HAITI Debt Cancellation: Rep. Waters Press Rel, JubileeUSA, Rep. Hastings Amend.

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PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Contact:
Mikael Moore
April 15, 2008 (202)
225-2201

CONGRESSWOMAN WATERS CALLS FOR
EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE
AND DEBT RELIEF FOR HAITI

Washington, D.C. - Today, on Capitol Hill, Rep. Maxine Waters
(D-CA) called on the President to provide emergency food aid to Haiti.
She made the following statement:

Yesterday, the United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon warned that the global food crisis has reached emergency
proportions and threatens to wipe out seven years of progress in the
fight against poverty.

The situation is particularly dire in Haiti,
which is already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
According to the World Food Program, the average Haitian diet consists
of only 1,640 calories. That's 460 calories less than the typical daily
requirement of 2,100 calories. Reuters has reported that prices for
some items in Haiti, such as rice, have doubled in the last six months.


For several years, I have been trying to
convince the international community to cancel Haiti's debts. According
to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Haiti owes over one billion
dollars to multilateral financial institutions. Haiti is scheduled to
send $48.7 million in debt payments to these institutions this year.
These debt service payments are a drain on Haiti's fragile economy, and
they will continue to impede development unless Haiti can get debt
cancellation. On February 28, 2008, I sent a letter to Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson, urging him to use his influence to expedite
debt cancellation for Haiti and suspend immediately all further debt
service payments from Haiti. This letter was signed by 54 members of
the House of Representatives.

Today, I call on the President to provide
emergency food aid to Haiti without delay. I join several of my
colleagues, including Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen and Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairman Eliot Engel,
to call on the President to provide emergency food assistance to this
impoverished nation.

The people of Haiti have been waiting for years
for relief from their debts, but they cannot wait for food. Haiti needs
help now.

###

FROM JUBILEE USA:
This just in from Jubilee USA. Please contact your Rep., and tell everyone in your network to do the same. The silver lining from the hunger in Haiti is that people are paying attention. This opportunity won’t last long, so we need to help Haiti as much as we can while we have the chance.
Thanks, Brian

Hello Haiti folks,

Debate on the Jubilee Act will begin tomorrow morning at 10:45. Representative Alcee Hastings (D-FL) will be offering the attached amendment (see below) regarding debt cancellation for Haiti.

There will be a debate & then an up or down vote on the Hastings amendment sometime late tomorrow morning.

If you haven’t already, it would be great if you could send a quick message to your grassroots. Please have them call their Representative first thing in the am & urge him/her to vote yes on the Hastings amendment to the Jubilee Act (and also to vote yes on the Jubilee Act).

Please let me know if you have any questions & if anyone has drafted an alert on this already, please forward it to the whole group!!

Thanks all,
Kristin
Kristin Sundell, M.Div.
Director of Advocacy and Organizing
Jubilee USA Network
202-783-0215
443-845-4461 (cell)
[email protected]
www.jubileeusa.org


AMENDMENT TO H.R. 2634, AS REPORTED
OFFERED BY MR. HASTINGS OF FLORIDA

At the end of the bill, add the following:
SEC. lll. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.
(a) FINDING.—The Congress finds that Haiti is scheduled to send $48,700,000 in debt payments to multilateral financial institutions in 2008.
(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Congress that, due to the current humanitarian and political instability in Haiti, including food shortages and political turmoil, the Secretary of the Treasury should use his influence to expedite the complete and immediate cancellation of Haiti’s debts to all international financial institutions, or if such debt cancellation cannot be provided, to urge the institutions to immediately suspend the requirement that Haiti make further debt service payments on debts owed to the institutions.

Check out the Jubilee blog:http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Unbearably sad. The people of Haiti have NEVER benefited from any business with the international

financial institutions, things have only been ripped away, and they have been exploited more, and more savagely.

The very idea that they have been given this astonishing debt is simply beyond belief itself. That money had to have been given to the monsterous elite, as it never made any way to the common benefit of the people, and everyone knows this.

What a hideous shame.

Hope Maxine Waters can bring enough attention to this situation this time: she has always been such a strong, devoted friend of the people, one who has cared so deeply about their desperate conditions.

Can only hope somehow we will see help arriving for these tortured people in our lifetime. They deserve peace far more than any country I can imagine.

