Prohibits conditioning any such debt cancellation on an agreement by an impoverished country to implement or comply with policies that deepen poverty or degrade the environment.
Prescribes other specified conditions and prohibitions with respect to country eligibility.
Requires any country otherwise eligible to receive debt cancellation under the modifications to the Initiative made by this Act to agree to: (1) ensure that the financial benefits of debt cancellation are applied to programs to combat HIV/AIDS and poverty; and (2) implement transparent and participatory policymaking and budget procedures, good governance, and effective anticorruption measures.
Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on the options and costs associated with expanding debt relief under the Initiative to poor countries not eligible for inclusion in it.
[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2210 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2210
To amend the International Financial Institutions Act to provide for
modification of the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
Initiative.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 18, 2002
Mr. Biden (for himself, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Frist, Mr.
Sarbanes, Mr. Chafee, and Mr. DeWine) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the International Financial Institutions Act to provide for
modification of the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
Initiative.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Debt Relief Enhancement Act of
2002''.
SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF THE ENHANCED HIPC INITIATIVE.
Title XVI of the International Financial Institutions Act (22
U.S.C. 262p--262p-5) is amended by adding at the end the following new
section:
``SEC. 1625. MODIFICATION OF THE ENHANCED HIPC INITIATIVE.
``(a) Authority.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall
immediately commence efforts within the Paris Club of Official
Creditors, the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, the International Monetary Fund, and other
appropriate multilateral development institutions to modify the
Enhanced HIPC Initiative so that the amount of debt stock
reduction approved for a country eligible for debt relief under
the Enhanced HIPC Initiative shall be sufficient to reduce, for
each of the first 3 years after the date of enactment of this
Act or the Decision Point, whichever is later--
``(A) the net present value of the outstanding
public and publicly guaranteed debt of the country to
not more than 150 percent of the annual value of
exports of the country for the year preceding the
Decision Point; and
``(B) the annual payments due on such public and
publicly guaranteed debt to not more than 10 percent
or, in the case of a country suffering a public health
crisis (as defined in subsection (e)), not more than 5
percent, of the amount of the annual current revenues
received by the country from internal resources.
``(2) Limitation.--In financing the objectives of the
Enhanced HIPC Initiative, an international financial
institution shall give priority to using its own resources.
``(b) Relation to Poverty and the Environment.--Debt cancellation
under the modifications to the Enhanced HIPC Initiative described in
subsection (a) shall not be conditioned on any agreement by an
impoverished country to implement or comply with policies that deepen
poverty or degrade the environment, including any policy that--
``(1) implements or extends user fees on primary education
or primary health care, including prevention and treatment
efforts for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and infant, child,
and maternal well-being;
``(2) provides for increased cost recovery from poor people
to finance basic public services such as education, health
care, clean water, or sanitation;
``(3) reduces the country's minimum wage to a level of less
than $2 per day or undermines workers' ability to exercise
effectively their internationally recognized worker rights, as
defined under section 526(e) of the Foreign Operations, Export
Financing and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1995 (22
U.S.C. 262p-4p); or
``(4) promotes unsustainable extraction of resources or
results in reduced budget support for environmental programs.
``(c) Conditions.--A country shall not be eligible for cancellation
of debt under modifications to the Enhanced HIPC Initiative described
in subsection (a) if the government of the country--
``(1) has an excessive level of military expenditures;
``(2) has repeatedly provided support for acts of
international terrorism, as determined by the Secretary of
State under section 6(j)(1) of the Export Administration Act of
1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)(1)) or section 620A(a) of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371(a));
``(3) is failing to cooperate on international narcotics
control matters; or
``(4) engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations
of internationally recognized human rights (including its
military or other security forces).
``(d) Programs To Combat HIV/AIDS and Poverty.--A country that is
otherwise eligible to receive cancellation of debt under the
modifications to the Enhanced HIPC Initiative described in subsection
(a) may receive such cancellation only if the country has agreed--
``(1) to ensure that the financial benefits of debt
cancellation are applied to programs to combat HIV/AIDS and
poverty, in particular through concrete measures to improve
basic services in health, education, nutrition, and other
development priorities, and to redress environmental
degradation;
``(2) to ensure that the financial benefits of debt
cancellation are in addition to the government's total spending
on poverty reduction for the previous year or the average total
of such expenditures for the previous 3 years, whichever is
greater;
``(3) to implement transparent and participatory
policymaking and budget procedures, good governance, and
effective anticorruption measures; and
``(4) to broaden public participation and popular
understanding of the principles and goals of poverty reduction.
``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Country suffering a public health crisis.--The term
`country suffering a public health crisis' means a country in
which the HIV/AIDS infection rate, as reported in the most
recent epidemiological data for that country compiled by the
Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, is at least 5 percent
among women attending prenatal clinics or more than 20 percent
among individuals in groups with high-risk behavior.
``(2) Decision point.--The term `Decision Point' means the
date on which the executive boards of the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development and the International
Monetary Fund review the debt sustainability analysis for a
country and determine that the country is eligible for debt
relief under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative.
``(3) Enhanced hipc initiative.--The term `Enhanced HIPC
Initiative' means the multilateral debt initiative for heavily
indebted poor countries presented in the Report of G-7 Finance
Ministers on the Cologne Debt Initiative to the Cologne
Economic Summit, Cologne, June 18-20, 1999.''.
SEC. 3. REPORT ON EXPANSION OF DEBT RELIEF TO NON-HIPC COUNTRIES.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to Congress a
report on--
(1) the options and costs associated with the expansion of
debt relief provided by the Enhanced HIPC Initiative to include
poor countries that were not eligible for inclusion in the
Enhanced HIPC Initiative;
(2) options for burden-sharing among donor countries and
multilateral institutions of costs associated with the
expansion of debt relief; and
(3) options, in addition to debt relief, to ensure debt
sustainability in poor countries, particularly in cases when
the poor country has suffered an external economic shock or a
natural disaster.
(b) Specific Options To Be Considered.--Among the options for the
expansion of debt relief provided by the Enhanced HIPC Initiative,
consideration should be given to making eligible for that relief poor
countries for which outstanding public and publicly guaranteed debt
requires annual payments in excess of 10 percent or, in the case of a
country suffering a public health crisis (as defined in section 1625(e)
of the Financial Institutions Act, as added by section 2 of this Act),
not more than 5 percent, of the amount of the annual current revenues
received by the country from internal resources.
(c) Enhanced HIPC Initiative Defined.--In this section, the term
``Enhanced HIPC Initiative'' means the multilateral debt initiative for
heavily indebted poor countries presented in the Report of G-7 Finance
Ministers on the Cologne Debt Initiative to the Cologne Economic
Summit, Cologne, June 18-20, 1999.''.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the
President such sums as may be necessary for the fiscal year 2003 and
each fiscal year thereafter to carry out section 1625 of the
International Financial Institutions Act, as added by section 2 of this
Act.
(b) Availability of Funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to
subsection (a) are authorized to remain available until expended.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2966-2967)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
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