I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2232

To provide bilateral and multilateral debt relief to countries in sub-Saharan

Africa.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 15, 1999

Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms. LEE, and Ms.

SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee

on Banking and Financial Services, 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 provide bilateral and multilateral debt relief to countries

in sub-Saharan Africa.

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Debt Relief and Development in Africa Act of 1999’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Actions to provide bilateral debt relief and procedures for new loans,

credits, and guarantees.
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Sec. 3. Assistance for development of natural resources in sub-Saharan African

poor countries.

Sec. 4. Export-Import Bank assistance not available to companies that develop

natural resources in sub-Saharan African poor countries unless

contracts to do so are publicly available.

Sec. 5. Ensuring burdensharing by other creditor countries.

Sec. 6. Actions to improve the provision of multilateral debt relief and procedures for new lending.

1 SEC. 2. ACTIONS TO PROVIDE BILATERAL DEBT RELIEF

2 AND PROCEDURES FOR NEW LOANS, CRED3 ITS, AND GUARANTEES.

4 The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151

5 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘PART VI—CANCELLATION AND REDUCTION OF

7 DEBT OWED TO THE UNITED STATES BY SUB8 SAHARAN AFRICAN POOR COUNTRIES AND

9 PROCEDURES FOR NEW LOANS, CREDITS,

10 AND GUARANTEES TO DEVELOPING COUN11 TRIES

12 ‘‘SEC. 901. CANCELLATION AND REDUCTION OF DEBT.

13 ‘‘(a) CANCELLATION OF DEBT.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to amounts pro15 vided in advance in an appropriations Act, the Presi16 dent shall, prior to September 30, 2001, cancel all

17 amounts owed to the United States (or any agency

18 of the United States) by heavily indebted poor coun19 tries described in section 902 as a result of

20 concessional loans made or credits extended prior to
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1 January 1, 1996, under any of the provisions of law

2 described in paragraph (2).

3 ‘‘(2) PROVISIONS OF LAW.—The provisions of

4 law described in this paragraph are the following:

5 ‘‘(A) Part I of this Act, chapter 4 of part

6 II of this Act, or predecessor foreign economic

7 assistance legislation.

8 ‘‘(B) Title I of the Agricultural Trade De9 velopment and Assistance Act of 1954 (7

10 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).

11 ‘‘(b) REDUCTION OF DEBT.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to amounts pro13 vided in advance in an appropriations Act, the Presi14 dent shall, prior to September 30, 2001, reduce, by

15 not less than 95 percent, amounts owed to the

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

17 by each heavily indebted poor country described in

18 section 902 as a result of nonconcessional loans

19 made, guarantees issued, or credits extended prior to

20 January 1, 1996, under any of the provisions of law

21 described in paragraph (2).

22 ‘‘(2) PROVISIONS OF LAW.—The provisions of

23 law described in this paragraph are the following:

24 ‘‘(A) Sections 221 and 222 of this Act.
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1 ‘‘(B) The Arms Export Control Act (22

2 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.).

3 ‘‘(C) Section 5(f) of the Commodity Credit

4 Corporation Charter Act.

5 ‘‘(D)(i) Section 201 of the Agricultural

6 Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5621).

7 ‘‘(ii) Section 202 of such Act (7 U.S.C.

8 5622).

9 ‘‘(E) The Export-Import Bank Act of

10 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635 et seq.).

11 ‘‘SEC. 902. ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES.

12 ‘‘(a) HEAVILY INDEBTED POOR COUNTRIES.—Ex13 cept as provided in subsection (b) and subject to the fulfill14 ment of the additional requirement in subsection (c), a

15 country shall be considered to be a heavily indebted poor

16 country and eligible for cancellation or reduction of debt

17 under section 901 if the country is a country in sub-Saha18 ran Africa and the country—

19 ‘‘(1) is eligible to borrow from the International

20 Development Association;

21 ‘‘(2) is not eligible to borrow from the Inter22 national Bank for Reconstruction and Development;

23 and

24 ‘‘(3) has outstanding public and publicly guar25 anteed debt, the net present value of which on De-
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1 cember 31, 1996, was at least 100 percent of the av2 erage annual value of the exports of the country for

3 the period 1994 through 1996.

