==> News flash: On June 8, 2000, 81 members of the House of Representatives sent a letter, co-authored by Reps. Waters and Campbell, to House leaders (Rep. Armey and Rep. Gephardt) urging support for full funding of debt relief for impoverished countries!

ACTION: Urge members of the House Appropriations Committee to approve a minimum of $435 million in the FY2001 foreign aid spending bill to fund multilateral and bilateral debt relief for the world's impoverished countries, without added conditions that harm people or the environment, as a step toward the Platform goals of Jubilee 2000/USA. For residents of the relevant districts, contact Committee members by phone and fax. FLOOD THOSE OFFICES WITH CALLS! Note: calls and faxed letters are preferred over email messages. Ask for the staff person in the representative's office who handles foreign aid spending. (These mark-ups may be covered on the cable TV network C-Span. Check the schedule at www.c-span.org)

If your House member is not on this committee, contact your representative's foreign policy aide and urge that he/she contact Committee Chairperson Young's office, urging that a full appropriation be approved.

You don't need to be an expert! For additional talking points or any help call David Bryden at 202-783-0214. (Note: next month request a personal meeting with your legislator to take place during the August recess.)

Sample Letter

Additional Background:

Last year, President Clinton and leaders of other industrial countries agreed to write off approximately $90 billion in debt for about 33 impoverished countries. This $90 billion in debt cancellation would cost creditors $27 billion primarily due to heavy discounting of the face value of the loans.

Unfortunately, Congress has yet to fully fund the administration's commitment of $920 million over four years toward this global debt reduction plan. Funding, particularly the amount needed for multilateral debt reduction, is critical to the success of the plan, as other wealthy nations are waiting for the U.S. to take the lead before unlocking billions of dollars in contributions. Debtor countries are already feeling the delay. Bolivia, for example, has been declared eligible for new debt relief under the plan, but must wait because the necessary funding is not available.

Thus far, Congress has authorized cancellation of 100 percent of United States bilateral debt owed by heavily indebted poor countries, and it appropriated $110 million for this purpose for FY2000. The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved appropriation of $75 million for bilateral debt reduction for FY2001. In the House, a decision on the amount to be included for debt relief in the foreign aid appropriations bill for FY2001 is pending before the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations.

No funds have been appropriated so far for multilateral debt reduction. However, the House Banking Committee (last year) and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (this year) authorized appropriation of the amounts needed for multilateral debt reduction. The Senate Banking Committee has also taken the matter under consideration, and the committee chairman (Sen. Gramm, R-TX) wants to make authorization of multilateral debt reduction conditional on changes in the operation of the International Monetary Fund. (If your representative raises the issue of IMF "reform," we suggest you say that while changes at the IMF are needed, it is likely to be a long, complex process and should not be allowed to cause further delays in debt relief for struggling countries.) The appropriation needed for multilateral debt reduction in FY 2001 is $360 million.

The total appropriation needed for FY2001 is $435 million ($75 million bilateral, $360 multilateral). Another $375 million will be needed for multilateral and bilateral debt reduction in FY2002 and 2003. These amounts, added to the $110 million appropriated last year, will complete the U.S.'s $920 million contribution to the global plan. The administration has requested an advance appropriation of $375 million covering the needs for FY2002 and FY2003, but we suggest focusing at this time on the $435 million needed for FY2001.

For the full Jubilee 2000/USA position statement see www.j2000usa.org/updates/clinton4.html
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