I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 772
To authorize a new trade, investment, and development policy for sub-Saharan
Africa that is mutually beneficial to the majority of people in sub-
Saharan Africa and the United States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 23, 1999
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois (for himself, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr.
GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. MCKINNEY, Ms. LEE, Mr. CONYERS,
Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr.
BROWN of Ohio, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CLAY, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of
Texas, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. MCGOVERN,
Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. OLVER, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. BROWN of
California, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. BALDACCI, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr.
STARK, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. EVANS, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. STU-
PAK, and Mr. KLINK) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Com-
mittees on Banking and Financial Services, and Ways and Means, 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 com-
mittee concerned
A BILL
To authorize a new trade, investment, and development pol-
icy for sub-Saharan Africa that is mutually beneficial
to the majority of people in sub-Saharan Africa and
the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Human Rights, Oppor-
tunity, Partnership, and Empowerment for Africa Act’’ or
the ‘‘HOPE for Africa Act’’.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. Findings.
Sec. 4. Declarations of policy.
TITLE I—CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED BY SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Sec. 101. Declarations of policy.
Sec. 102. Cancellation of debt owed to the United States Government by sub-
Saharan African countries.
Sec. 103. Advocacy of cancellation of debt owed to foreign governments by sub-
Saharan African countries.
Sec. 104. Advocacy of cancellation of debt owed to the International Monetary
Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and De-
velopment by sub-Saharan African countries.
Sec. 105. Cancellation of debt owed to United States lenders by sub-Saharan
African countries.
Sec. 106. Study on repayment of debt in local currencies by sub-Saharan Afri-
can countries.
Sec. 107. Allocation of percentage of national budgets of sub-Saharan African
countries for basic services.
Sec. 108. Sense of the Congress relating to level of interim debt payments prior
to full debt cancellation by sub-Saharan African countries.
TITLE II—TRADE PROVISIONS RELATING TO SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICA
Sec. 201. Encouraging mutually beneficial trade and investment.
Sec. 202. Generalized system of preferences.
Sec. 203. Additional enforcement.
TITLE III—DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Sec. 301. Findings.
Sec. 302. Private and voluntary organizations.
Sec. 303. Types of assistance.
Sec. 304. Critical sectoral priorities.
Sec. 305. Minimum levels of assistance for certain critical sectors.
Sec. 306. Reporting requirements.
Sec. 307. Authorization of appropriations for Development Fund for Africa.
TITLE IV—SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA EQUITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE
FUNDS
Sec. 401. Sub-Saharan Africa equity and infrastructure funds.
TITLE V—OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION AND
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK INITIATIVES
Sec. 501. Overseas Private Investment Corporation initiatives.
Sec. 502. Export-Import Bank initiative.
TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 601. Requirements relating to sub-Saharan Africa intellectual property
and competition law.
Sec. 602. Review and reporting requirements.
Sec. 603. Sub-Saharan Africa defined.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) It is in the mutual interest of the United
States and the countries of sub-Saharan Africa to
promote broad-based economic development and eq-
uitable trade and investment policies in sub-Sahara
Africa.
(2) The countries of sub-Saharan Africa form a
region of tremendous human creativity, vast natural
and cultural wealth, enormous economic potential,
and enduring political significance.
(3) Many sub-Saharan African countries have
made notable progress toward democratization in re-
cent years.
(4) Despite this enormous potential, Africa has
the largest number of the poorest countries in the
world. Thirty-three of the 41 highly indebted poor
countries (HIPC) are located in sub-Saharan Africa.
Indeed, 50 percent of Africans live below the poverty
line, and 40 percent live on less than $1 per day. In
addition, 40 percent of Africans suffer from mal-
nutrition and hunger, while 1 in 5 children in Africa
die before the age of 5.
(5)(A) Africa is the only continent where eco-
nomic production per person has declined through-
out the last two decades.
