II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1320 

To provide multilateral debt cancellation for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 28, 2005 

Mr. DEWINE (for himself, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. 

LUGAR, and Mr. OBAMA) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To provide multilateral debt cancellation for Heavily Indebted 

Poor Countries, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Multilateral Debt Re5 lief Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) In 1996, the international community cre9 ated the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative 

10 (the HIPC Initiative) to reduce the debt burden that 
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1 curtailed spending on economic development and 

2 poverty-reducing programs in many impoverished 

3 countries. 

4 (2) Since adoption of the original HIPC Initia5 tive in 1996 and the Enhanced HIPC Initiative in 

6 1999, donor countries have committed more than 

7 $50,000,000,000 in bilateral and multilateral debt 

8 stock cancellation to eligible countries. 

9 (3) The 27 countries that have received debt re10 lief through the HIPC Initiative are estimated by 

11 World Bank and the International Monetary Fund 

12 to have increased poverty reduction expenditures by 

13 an average of approximately 75 percent between 

14 1999 and 2004. 

15 (4) Congress has demonstrated its support for 

16 bilateral and multilateral debt relief through the en17 actment of comprehensive debt relief initiatives for 

18 heavily indebted poor countries by title V of H.R. 

19 3425 of the 106th Congress, as enacted into law by 

20 section 1000(a)(5) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act mak21 ing consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year 

22 ending September 30, 2000, and for other pur23 poses’’, approved November 29, 1999 (Public Law 

24 106–113; 113 Stat. 1501–311) and the amendments 

25 made by such title, title II of H.R. 5526 of the 
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1 106th Congress, as enacted into law by section 

2 101(a) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act making appro3 priations for foreign operations, export financing, 

4 and related programs for the fiscal year ending Sep5 tember 30, 2001, and for other purposes’’, approved 

6 November 6, 2000 (Public Law 106–429; 114 Stat. 

7 1900A–5), and title V of the United States Leader8 ship Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria 

9 Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–25; 117 Stat. 747) 

10 and the amendment made by such title. 

11 (5) A number of countries, including the United 

12 States, have canceled 100 percent of the bilateral 

13 loans made by such countries to countries that are 

14 eligible for debt relief under the Enhanced HIPC 

15 Initiative, and other major donor nations have can16 celed a large percentage of such loans, however, a 

17 number of countries eligible for such debt relief will 

18 continue to owe substantial debts to international fi19 nancial institutions such as the International Mone20 tary Fund, the International Development Associa21 tion, and the African Development Fund. 

22 (6) Permanently canceling 100 percent of the 

23 debt owed by the countries that are eligible for debt 

24 relief under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative to multi25 lateral institutions would allow countries to increase 
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1 investments in economic and social infrastructure, 

2 including improving the quality of and access to 

3 health care, education, and poverty reduction pro4 grams, and thereby help them to move towards sus5 tainable economic growth and to achieve the Millen6 nium Development Goals set out in United Nations 

7 Millennium Declaration, resolution 55/1 adopted by 

8 the General Assembly of the United Nations on Sep9 tember 8, 2000, for eradicating extreme poverty and 

10 hunger and promoting human development. 

11 (7) On June 11, 2005, finance ministers rep12 resenting the members of the Group of 8 agreed to 

13 make a proposal, prior to September 2005, to the 

14 shareholders of the World Bank, the International 

15 Monetary Fund, and the African Development Bank, 

16 for the immediate cancellation of 100 percent of the 

17 debt stock owed to such institutions by 18 eligible 

18 countries, and the eventual cancellation of such debt 

19 owed by an additional 20 countries. 

20 (8) That proposal would cancel approximately 

21 $40,000,000,000 in debt stock owed by 18 countries 

22 immediately, and would ultimately result in the can23 cellation of a total of approximately 

24 $56,000,000,000 in debt stock owed by 38 countries, 

25 saving such countries, on average, $1,500,000,000 
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1 each year in debt service payments. To offset fore2 gone interest and principal repayments, donors 

3 would provide additional resources to the World 

4 Bank and African Development Bank for grants and 

5 lending to the poorest countries for investments in 

6 the health, education, and well-being of the people of 

7 such countries. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) ELIGIBLE COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘eligible 

11 country’’ means a country whose government is de12 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 

13 557(c) of H.R. 3422 of the 106th Congress, as en14 acted into law by section 1000(a)(2) of the Act enti15 tled ‘‘An Act making consolidated appropriations for 

16 the fiscal year ending September 30, 2000, and for 

17 other purposes’’, approved November 29, 1999 

18 (Public Law 106–113; 113 Stat. 1501A–101) 

19 (2) ENHANCED HIPC INITIATIVE.—The term 

20 ‘‘Enhanced HIPC Initiative’’ has the meaning given 

21 that term in section 1625 of the International Fi22 nancial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262p–8). 