4 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—A country shall not be eligible

5 for cancellation or reduction of debt under section 901 if

6 the government of the country—

7 ‘‘(1) supports or condones the practice of slav8 ery or there is documented evidence of the existence

9 of slavery in the country and the government is not

10 making a concerted effort to eradicate the practice;

11 or

12 ‘‘(2) (including its military or other security

13 forces) engages in a consistent pattern of gross vio14 lations of internationally recognized human rights.

15 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—A country which

16 is otherwise eligible to receive cancellation or reduction of

17 debt under section 901 may receive such cancellation or

18 reduction, as the case may be, only if the government of

19 the country has established, through transparent and

20 participatory processes, including participation of civil

21 society—

22 ‘‘(1) a human development fund (hereinafter re23 ferred to as the ‘Human Development Fund’)—

24 ‘‘(A) the resources of which shall be dedi25 cated to reducing the number of persons living
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1 in poverty, expanding access of the poorest

2 members of society to basic social services, in3 cluding education, health, clean water and sani4 tation, and preventing the degradation of the

5 environment; and

6 ‘‘(B) into which shall be deposited all sav7 ings generated by debt reduction received under

8 the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)

9 Initiative of the International Bank for Recon10 struction and Development and the Inter11 national Monetary Fund and other debt reduc12 tion programs;

13 ‘‘(2) arrangements to ensure that all expendi14 tures from the Human Development Fund during a

15 year will be used to increase annual expenditures for

16 human development by the government above the

17 greater of—

18 ‘‘(A) the total amount of annual expendi19 tures for human development by the govern20 ment for the preceding year; or

21 ‘‘(B) the average total amount of such ex22 penditures for the 3 years immediately pre23 ceding the year in which such fund is estab24 lished; and
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1 ‘‘(3) arrangements for monitoring the oper2 ations and financial transactions and accounts of the

3 Human Development Fund by an oversight body

4 which includes representatives of civil society.

5 ‘‘SEC. 903. PRIORITY.

6 ‘‘In canceling or reducing debt under section 901, the

7 President—

8 ‘‘(1) shall give priority to—

9 ‘‘(A) heavily indebted poor countries that

10 have demonstrated a sustained commitment to

11 poverty alleviation or have recently suffered a

12 major natural disaster; or

13 ‘‘(B) the poorest heavily indebted poor

14 countries, as determined by the countries’ per

15 capita income, the United Nations’ Human De16 velopment Index, or another relevant measure

17 of poverty; and

18 ‘‘(2) shall give the highest priority to those

19 countries that meet the requirements of both sub20 paragraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1).

21 ‘‘SEC. 904. SPECIAL PROVISIONS.

22 ‘‘(a) CANCELLATION OR REDUCTION OF DEBT NOT

23 CONSIDERED TO BE ASSISTANCE.—Except as the Presi24 dent may otherwise determine for reasons of national se25 curity, a cancellation or reduction of debt under section
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1 901 shall not be considered to be assistance for purposes

2 of any provision of law limiting assistance to a country.

3 ‘‘(b) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN PROHIBITIONS

4 RELATING TO CANCELLATION OR REDUCTION OF

5 DEBT.—The authority to provide for cancellation or re6 duction of debt under section 901 may be exercised not7 withstanding section 620(r) of this Act.

8 ‘‘SEC. 905. ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS.

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31 of

10 each year, the President shall prepare and transmit to the

11 appropriate congressional committees a report, which shall

12 be made available to the public, concerning the cancella13 tion and reduction of debt under section 901, and deter14 minations made under section 904(a) for the prior fiscal

15 year. The report shall also include a list of the countries

16 that have received debt cancellation or reduction under

17 section 901 and a list of the countries that have been de18 nied debt cancellation or reduction under section 902 and

19 the reasons therefor.

20 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘appro21 priate congressional committees’ means—

22 ‘‘(1) the Committee on Banking and Financial

23 Services and the Committee on International Rela24 tions of the House of Representatives; and
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1 ‘‘(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the

2 Senate.

3 ‘‘SEC. 906. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

4 ‘‘It is the sense of the Congress that the amounts

5 that would otherwise be provided by the United States for

6 development aid or other debt relief should not be reduced

7 on account of any appropriations made pursuant to sec8 tion 907.

