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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2961 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2961

        To provide debt relief to Haiti, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 28, 2010

  Mr. Dodd (for himself and Mr. Lugar) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
        To provide debt relief to Haiti, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Haiti Recovery Act''.

SEC. 2. DEBT RELIEF FOR HAITI.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Cancellation of debt.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
        should direct the United States Executive Director to each 
        international financial institution to advocate in such 
        institution--
                    (A) the cancellation of any and all remaining debt 
                obligations of Haiti, including debt obligations 
                incurred after the date of the enactment of this Act 
                and before February 1, 2012;
                    (B) the provision of debt service relief for all 
                remaining payments of Haiti; and
                    (C) to the extent practicable, the extension of any 
                new assistance to Haiti be primarily in the form of 
                grants, not loans.
            (2) International financial institution.--The term 
        ``international financial institution'' means each of the 
        institutions listed in section 1701(c)(2) of the International 
        Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(2)) and includes 
        the International Development Fund for Agricultural 
        Development.
    (b) Use of Certain Funds for Poverty Reduction.--The Secretary of 
the Treasury should instruct the United States Executive Director of 
the International Monetary Fund to advocate the use of the proceeds, in 
excess of May 2009 projections from the ongoing sale of 12,965,649 
ounces of gold acquired since the second Amendment of the Fund's 
Article of Agreement, to provide debt stock relief, debt service 
relief, and grants for low-income countries that are eligible for the 
Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility or any other programs designed to 
assist low-income countries, including Haiti.
    (c) Securing Other Relief for Haiti.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
and the Secretary of State should use all appropriate diplomatic 
influence to secure cancellation of any and all remaining bilateral 
debt of Haiti.

SEC. 3. INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT.

    (a) Trust Fund.--The Secretary of the Treasury should support the 
creation and utilization of an Inter-American Development Bank trust 
fund for Haiti that would leverage potential United States 
contributions and promote bilateral donations to such a fund for the 
purpose of making investments in Haiti's infrastructure, including 
electric grids, roads, water and sanitation facilities, and other 
critical infrastructure projects.
    (b) Increase in Transfer of Earnings.--The Secretary of the 
Treasury should direct the United States Executive Director of the 
Inter-American Development Bank to increase the transfer of its 
earnings to the Fund for Special Operations, which finances programming 
in Haiti and other weak economies in the Western Hemisphere.
                                 <all>
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