Schakowsky Statement on Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2007

SCHAKOWSKY STATEMENT ON JUBILEE ACT FOR RESPONSIBLE LENDING AND EXPANDED DEBT CANCELLATION OF 2007

Washington, D.C.–U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) submitted the following statement into the Congressional Record in support of H.R. 2634, the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2007. H.R. 2634, which passed the House today by a vote of 285 to 132, would provide debt relief for the world's poorest countries as part of an effort to alleviate poverty.

"Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2535, the Jubilee Act. As a proud cosponsor of this legislation, I believe the United States must help poor countries relieve their debt and allow them to provide vital services to their citizens.

Debt relief is a proven way to reduce poverty. The debt relief approved by Congress in 1999 and 2005 has reached more than two dozen countries in Africa and Latin America. Those countries are using the savings to create agricultural projects, promote health care, and increase spending on primary education, malaria control and infrastructure.

Today we have the opportunity to fight global poverty and hunger, provide wider access to education, combat diseases and promote environmental stability in an additional 24 poor countries not currently eligible for debt relief.

Especially at a time when the world's poorest citizens are struggling to keep up with soaring food prices, it is essential that we do everything possible to allow for debt relief.

In Haiti, for example, food riots have upended the country. In a nation where eighty percent of the population lives on $2 a day or less, the 75 percent increase in food costs since this time last year has created profound hunger, malnutrition and instability. The Jubilee Act would free Haiti from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank's privatization requirement in exchange for debt cancellation, providing the Haitian government with access to funds to feed its citizens. Haiti is only one example of the many impoverished countries that would be helped by the passage of the Jubilee Act.

As the richest and most powerful country in the world, we have a responsibility to help those around the world facing extreme poverty.

This Congress has the opportunity to improve the lives of the 1.3 billion people around the world living in extreme poverty and conditions of misery, and–I would argue–make the world and our nation more secure. I urge all of my colleagues to support the Jubilee Act and bring services and hope to the world's impoverished countries....