23 (3) HIPC INITIATIVE.—The term ‘‘HIPC Ini24 tiative’’ means the initiative established in 1996 by 

25 the World Bank and the International Monetary 
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1 Fund for the purpose of reducing the debt burdens 

2 of the world’s poorest countries. 

3 (4) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITU4 TION.—The term ‘‘international financial institu5 tion’’ means the World Bank, the International 

6 Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development 

7 Bank, the African Development Bank, and the Afri8 can Development Fund. 

9 (5) MEMBERS OF THE GROUP OF 8.—The term 

10 ‘‘members of the Group of 8’’ means Canada, 

11 France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United 

12 Kingdom, and the United States. 

13 (6) WORLD BANK.—The term ‘‘World Bank’’ 

14 means the International Bank for Reconstruction 

15 and Development, the International Development 

16 Association, the International Finance Corporation, 

17 and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. 

18 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury is 

20 authorized to instruct the Untied States Executive Direc21 tor of each international financial institution to use the 

22 voice and vote of the United States to reach an agreement 

23 among the shareholders of such international financial in24 stitutions to permanently cancel 100 percent of the debts 

25 owed to each such institution by an eligible country. 
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1 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—The authority 

2 provided in subsection (a) is in addition to any other au3 thority of the Secretary of the Treasury to promote debt 

4 relief and may not be construed to limit any such other 

5 authority. 

6 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

7 authorized to be appropriated to the President such sums 

8 as may be necessary for the United States contribution 

9 to the implementation of the agreement referred to in sub10 section (a), if other members of the international financial 

11 institutions contribute funds for such purpose. 

12 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DEBT RELIEF. 

13 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the 

14 Treasury should pursue additional bilateral and multilat15 eral debt relief for each country that is eligible for grant 

16 assistance from the International Development Associa17 tion. 

18 SEC. 6. CONTRIBUTIONS TO MULTILATERAL DEVELOP19 MENT BANKS. 

20 (a) WORLD BANK.—The International Development 

21 Association Act (22 U.S.C. 284 et seq.) is amended by 

22 adding at the end the following new section: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 23. FOURTEENTH REPLENISHMENT. 

24 ‘‘(a) CONTRIBUTION AUTHORITY.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The United States Gov2 ernor of the Association is authorized to contribute 

3 on behalf of the United States such sums as may be 

4 necessary to the fourteenth replenishment of the re5 sources of the Association. 

6 ‘‘(2) SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATIONS.—Any com7 mitment to make the contribution authorized by 

8 paragraph (1) shall be effective only to such extent 

9 or in such amounts as are provided in advance in 

10 appropriations Acts. 

11 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

12 contribution authorized by subsection (a), there are au13 thorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec14 essary for payment by the Secretary of the Treasury.’’. 

15 (b) AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK FUND.—The Af16 rican Development Fund Act (22 U.S.C. 290g et seq.) is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 218. TENTH REPLENISHMENT. 

19 ‘‘(a) CONTRIBUTION AUTHORITY.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The United States Gov21 ernor of the Fund is authorized to contribute on be22 half of the United States such sums as may be nec23 essary to the tenth replenishment of the resources of 

24 the Fund. 
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1 ‘‘(2) SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATIONS.—Any com2 mitment to make the contribution authorized by 

3 paragraph (1) shall be effective only to such extent 

4 or in such amounts as are provided in advance in 

5 appropriations Acts. 

6 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

7 contribution authorized by subsection (a), there are au8 thorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec9 essary for payment by the Secretary of the Treasury.’’. 

10 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS OF THE EN11 HANCED HIPC INITIATIVE. 

12 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Presi13 dent such sums as may be necessary for the President to 

14 contribute on behalf of the United States to fulfill the 

15 commitments made by the United States related to the 

16 Enhanced HIPC Initiative. 

17 SEC. 8. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

18 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

20 the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to the appro21 priate congressional committees a report on the status of 

22 negotiations to achieve bilateral and multilateral debt re23 lief for impoverished, highly indebted countries that did 

24 not benefit from the HIPC Initiative or the Enhanced 

25 HIPC Initiative. 
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1 (b) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

2 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con3 gressional committees’’ means the Committee on Appro4 priations and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

5 Senate and the Committee on Appropriations and the 

6 Committee on International Relations of the House of 

7 Representatives. 

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