9 ‘‘SEC. 907. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 ‘‘For the cost (as defined in section 502(5) of the

11 Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990) of the cancellation

12 or reduction of any debt under section 901 of this Act,

13 there are authorized to be appropriated to the President

14 such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years

15 2000 and 2001.

16 ‘‘SEC. 908. PROCEDURES FOR NEW LOANS, CREDITS, AND

17 GUARANTEES.

18 ‘‘The President shall, to the extent appropriate, en19 sure that all decisions by the Government of the United

20 States (or any agency of the United States) to make new

21 loans, extend new credits or issue new guarantees to the

22 governments (or any agency of the governments) of, or

23 private parties in, any developing country shall be subject

24 to transparent and participatory processes, including giv25 ing due notice to the public in advance of such decisions
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1 of the proposed purposes, terms, and conditions of such

2 loans, credits, and guarantees.’’.

3 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF NATURAL RE4 SOURCES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN POOR

5 COUNTRIES.

6 The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151

7 et seq.), as amended by this Act, is further amended by

8 adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘PART VII—ASSISTANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF

10 NATURAL RESOURCES IN SUB-SAHARAN AF11 RICAN POOR COUNTRIES

12 ‘‘SEC. 921. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE.

13 ‘‘The Administrator of the United States Agency for

14 International Development, in consultation with the Sec15 retary of the Treasury, the Administrator of the Environ16 mental Protection Agency, and the Secretary of Labor,

17 shall establish and carry out a program to provide assist18 ance, including technical assistance, to countries described

19 in section 902 of this Act (except subsection (a)(3) of such

20 section) for the purpose of—

21 ‘‘(1) establishing plans in such countries,

22 through transparent and participatory processes, in23 cluding the participation of civil society, for the de24 velopment of the countries’ natural resources in a
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1 manner that will benefit the population of the coun2 try; and

3 ‘‘(2) in negotiating or renegotiating equitable

4 contracts with foreign or multinational corporations

5 for the development of natural resources.

6 ‘‘SEC. 922. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Plans described in section 921

8 should include the following:

9 ‘‘(1) The natural resources that are being devel10 oped or will be developed in the country.

11 ‘‘(2) The profits and other benefits that the

12 government estimates will accrue to the companies

13 involved in the development of such natural re14 sources.

15 ‘‘(3) The corporate tax revenues, land use fees,

16 resource extraction fees, export tariffs, and other

17 revenues that the government estimates will be

18 raised as a result of the development and extraction

19 of such natural resources.

20 ‘‘(4) The plans of the government for the use

21 of the revenues so raised.

22 ‘‘(5) The plans of the government to conserve

23 such natural resources and protect the environment

24 of the country.
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1 ‘‘(6) The plans of the government to protect

2 public health and safety and the rights of workers.

3 ‘‘(7) The plans of the government to provide for

4 the training and education of the local population

5 and to ensure that the companies involved in the de6 velopment of such natural resources provide mem7 bers of the local population opportunities for employ8 ment and advancement.

9 ‘‘(8) Any other plans of the government to en10 sure a fair return to the country and its people for

11 the development of such natural resources.

12 ‘‘(b) TRANSPARENCY.—The Administrator shall en13 courage each government to make available to the public

14 all contracts between the government (including any enter15 prise owned or controlled by the government) and a for16 eign or multinational corporation for the development of

17 natural resources of the country.

18 ‘‘SEC. 923. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

19 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec20 retary of the Treasury such sums as may be necessary

21 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through 2006 to carry

22 out this part.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK ASSISTANCE NOT AVAIL2 ABLE TO COMPANIES THAT DEVELOP NAT3 URAL RESOURCES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN

4 POOR COUNTRIES UNLESS CONTRACTS TO

5 DO SO ARE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.

6 Section 2(b) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945

7 (12 U.S.C. 635(b)) is amended by adding at the end the

8 following:

9 ‘‘(12) The Bank shall not insure, guarantee, extend

10 credit, or participate in an extension of credit to any pri11 vate entity that is involved in developing natural resources

12 in any country described in section 902(a) of the Foreign

13 Assistance Act of 1961 (except subsection (a)(3) of such

14 section), unless the entity has made a copy of each con15 tract in effect between the entity and the government of

16 any such country (including any enterprise owned or con17 trolled by any such government) available to the public.’’.

