clarification on previous message

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

My apologies for the cryptic message that just went out. I accidentally
hit the send key.

Here's the explanation of the message:

The House of Representatives International Relations Committee yesterday
made amendments to and voted on the African Growth and Opportunity Act,
also known as the NAFTA for Africa Act.

The Committee voted in favor of this bill by a 24-8 count. Five Democrats
and three Republicans were in the opposition.

A hoped-for amendment to include strong debt cancellation language in the
Growth and Opportunity Act was apparently either not introduced or was
ruled out of order.

Despite this bad news, there also much happier news to report: The HOPE
for African Act, sponsored by Jesse Jackson, Jr., is picking up a number
of sponsors, including Democratic whip (the number two person in the
Democratic leadership) David Bonior. The HOPE for Africa act includes
meaningful debt cancellation language and does not include any IMF-type of
conditions.

Robert Weissman
Essential Information			|   Internet:	rob@essential.org