[roody]

2. k

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3. House Passes Legislation for Expanded Int. Debt Cancellation

Jubilee USA Network


www.jubileeusa.org


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Wednesday, April 16, 2008


Contact: Eleiza Braun, Massey Media, 415-420-4059


Neil Watkins, Jubilee USA, 202-783-0129, 202-421-1023 (c)


Churches, Development Advocates Praise Congress’ Passage of Legislation for Expanded International Debt Cancellation




Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation Passes House of Representatives with Bi-Partisan Support; Senate Panel to Consider Issue April 24




WASHINGTON – Leaders of churches, development agencies, civil rights, labor, and human rights groups today praised the passage by the US House of Representatives by a vote of 285-132 of the Jubilee Act (HR 2634). The legislation calls the US Treasury Department to negotiate a multilateral agreement for debt cancellation for up to 24 additional poor countries that need cancellation to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of 80 organizations that has been leading the advocacy for the legislation. “We commend the US Congress for its bold step in passing the Jubilee Act and listening to the people of the impoverished nations who have borne the burden of unjust debt for far too long,” said Patricia Rumer, co-chair of the Board of Jubilee USA Network. “We hope that House passage will inspire the US Senate to move quickly to also pass the Jubilee Act and send it to the President for immediate action.”


“As Pope Benedict XVI makes his first Apostolic Visit to the United States, it is fitting that Congress show support for this important initiative that would help alleviate the debt burden of some of our poorest brothers and sisters around the world,” wrote Reverend Thomas G. Wenski, Bishop of Orlando and Chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops in a letter to Congress.


The legislation was introduced by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Spencer Bachus (R-AL) in June 2007 and enjoyed the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. A letter from leading Congressional supporters of the bill was circulated in Congress on Monday by Waters, Bachus, Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL). Jubilee USA is looking into the impact of an amendment that was attached to the bill in the final minutes of the floor debate which prohibits eligibility for countries with business interests in Iran.


In addition to authorizing broader debt cancellation, the bill seeks to reform current IMF/World Bank policies and other global lending practices by:


* Urging that more resources be devoted to grants for the world’s poorest countries;
* Requiring greater transparency at the IFIs, including a policy of maximum disclosure in project and loan documents;
* Urging the development of a binding framework for more responsible lending practices in the future;
* Limiting the conditions that may be required of countries going through the debt relief process to those ensuring that money released by debt relief is used transparently and accountably to address poverty; and
* Directing the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to undertake an audit of “odious, onerous, or illegal” lending by the World Bank, IMF, and US government in specific countries.



Companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate (S. 2166), where the bill enjoys strong bi-partisan support and 26 co-sponsors. A hearing on the Senate companion to the Jubilee Act will be held in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, April 24 at 2 p.m. in Dirksen Senate Office Building Rm. 419. More information on debt and the legislation is available at www.jubileeusa.org.

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4. House Unanimously Passes Amendment to Cancel Haiti's Debt

House Unanimously Passes Hastings Amendment Calling for the Cancellation of Haiti’s International Debt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: David Goldenberg
April 16, 2008 Office: [phone]
Cell: [phone]

Washington, DC – The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed an amendment today authored by U.S. Representative Alcee L. Hastings (D-Miramar) calling for the cancellation of Haiti’s international debt. Representative Hastings offered his amendment to H.R. 2634, the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2008. The bill directs the Secretary of the Treasury to work with international financial institutions to provide debt cancellation to low-income countries.


“With the passage of my amendment, Congress goes on record supporting the cancellation of Haiti’s international debt to help alleviate poverty and increase stability throughout the country. This is an important initial step toward finally freeing Haiti from its onerous debt,” said Representative Hastings. “I remain committed to helping provide much needed resources and protection for Haitians in Haiti and within our own borders so that they may contribute to their country’s recovery from years of political, economic, and environmental turmoil and put the nation on a sustained path to development.”

Representative Hastings is a leader in the fight to end double-standard immigration practices as they pertain to Haitian migrants. He is the author of H.R. 522, the Haitian Protection Act, legislation which would designate Haitian nationals in the United States as eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Representative Hastings has been calling for the extension of TPS for Haitian nationals for years. Just yesterday, Representative Hastings wrote to President Bush demanding an explanation as to why Haitian nationals have not yet been granted TPS. The most recent letter follows 2 months of correspondence between Representative Hastings and the Bush Administration on the topic of TPS for Haitians. Despite Representative Hastings’ strong urging, the Bush Administration continues to refuse to provide an adequate explanation.

“The situation in Haiti - a nation that has historically been afflicted by violence and natural disasters - is increasingly desperate and volatile,” Representative Hastings said from the House floor today. “The United States government can not turn a blind eye as food prices escalate out of control in the most impoverished nation in the Western Hemisphere.”

A copy of the Hastings amendment to the Jubilee Act and Representative Hastings’ recent correspondence with the Bush Administration regarding Haiti and TPS are attached to this release.