18 SEC. 5. ENSURING BURDENSHARING BY OTHER CREDITOR

19 COUNTRIES.

20 In order to accelerate bilateral debt relief and pro21 mote economic and human development and poverty allevi22 ation in heavily indebted sub-Saharan African poor coun23 tries, the Congress urges the President, immediately after

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, to establish diplo25 matic efforts with countries that are members of the Paris

26 Club of Official Creditors, and, if necessary, with other
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1 creditors, to accomplish the following by September 30,

2 2001:

3 (1) The cancellation of all amounts owed to

4 each such member country by heavily indebted poor

5 countries described in section 902 of the Foreign As6 sistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 2) as a

7 result of concessional loans made or credits extended

8 prior to January 1, 1996, by each such country.

9 (2) The reduction, by not less than 95 percent,

10 of amounts owed to each such country by heavily in11 debted poor countries described in section 902 of the

12 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section

13 2) as a result of nonconcessional loans made, guar14 antees issued, or credits extended prior to January

15 1, 1996, by each such country.

16 (3) The establishment of procedures by the

17 Club to ensure greater transparency in the decision18 making process, including publication of each deci19 sion and its rationale, on all applications to the Club

20 for debt reduction by heavily indebted poor countries

21 described in section 902 of the Foreign Assistance

22 Act of 1961 (as added by section 2).
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1 SEC. 6. ACTIONS TO IMPROVE THE PROVISION OF MULTI2 LATERAL DEBT RELIEF AND PROCEDURES

3 FOR NEW LENDING.

4 (a) MODIFICATIONS TO THE HIPC INITIATIVE.—

5 Title XVI of the International Financial Institutions Act

6 (22 U.S.C. 262p–262p–5) is amended by adding at the

7 end the following:

8 ‘‘SEC. 1623. IMPROVEMENT OF THE HEAVILY INDEBTED

9 POOR COUNTRIES INITIATIVE; ENSURING EQ10 UITABLE BURDEN SHARING.

11 ‘‘(a) IMPROVEMENT OF THE HIPC INITIATIVE.—In

12 order to accelerate multilateral debt relief and promote

13 economic and human development and poverty alleviation

14 in heavily indebted poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa,

15 the Congress urges the President to commence imme16 diately diplomatic efforts, within the Paris Club of Official

17 Creditors, as well as the International Bank for Recon18 struction and Development (World Bank), the Inter19 national Monetary Fund (IMF), the African Development

20 Bank, and other appropriate multilateral development in21 stitutions to accomplish the following modifications in the

22 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative with

23 respect to countries in sub-Saharan Africa:

24 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON STRUCTURAL ADJUST25 MENT PROGRAMS.—The provision of debt reduction

26 under the HIPC Initiative shall not be conditioned
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1 on any country adopting or implementing any struc2 tural adjustment program, but may be conditioned

3 on good governance, transparency, or the elimination

4 of economic corruption.

5 ‘‘(2) REVISION OF COUNTRY ELIGIBILITY RE6 QUIREMENT.—A country shall be regarded as having

7 an unsustainable debt burden for purposes of quali8 fying for debt reduction (or for further debt reduc9 tion) under the HIPC Initiative if the net present

10 value of the outstanding public and publicly guaran11 teed debt of the country at the end of 1996 was at

12 least 100 percent of the average annual value of the

13 exports of the country for the period 1994 through

14 1996.

15 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT FOR A HUMAN DEVELOP16 MENT FUND.—Debt reduction under the HIPC Ini17 tiative shall not be provided for the benefit of a

18 country unless the government of the country has

19 established, through transparent and participatory

20 processes, including the participation of civil

21 society—

22 ‘‘(A) a plan of action for human develop23 ment (in this section referred to as the ‘Action

24 Plan’) which includes policies, programs, and

25 projects designed to reduce the number of per-
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1 sons living in poverty, expand access of the

2 poorest members of society to basic social serv3 ices, including health, education, clean water,

4 and sanitation, and prevent the degradation of

5 the environment;

6 ‘‘(B) a human development fund (in this

7 section referred to as the ‘Human Development

8 Fund’)—

9 ‘‘(i) the resources of which are dedi10 cated to achieving the purposes of the Ac11 tion Plan; and

12 ‘‘(ii) into which are required to be de13 posited all savings generated by debt re14 duction provided for the benefit of the

15 country under the Heavily Indebted Poor

16 Countries (HIPC) Initiative and under

17 other debt reduction programs;

18 ‘‘(C) arrangements to ensure that all ex19 penditures from the Human Development Fund

20 during a year will be used to increase annual

21 expenditures for human development by the

22 government above the greater of—

23 ‘‘(i) the total amount of annual ex24 penditures for human development by the

25 government for the preceding year; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) the average total amount of such

2 expenditures for the 3 years immediately

3 preceding the year in which such fund is

4 established; and

5 ‘‘(D) arrangements for monitoring the op6 erations, financial transactions, and accounts of

7 the Human Development Fund by an oversight

8 body which includes representatives of civil soci9 ety.

