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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1305

To prohibit funding to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) until debt

owed to the United States by heavily indebted poor countries has been

canceled.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 25, 1999

Mr. CAMPBELL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To prohibit funding to the International Monetary Fund

(IMF) until debt owed to the United States by heavily

indebted poor countries has been canceled.

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 ‘‘Debt Forgiveness Act

5 of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) The International Bank for Reconstruction

2 and Development and the International Monetary

3 Fund (IMF) have classified 40 countries as heavily

4 indebted poor countries (HIPC).

5 (2) According to the Department of the Treas6 ury, as of August 1998, these countries owe the

7 United States a total of $6,752,100,000 in

8 concessional, nonconcessional, and guarantee debt.

9 (3) 32 of these countries are in sub-Saharan

10 Africa and 83 percent of these countries are classi11 fied by the United Nations as being in its lowest cat12 egory of human development based on life expect13 ancy, literacy, and per capita national income.

14 (4) Most of these countries receive substantial

15 amounts of development assistance from govern16 ments, nongovernmental organizations, and multilat17 eral organizations.

18 (5) Since the early 1980s, these poor countries

19 have had increasing difficulty servicing their debt,

20 resulting in the total amount of money being owed

21 by these countries to external creditors to increase

22 from an average of $122,000,000,000 for the 1983–

23 1985 period to $221,000,000,000 for the 1993–

24 1995 period.
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1 SEC. 4. CONDITIONAL BAN ON PROVIDING APPROPRIATED

2 FUNDS TO THE IMF UNTIL DEBT OWED TO

3 THE UNITED STATES BY HEAVILY INDEBTED

4 POOR COUNTRIES HAS BEEN CANCELED.

5 (a) PROHIBITION.—None of the funds appropriated

6 in any Act may be obligated or made available to the

7 International Monetary Fund (IMF) until the President—

8 (1) has canceled all amounts owed to the

9 United States (or any agency of the United States)

10 by poor countries described in subsection (b) as re11 sult of concessional and nonconcessional loans made,

12 guarantees issued, or credits extended under any

13 provision of law; and

14 (2) has certified to the Committee on Banking

15 and Financial Services of the House of Representa16 tives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the

17 Senate that all such amounts have been canceled.

18 (b) ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES.—A country described in

19 this subsection is a heavily indebted poor country, as de20 termined by the International Bank for Reconstruction

21 and Development and the International Monetary Fund

22 for purposes of the Heavily Indebted Poor Country

23 (HIPC) Debt Initiative.

24 (c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—

25 (1) CANCELLATION OF DEBT NOT CONSIDERED

26 TO BE ASSISTANCE.—A cancellation of debt de-
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1 scribed in subsection (a) shall not be considered to

2 be assistance for purposes of any provision of law

3 limiting assistance to a country.

4 (2) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN PROHIBI5 TIONS RELATING TO CANCELLATION OF DEBT.—A

6 cancellation of debt described in subsection (a) may

7 be exercised notwithstanding section 620(r) of the

8 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.

9 2370(r)).

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