Critical bi-partisan legislation has been introduced to cancel debt owed by impoverished nations to wealthy ones. The biblical concepts behind debt relief made up the theme for a sermon I delivered in January. Jubilee USA reports on the Congressional bill:
Summary of JUBILEE Act: Representatives Waters (D-CA), Leach (R-IA), Frank (D-MA), Bachus (R-AL), Lee (D-CA), and Maloney (D-NY) re-introduced the JUBILEE Act (H.R. 1130) on March 3. The JUBILEE Act is groundbreaking legislation that would require the U.S. Treasury Department to work in appropriate multilateral settings to achieve 100 percent cancellation of the debts of 50 nations by international financial institutions. Debt cancellation will free up desperately needed resources for impoverished nations to fight HIV/AIDS, fund education, and provide clean water. The bill urges that the debt cancellation be paid for from the international financial institutions’ own resources and that it come without harmful conditionality attached.
You can more about the legislation by clicking here. You’ll find information here for contacting you Congressional representatives and for building religious coalitions in your area in support of the Jubilee Act. It is hopefull that Republicans and Democrats have teamed up to sponsor this bill.
