At your time to speak explain why the campaign is using chains as a symbol. Ask everyone attending the service to get together in groups of threes and join their pieces of string by knotting them into three links. Have them pass the chains to the front and then display them as a reminder of the campaign. The chains of debt now burden over 40 poor countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. It is terribly urgent that the U.S. Congress take action to help break the chains of debt in order to free up resources that can be used to alleviate poverty and protect the environment.
Many nations now spend four times as much on debt repayment as on health care.
Millions of children end up suffering needlessly. To address this problem, we are supporting the Jubilee 2000 movement, which proposes cancellation of the backlog of unpayable debt of the poorest countries by the year 2000. This would give a fresh start to those deep in debt, benefitting millions of people. We urge you to take action to cancel the debt of the poorest countries, and give these countries a chance to invest in its people. Please let us know what you are doing on this issue.