10 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENT FOR A NATURAL RE11 SOURCES DEVELOPMENT PLAN.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Debt reduction under

13 the HIPC Initiative shall not be provided for

14 the benefit of a country unless the government

15 of the country has established through trans16 parent and participatory processes (including

17 the participation of civil society) a plan (in this

18 section referred to as the ‘Natural Resources

19 Development Plan’), covering at least a 5-year

20 period, for the development of the country’s

21 natural resources in a manner that will benefit

22 the population of the country. The plan shall

23 specify at least the following:
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1 ‘‘(i) The natural resources that are

2 being developed or will be developed in the

3 country.

4 ‘‘(ii) The profits and other benefits

5 that the government estimates will accrue

6 to the companies involved in the develop7 ment of such natural resources.

8 ‘‘(iii) The corporate tax revenues, land

9 use fees, resource extraction fees, export

10 tariffs, and other revenues that the govern11 ment estimates will be raised as a result of

12 the development and extraction of such

13 natural resources.

14 ‘‘(iv) The plans of the government for

15 the use of the revenues so raised.

16 ‘‘(v) The plans of the government to

17 conserve such natural resources and pro18 tect the environment of the country.

19 ‘‘(vi) The plans of the government to

20 protect public health and safety and the

21 rights of workers.

22 ‘‘(vii) The plans of the government to

23 provide for the training and education of

24 the local population and to ensure that the

25 companies involved in the development of
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1 such natural resources provide members of

2 the local population opportunities for em3 ployment and advancement.

4 ‘‘(viii) Any other plans of the govern5 ment to ensure a fair return to the country

6 and its people for the development of such

7 natural resources.

8 ‘‘(B) TRANSPARENCY.—All contracts be9 tween the government (including any enterprise

10 owned or controlled by the government) and a

11 foreign or multinational corporation for the de12 velopment of natural resources of the country

13 shall be made available to the public.

14 ‘‘(C) ASSISTANCE.—The World Bank, the

15 African Development Bank, the IMF, or other

16 appropriate multilateral development institu17 tions shall, under the HIPC Initiative, provide

18 assistance to countries in developing their Nat19 ural Resources Development Plans and in nego20 tiating or renegotiating equitable contracts with

21 foreign or multinational corporations for the de22 velopment of natural resources.

23 ‘‘(5) TIMING OF PROVISION OF DEBT REDUC24 TION.—As soon as a country has complied with the

25 requirements described in paragraphs (2), (3), and
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1 (4), the country shall be considered eligible for im2 mediate debt reduction under the HIPC Initiative.

3 ‘‘(6) AMOUNT OF DEBT REDUCTION.—The

4 amount of the debt reduction provided under the

5 HIPC Initiative for the benefit of a country with an

6 unsustainable debt burden shall be sufficient to

7 reduce—

8 ‘‘(A) the net present value of the out9 standing public and publicly guaranteed debt of

10 the country to less than 100 percent of the

11 value of the annual exports of the country; and

12 ‘‘(B) the amount of annual payments due

13 on such public and publicly guaranteed debt to

14 not more than 5 percent of the amount of an15 nual current revenue received by the govern16 ment of the country from internal sources.

17 ‘‘(7) TRANSPARENCY AND PARTICIPATION IN

18 HIPC DECISION MAKING.—All decisions under the

19 HIPC Initiative concerning the amount, terms and

20 conditions, and timing of debt relief for a country,

21 and the processes by which such decisions are made,

22 shall be subject to procedures which are—

23 ‘‘(A) transparent, including publication of

24 the content of the decisions and of all relevant

25 analytical, legal, and policy documents, includ-
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1 ing Debt Sustainability Analyses, Policy Frame2 work Papers, debt relief agreements, and na3 tional development programs and budgets; and

4 ‘‘(B) participatory, including the participa5 tion of civil society.

