[stop-imf] Action Alert: Ask Senate to Support Debt Cancellation

[robert weissman]

 From Jubilee USA --

Action Alert: Ask Senate to Support Debt Cancellation

Dear all,

With less than 10 days until the World Bank and IMF meet in Washington, DC
to consider whether to approve the deal for debt cancellation agreed by the
G-8 this summer, the deal is under attack. Some governments and World Bank
staff have proposed limiting the deal or making it more conditional. The
attacks must be stopped.

One more way (thanks for the faxes/emails to the Executive Directors!) to
help ensure the G-8 debt deal is approved by the World Bank and IMF is to
ask the US Senate to pass a bill =96 S. 1320 =96 that would authorize the G=
-8
agreement. Passage of this bill by the Senate in the next ten days would
send a strong message about the US=92 commitment to 100% debt cancellation
for poor nations. Please take action today =96 call your Senator at
202-224-3121 (Capitol switchboard) and ask that they support S. 1320 and
work for a vote on the floor before September 22. The bill has bi-partisan
support already =96 we just need to move it to a vote.

Below is an action alert with more details from the US Conference of
Catholic Bishops regarding the bill. In addition to including language that
would implement the G-8 agreement, the bill provides authorization for the
cancellation of Inter American Development Bank debt. The bill also
includes a "sense of the Senate" (non-binding language) that extends the
G-8 agreement to about 17 additional non-HIPCs that are eligible for grants
from the low-income lending arm of the World Bank (IDA).

Since the announcement of the G-8 agreement, Jubilee USA has characterized
the agreement as representing a first step on a long journey towards
canceling debt. The agreement will provide 100% debt stock cancellation for
the first time to 18 countries to begin with. But we have also highlighted
the shortcomings of the agreement (the agreement does not include nearly
enough countries and it preserves requirements that the countries implement
harmful economic policy conditions). When you call, please be clear that
this bill is a critical first step for debt cancellation, but that we will
continue working for total debt cancellation for all impoverished countries
in the months and years ahead.

Please circulate to your constituents who are willing and able to call
their Senators, and call me with any questions.

Best,

Debi


ACTION ALERT:
Urge Congress to Support the Multilateral
Debt Relief Act of 2005

REASON FOR THIS ALERT: Congress will soon consider the Multilateral Debt
Relief Act of 2005, which represents an essential next step in alleviating
the crushing burdens of debt that plague many developing countries. S. 1320
provides Congressional support for the recent G8 agreement on new debt
cancellation and authorizes the appropriation of the funds necessary to
finance the U.S. share of its costs. The bill also encourages the
Administration to go beyond the G8 agreement in important respects.

Please contact your Senators and urge them to co-sponsor the Multilateral
Debt Relief Act of 2005, S. 1320 in the Senate. Those supporters in
Tennessee should especially consider calling Senate majority leader Bill
Frist.

BACKGROUND: Debt payments continue to drain resources that poor countries
desperately need for health care, food, education and social programs. The
burden of debt also impedes governments=92 abilities to respond to the
HIV/AIDS crisis, droughts, civil strife and other emergencies.

An agreement recently announced by G8 leaders commits to canceling at least
$40 billion of the debt owed by poor countries to the World Bank, the
African Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. This new
commitment, which is expected to be formally adopted in the next few
months, would immediately benefit 18 developing nations classified as
Heavily-Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) and eventually as many as 20
additional HIPCs.

This agreement represents a significant step in enabling poor countries to
redirect their resources toward essential human needs, but much more must
be done. Other developing countries should be included in the debt
cancellation, and other multilateral creditors should forgive the debt owed
to them. Furthermore, the G8 agreement cannot be implemented without U.S.
support and funding to finance the debt cancellation.

The Multilateral Debt Relief Act of 2005 is important for three main
reasons:
     * It signals Congressional support and provides the authority for the
funding necessary to implement the G8 debt cancellation. This in turn will
reinforce the new global partnership launched at the G8 summit, offering
the hope that countries can cooperate in eliminating the conditions that
lead to suffering and despair.
     * It authorizes greater debt relief than the G8 agreement by canceling
debt owed to the Inter-American Development Bank, the largest creditor of
heavily-indebted poor countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
     * It encourages the U.S. Treasury to work toward debt relief for the
substantial number of countries that are not eligible under the G8
agreement but are nonetheless suffering debt burdens as great as, or
greater than, those that are currently eligible. Fairness requires that
these countries be made eligible for debt relief on the same basis without
undue delay.
USCCB POSITION:

Based on our respect for the life and dignity of every person and the
Church=92s call for justice and equity in relationships between rich and po=
or
countries, USCCB has long supported relieving the burdensome debts of low
income countries. Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the aid and development
agency of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, knows first hand the needs of the
people living with the burden of crushing debts from its work among the
poorest people of the earth in over 80 countries. Debt repayments should
not come at the cost of basic human survival and dignity. The merits of
deeper debt cancellation, when accompanied by conditions of accountability
and transparency on the part of recipient countries, have been shown to
generate much needed resources for health, education and poverty reduction
for some of the world=92s poorest people.

TAKE ACTION NOW! Please contact your Senators and ask them to signal their
support for reducing the crushing debt burdens by co-sponsoring S. 1320,
the Multilateral Debt Relief Act of 2005.

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP: Get involved in the Catholic Campaign Against
Global Poverty
<http://www.usccb.org/globalpoverty>www.usccb.org/globalpoverty, a joint
effort by USCCB and CRS that encourages Catholics in the United States to
learn about the issues of aid, trade and debt, how they affect our brothers
and sisters worldwide, and what you can do to advocate for U.S. policies
that promote economic and social development for people living in poverty.

For more information contact: Gerry Flood, USCCB, 202 541 3167,
<mailto:gflood@usccb.org>gflood@usccb.org; Fr. Andrew Small, OMI, USCCB,
202-541-3153, <mailto:asmall@usccb.org>asmall@usccb.org.

__________________________________

Office of Social Development & World Peace
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194 (202) 541-3000

******
Debayani Kar
Communications and Advocacy Coordinator
Jubilee USA Network
222 E Capitol St NE
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 783-0215