United Nations, economic and social
factors contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS, which now infects an average
of 16,000 people every day.

              (2) Due to the debt crisis in the majority of impoverished
countries, substantially more money is spent on debt repayment each year
than on HIV/AIDS prevention and
              treatment programs.

              (3) Structural adjustment programs in the developing world,
in an attempt to enable the impoverished nations to repay their debt, have
required governments to impose
              failed and often harmful policies including charging user
fees for the use of medical clinics. These user fees can create an
obstacle to effective prevention and
              treatment programs.

              (4) In Kenya, when user fees were imposed at Nairobi's
Sexually Transmitted Disease clinics, attendance decreased 35-60 percent.

              (5) User fees have also been shown to decrease the use of
health clinics in Mozambique, the Congo, Ghana, and Zimbabwe.

              (6) Cuts in health clinic budgets, required by structural
adjustment programs, may also contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS.

              (7) Structural adjustment programs have also contributed to
internal and international labor migration. Labor migration is associated
with increase in HIV transmission
              rates in Senegal, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, and Kenya.

              (8) The HIV/AIDS pandemic will result in tens of millions of
orphaned children worldwide, creating an unprecedented strain on the
world's economic resources and
              relief efforts.

              (9) Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan,
stated in 1999 that `the impact of AIDS is no less destructive than that
of warfare itself, and by some
              measures, far worse'.

              (10) Many of the same nations in Sub-Saharan Africa which
are crushed beneath the weight of foreign debt are experiencing
catastrophic loss of life and negative
              economic growth due largely to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

              (11) The decision of the G-8 countries at the Cologne Summit
in 1999 to reduce by $100,000,000,000 the debt of the countries listed by
the World Bank and the
              International Monetary Fund (IMF) as Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries (HIPCs) (which combined owe approximately $220,000,000,000 in
debt) is a measure for
              which only 22 have qualified. These countries have seen
their annual debt service reduced by an average of 26 percent, a level of
reduction which is neither allowing
              these countries a sustainable exit from debt, nor freeing up
substantial resources to combat poverty and the AIDS pandemic.

              (12) Per capita government expenditure on health care in
most African countries is below $10, and the per capita share of debt
service to foreign creditors is up to 5
              times as high as public health expenditure.

              (13) The Congress enacted section 596 of the Foreign
Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act,
2001. This demonstrated the political
              commitment to eliminate user fees for primary health care
and education.

              (14) A large-scale program of multilateral and bilateral
debt cancellation explicitly linked to HIV/AIDS control would have minimal
impact on creditor country
              taxpayers and budgets.

              (15) The active participation of all stakeholders in the
epidemic, in the process of negotiating debt cancellation for HIV/AIDS
prevention and care, is a precondition for
              the implementation of effective programs.

              (16) The United States has shown good faith by providing
$435,000,000 in fiscal year 2001 for bilateral debt cancellation and
multilateral debt reduction. This action
              should encourage international financial institutions to
match the debt cancellation efforts of the G-8 countries to ensure burden
sharing.

SEC. 2. MULTILATERAL DEBT CANCELLATION EFFORTS FOR COUNTRIES ELIGIBLE TO
BE CONSIDERED FOR ASSISTANCE
UNDER THE HEAVILY INDEBTED POOR COUNTRIES (HIPC) INITIATIVE OR HEAVILY
AFFECTED BY HIV/AIDS.

       The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States
Executive Directors at the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development and the International
       Monetary Fund to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United
States to call for a vote in their respective institutions on (and call
for the publication of the outcome of any
       such vote)--

              (1) negotiating a strategy for cancelling the debts owed to
the institution by any country that is eligible to be considered for
assistance under the Heavily Indebted
              Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative or is heavily affected by
HIV/AIDS, which should ensure that the savings from debt cancellation are

used for poverty reduction in a process that is fair and transparent, and
that includes the participation of national governments, including
parliamentary bodies, nongovernmental
organizations, and civil society;

              (2) in the interim, accepting an immediate moratorium on
debt service payments and accrual of interest on such debt owed by any
such country;

              (3) encouraging each such country and civil society
stakeholders to ensure that--

                    (A) the national HIV/AIDS strategic plan is fully
funded, and that a significant proportion of the savings from debt
cancellation is used for the HIV/AIDS
                    response and other health priorities, as determined
locally; and

                    (B) HIV/AIDS and infectious disease control strategies
are based upon best practices, including prevention, care, treatment,
orphan response, and accessibility
                    to affordable drugs and social and health
infrastructure; and

              (4) using the reserve accounts or net income of the
institution to offset the costs of any such debt cancellation.

SEC. 3. OPPOSITION TO USER FEES FOR PRIMARY EDUCATION OR PRIMARY HEALTH
CARE.

       The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States
Executive Directors at at the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development and the International
       Monetary Fund to oppose and vote against any program of these
institutions that would include user fees or service charges for primary
education or primary health care,
       including prevention and treatment efforts for HIV/AIDS, malaria,
tuberculosis, and infant, child, and maternal well-being.

SEC. 4. ANTICORRUPTION STRATEGIES.

       The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with appropriate
governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and civil society,
shall develop strategies to counter
       corruption in the countries described in section 2.

SEC. 5. REPORTS.

       Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to the Committees on Financial
Services and on International
       Relations of the House of Representatives and the Committees on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and on Foreign Relations of the Senate
a written report on all
       progress in debt cancellation efforts undertaken pursuant to this
Act and on the effects of the debt cancellation provided pursuant to this
Act on funding for HIV/AIDS
       programs, projects, activities (including any vaccination
approaches, health care delivery system infrastructure development, HIV
prevention education), and the effectiveness of
       such programs, projects, and activities in reducing the worldwide
spread of HIV/AIDS. The report should include recommendations for measures
to ensure accountability in
       the use of the savings from such debt cancellation.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:

              (1) G-8 COUNTRIES- The term `G-8 countries' means the group
consisting of France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United
States, Canada, Italy, and
              Russia established to facilitate economic cooperation among
the 8 major economic powers.

              (2) HEAVILY AFFECTED BY HIV/AIDS- The term `heavily affected
by HIV/AIDS' means, with respect to a country, that the country has an
HIV/AIDS incidence
              of at least 3 percent or the country has declared a national
health emergency related to HIV/AIDS.

              (3) HEAVILY INDEBTED POOR COUNTRIES (HIPC) INITIATIVE- The
term `Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative' means countries
that are
              eligible for consideration for highly concessional
assistance from the International Development Association, and from the
Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility of
              the International Monetary Fund.

              (4) HIV/AIDS- The term `HIV/AIDS' means infection with the
human immunodeficiency virus. Such term includes the acquired immune
deficiency syndrome.