6 ‘‘(8) EVALUATION OF DEBT RELIEF ELIGI7 BILITY BY THE AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK.—

8 The African Development Bank shall be responsible

9 for—

10 ‘‘(A) determining the eligibility of sub-Sa11 haran African countries to receive debt reduc12 tion under the HIPC Initiative;

13 ‘‘(B) evaluating proposals of the govern14 ments of such countries for Human Develop15 ment Funds, Natural Resources Development

16 Plans, and for meeting all other requirements

17 imposed as a condition of receiving such debt

18 reduction; and

19 ‘‘(C) evaluating the compliance of such

20 countries with all requirements imposed as a

21 condition of receiving such debt reduction.

22 ‘‘(9) MONITORING PANELS.—

23 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The African De24 velopment Bank shall establish a Monitoring
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1 Panel for each country that is eligible to receive

2 debt reduction under the HIPC Initiative.

3 ‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The Monitoring Panel for

4 a country—

5 ‘‘(i) shall review all proposed condi6 tions for the receipt of such debt reduction,

7 including proposals for a Natural Re8 sources Development Plan and the estab9 lishment of a Human Development Fund;

10 ‘‘(ii) shall issue a report when the Af11 rican Development Bank and the country

12 reach an agreement on the conditions for

13 debt relief, and thereafter at least every 6

14 months, which shall be made available to

15 the public;

16 ‘‘(iii) shall meet at least once per

17 month to evaluate and report on the

18 progress of the country’s debt relief pro19 gram;

20 ‘‘(iv) shall review all actions by the

21 country’s government, the African Develop22 ment Bank, and other creditor govern23 ments and institutions affecting the

24 progress of the country’s debt relief pro25 gram; and
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1 ‘‘(v) shall review the implementation

2 of the country’s Natural Resources Devel3 opment Plan and the use of the funds de4 posited in the Human Development Fund.

5 ‘‘(C) COMPOSITION.—

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Monitoring

7 Panel for a country—

8 ‘‘(I) shall include individuals who

9 represent the government of the coun10 try, individuals who represent civil so11 ciety in the country, representatives of

12 creditor governments and multilateral

13 institutions, and representatives of

14 civil society in creditor countries; and

15 ‘‘(II) may include a representa16 tive of UNICEF and a representative

17 of the United Nations.

18 For purposes of this clause, the term ‘civil

19 society’ includes individuals representing

20 labor unions, environmental organizations,

21 human rights organizations, religious orga22 nizations, farmers’ organizations, women’s

23 organizations, indigenous people’s organi24 zations, students’ organizations, opposition
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1 political parties, and other community or2 ganizations.

3 ‘‘(ii) REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE

4 COUNTRY INVOLVED.—At least half of the

5 members of the Monitoring Panel for a

6 country shall be citizens of the country.

7 ‘‘(D) TRAVEL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EX8 PENSES.—The African Development Bank shall

9 provide all funds necessary for travel and ad10 ministrative expenses for each Monitoring Panel

11 to fulfill its functions.

12 ‘‘(10) SPECIAL PROVISIONS.—

13 ‘‘(A) In providing debt reduction under the

14 HIPC Initiative, priority shall be given to the

15 poorest countries, as determined by the coun16 tries’ per capita income, the United Nations’

17 Human Development Index, or another relevant

18 measure of poverty.

19 ‘‘(B) Debt reduction under the HIPC Ini20 tiative for the benefit of a country that has

21 demonstrated a sustained commitment to pov22 erty alleviation or has recently suffered a major

23 natural disaster shall be provided in a greater

24 amount or more quickly than would otherwise

25 be the case under the HIPC Initiative.
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1 ‘‘(11) HIPC REVIEW.—The Secretary of the

2 Treasury shall make every effort (including instruct3 ing the United States Executive Directors at the

4 IMF, the World Bank, and the African Development

5 Bank) to ensure that a comprehensive external as6 sessment of the HIPC Initiative shall take place by

7 December 31, 2001, shall incorporate the views of

8 debtor governments and civil society, shall be made

9 public, and shall include—

10 ‘‘(A) an analysis of the contribution of the

11 HIPC Initiative to the poverty reduction and

12 social development goals for the 21st century

13 established by the Development Assistance

14 Committee of the Organization for Economic

15 Cooperation and Development; and

16 ‘‘(B) recommendations to the IMF, the

17 World Bank, the African Development Bank,

18 and the governments of the United States and

19 other creditor countries that may be necessary

20 to strengthen the contribution of the HIPC Ini21 tiative to the poverty reduction and social goals

22 referred to in subparagraph (A).

