Sherry Darling
New Yorker
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’ 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’s call for justice and equity in relationships between rich and poor
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’s 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.
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’ 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’s call for justice and equity in relationships between rich and poor
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’s 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.
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