[stop-imf] 70+ US Reps urge Treasury Secretary Snow to Negotiate 100% Debt Cancellation for Poor Countries]

[Robert Weissman]

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
(323) 757-8900

February 2, 2005



CONGRESSWOMAN WATERS AND SEVENTY OTHER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

URGE TREASURY SECRETARY SNOW TO NEGOTIATE

100% DEBT CANCELLATION FOR POOR COUNTRIES



            Washington, D.C. =E2=80=93 Last night, Reps. Maxine Waters (D=
=E2=80=91CA),
Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Barney Frank (D-MA) and James A. Leach (R-IA) sent a
letter to Treasury Secretary John Snow, urging him to negotiate an agreemen=
t
that provides 100% cancellation of the debts of impoverished countries at
the upcoming meeting of the G-7 Finance Ministers on February 4-5.
Seventy-one Members of Congress signed the letter.  The text of the letter
follows:


            As part of your efforts to achieve debt relief for the world=E2=
=80=99s
most impoverished countries, we write to urge you to negotiate an agreement
that provides 100% cancellation of multilateral debts owed by impoverished
countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America at the upcoming meeting of the
G-7 Finance Ministers on February 4-5 in London.



            Impoverished countries will never be able to eradicate poverty
as long as they must continue to make payments on old loans that they never
will be able to repay.  Money that impoverished countries must send to
creditors such as the IMF and the World Bank is money that is not spent on
pressing social needs like health care, education and clean water.  Debt
payments to multilateral creditors also interfere with poor countries=E2=80=
=99
efforts to recover from disasters like the recent earthquake and tsunami in
Asia.  The people of impoverished countries need a chance; they need full
debt cancellation.



            Existing programs that provide limited debt relief =E2=80=93 mo=
st
notably the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative of the IMF an=
d
the World Bank =E2=80=93 have proven that even partial debt relief is an ef=
fective
way to reduce poverty.  The most recent analysis of the HIPC Initiative by
the IMF and the World Bank shows that since 1999, countries that received
the limited debt relief provided by the HIPC Initiative almost doubled thei=
r
poverty-reduction expenditures.




            However, the limited relief available under the HIPC Initiative
has failed to provide a lasting solution to the debt crisis.  HIPC countrie=
s
still send more than $2 billion in debt service payments to the IMF and the
World Bank each year.  Debt service payments for HIPC countries have been
reduced by less than one-third.  Furthermore, several impoverished countrie=
s
that were excluded from the HIPC Initiative are in urgent need of debt
relief.



            We urge you to negotiate an agreement that provides 100%
multilateral debt cancellation for all countries eligible for the HIPC
Initiative, as well as other needy and deserving countries, at the upcoming
G-7 Finance Ministers=E2=80=99 meeting.  We look forward to your response a=
nd to
working with you to achieve a historic breakthrough canceling all of the
multilateral debts of impoverished countries early this year.



Sincerely,



Maxine Waters
Spencer Bachus

Barney Frank
James A. Leach

Carolyn Maloney
John Conyers

Bob Filner
Sanford Bishop

Maurice Hinchey
Bennie Thompson

Sheila Jackson-Lee
Robert Andrews

Juanita Millender-McDonald                                         Earl
Blumenauer

Norm Dicks
Bobby L. Rush

Jesse Jackson, Jr.
George Miller

Donald Payne
Lane Evans

Jos=C3=A9 Serrano
Edolphus Towns

Bernard Sanders
Elijah Cummings

Rosa DeLauro
Chaka Fattah

Bart Gordon
Major Owens

Sherrod Brown
Gene Green

Alcee Hastings
Charles Rangel

Marcy Kaptur
Luis Gutierrez

David Scott
James P. McGovern

Artur Davis
Robert Wexler

Fortney Pete Stark
Joseph Crowley

Cynthia McKinney                                                        Joh=
n
Lewis

Diane Watson
William Lacy Clay

Barbara Lee
Jan Schakowsky

Ra=C3=BAl Grijalva
Dennis Kucinich

Peter DeFazio
Eleanor Holmes Norton

Eliot Engel
Stephanie Tubbs Jones

Rush Holt
Tammy Baldwin

Jim McDermott
John Olver

Sam Farr
Susan Davis

Tom Udall
Grace Napolitano

Lois Capps
Gregory Meeks

Michael Honda
Hilda Solis

Neil Abercrombie
Donna Christensen

Eddie Bernice Johnson                                                  Al
Green

Julia Carson
Michael R. McNulty

Carolyn C. Kilpatrick



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