23 ‘‘(12) TERMINATION OF THE HIPC INITIA24 TIVE.—The HIPC Initiative shall not terminate
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1 until all the debt reduction contemplated by this sec2 tion has been carried out.

3 ‘‘(b) PROMOTION OF EQUITABLE BURDEN SHAR4 ING.—In order to promote equitable burden-sharing by bi5 lateral, multilateral, and private creditors under the HIPC

6 initiative, the Congress urges the President to commence

7 immediately diplomatic efforts to ensure that such credi8 tors draw upon their own resources to finance debt reduc9 tion under the HIPC Initiative to the extent possible with10 out diverting funds from other high priority poverty allevi11 ation programs.

12 ‘‘(c) CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HIPC TRUST FUND.—

13 For payment to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

14 Trust Fund of the International Bank for Reconstruction

15 and Development, there are authorized to be appropriated

16 to the President such sums as may be necessary for fiscal

17 years 2000, 2001, and 2002, except that if, with respect

18 to fiscal year 2001 or 2002, the President has not deter19 mined that, during the then preceding fiscal year, satisfac20 tory progress was made in accomplishing the improve21 ments in the HIPC initiative described in subsections (a)

22 and (b), then no sums are authorized to be appropriated

23 for such purpose for the fiscal year.

24 ‘‘(d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con25 gress that the amounts that would otherwise be provided
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1 by the United States for development aid or other debt

2 relief should not be reduced on account of any appropria3 tions pursuant to subsection (c).

4 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—Not later than

5 December 31 of each year, the President shall submit to

6 the Committees on Banking and Financial Services and

7 on International Relations of the House of Representa8 tives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen9 ate a report, which shall be made available to the public,

10 on the activities undertaken under this section, and on the

11 progress made in accomplishing the purposes of this sec12 tion, for the prior fiscal year. The report shall include a

13 list of the countries that have received debt relief under

14 the HIPC Initiative, a list of the countries whose request

15 for such debt relief has been denied and the reasons there16 for, and a list of the countries whose requests for such

17 debt relief are under consideration.

18 ‘‘SEC. 1624. IMPROVEMENT OF PROCEDURES FOR NEW

19 LENDING.

20 ‘‘The President, acting through the Secretary of the

21 Treasury, shall work with the member countries of the

22 international financial institutions (as defined in section

23 1701(c)(2)) to ensure transparency and public participa24 tion in decisions to make new loans, and the terms and
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1 conditions of such loans, to developing countries,

2 including—

3 ‘‘(1) disclosure of Policy Framework Papers,

4 Public Expenditure Reviews, Country Assistance

5 Strategies, International Monetary Fund Letters of

6 Intent, appraisal documents, and other reports rel7 evant to proposed lending operations;

8 ‘‘(2) participation of civil society in the design

9 of national development programs and in decisions

10 to borrow from such institutions in support of such

11 programs; and

12 ‘‘(3) provision of detailed information to the

13 Board of Directors of such an institution and to the

14 public, prior to the approval of a lending operation

15 for a developing country, as to the nature and extent

16 of civil society participation in the design of, and ap17 proval process for, such operation.’’.

18 (b) FUNDING OF DEBT REDUCTION UNDER THE

19 HIPC INITIATIVE.—Section 5 of the Bretton Woods

20 Agreements Act (22 U.S.C. 286c) is amended by adding

21 at the end the following: ‘‘No director appointed to rep22 resent the United States at the Fund shall vote for any

23 proposal to sell or otherwise convert or liquidate gold, un24 less there are in effect such laws and procedures as may

25 be necessary to ensure that all of the proceeds obtained
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1 from any such sale, conversion, or liquidation are depos2 ited in the HIPC Trust Fund administered by the Inter3 national Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and

4 that such funds are used only for the provision of debt

5 reduction under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

6 (HIPC) Initiative.’’.

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