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Senator Santorum Introduces Legislation to Assist Heavily Indebted Poor Counties
June 28, 2005 - Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, joined Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE), Mike DeWine (R-OH), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Barack Obama (D-IL), and Russ Feingold (D-WI) in introducing bipartisan legislation that authorizes funds to support the 100% debt relief initiative negotiated by the finance ministers of the Group of Eight countries.
The legislation authorizes funds necessary to meet the commitment of relieving 100% of the debt burden facing Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs). The agreement was possible because of the commitment of both President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair to address this issue prior to the Group of Eight Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland in early July 2005. The agreement reached will cancel approximately $40 billion in debt stock owed by 18 countries immediately, and will ultimately result in the cancellation of a total of nearly $56 billion in debt stock owed by 38 countries.
“The cosponsors of this bipartisan bill stand united in supporting the historic agreement reached among finance ministers of the Group of Eight,” noted Senator Santorum. “This agreement will help permit many of the world’s poorest countries to devote their resources towards development, education, health care, and infrastructure--instead of transferring their critical financial resources to multilateral institutions in the form of debt service payments.”
“I have been working with Senators Biden and DeWine for several years to authorize broader and deeper debt relief for the world’s poorest countries,” said Senator Santorum. “Our bill will provide the Administration with the authorization they need to achieve this historic agreement.”
“This is a historic opportunity to help in the development of the world’s most indebted nations. With this relief comes the opportunity for further progress world-wide, not just in economic terms, but also in improving humanitarian conditions in these nations, ” said Senator DeWine. “As we look ahead to the G-8 conferences, it is important to show that Congress has come together to support these impoverished nations.”
“Relieving the debt burden for the poorest nations will significantly improve the lives of millions of people around the world. It makes good economic sense and as so many religious leaders from around the country have told us, it is the right thing to do,” said Senator Biden, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. “Poverty-stricken states are a fertile ground for drug production and trafficking, feeding our own drug problems here at home. With the scourge of AIDS and other diseases loose in the world, we cannot afford the existence of more states that cannot feed, house, educate, or inoculate their citizens. For all of these reasons and more we ignore the poverty that plagues other nations at our own peril.”
Senators Santorum, Biden, and DeWine joined together in the 107th Congress to introduce S. 2210, a bill urging the Secretary of the Treasury to negotiate with other members of the Paris Club to reduce the debt burden on the poorest countries of the world. S. 2210 sought to reduce the amount of interest paid by HIPCs to multilateral entities, and supported reducing these debt service payments even lower if the HIPC was experiencing a health crisis.
An amendment offered by Senators Santorum and Biden incorporating the intent of S. 2210 was added as an amendment to the five-year, comprehensive international HIV/AIDS authorization bill in 2003.
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