(B) The per capita income for sub-Saharan Af-
rica averages less than $500 annually and per capita
income fell from $752 in 1980, when the neo-liberal
development model was initially imposed on numer-
ous African countries, to $613 in 1988 (in constant
1980 United States dollars).
(C) According to the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, in sub-Saharan
Africa wages have not grown since 1970 and in the
last decade alone family incomes have fallen by a
third and the number of African families unable to
meet their basic needs has doubled.
(D) In 1996, 20 sub-Saharan African countries
were still below their per capita incomes of 20 years
ago.
(6) African women, the region’s chief food pro-
ducers, are often excluded from the benefits of cur-
rent trade and investment regimes.
(7) Africa’s wealth in natural resources, oil, and
minerals is immense. However, current development
and economic models have denied the majority of Af-
rican people any benefits from this vast wealth.
(8) A plan for sustainable, equitable develop-
ment for, and trade with, Africa must recognize the
asymmetries of power and different levels of develop-
ment that exist between countries. Certain fun-
damental pre-existing hindrances to African develop-
ment and trade must be addressed.
(9) Sub-Saharan Africa, especially the poorest
people of sub-Saharan Africa, are inordinately bur-
dened by a $230,000,000,000 debt whose service re-
quirements now take over 20 percent of the export
earnings of the sub-Saharan African region, exclud-
ing South Africa.
(10) The bilateral and multilateral debt bur-
dens of sub-Saharan Africa constitute a serious im-
pediment to private-sector development, stable demo-
cratic political structures, broad-based economic
growth, poverty eradication, the expansion of small
and women-owned businesses, food security, agricul-
tural development aimed at feeding the continent’s
people, environmental sustainability, and regional in-
tegration.
(11)(A) Any policy for development in Africa
that is intended to benefit Africa must be premised
on unconditional debt cancellation.
(B) The history of United States cancellation of
debt includes reversal of the United States demand
that Germany pay 10 percent of its post-World War
II export earnings to recover debts owed prior to the
war.
(C) Germany successfully negotiated for a rate
which resulted in annual payments of less than 3.5
percent of export earnings.
(D) Currently Mozambique, one of the world’s
poorest countries, pays over 20 percent of export
earnings in debt service.
(11)(A) The International Monetary Fund, the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Develop-
ment, and other international financial institutions
and aid agencies have required African nations to
adhere to ‘‘structural adjustment programs’’ which
have imposed enormous preventable suffering on Af-
rican people.
(B) These programs orient economies toward
export production, placing downward pressure on
wages, encouraging unsustainable resource exploi-
tation, and undermining food security.
(C) These programs lead to major reductions in
government spending, including in the crucial areas
of education, healthcare, and environmental protec-
tion, and they particularly harm women, who are
most severely hurt by the elimination of the social
safety net and the policy’s neglect of small and do-
mestically oriented farmers.
(D) The programs impose a deregulatory and
trade liberalization agenda that removes crucial gov-
ernment protections for society and leaves local busi-
ness vulnerable to foreign multinational corpora-
tions. They also encourage wage cuts, including re-
ductions in the minimum wage, weakening of labor
laws and labor rights, and government and private
sector reductions in employment.
(E) Structural adjustment programs force re-
cessionary policies that most seriously victimize the
poor, and these programs tend to exacerbate income
and wealth inequalities and undermine basic well-
being, as measured by access to food, shelter, medi-
cal services, and a sustainable livelihood, even when
traditional economic 
indicators 
show 
economic
growth.
(12) The recent turmoil in the global economy
has demonstrated the limitations of the Inter-
national Monetary Fund model of trade and capital
liberalization.
(13) The United Nations Declaration of Human
Rights guarantees the right to food, shelter, health
care, education, and a sustainable livelihood, as well
as rights to political freedoms. United States policy
toward Africa must further these goals for the ma-
jority of people in sub-Saharan African and the
United States.
(14)(A) Many economic and ‘‘development’’
policies imposed on sub-Saharan Africa under Inter-
national Monetary Fund programs and other inter-
national loan programs are focused on generating
hard currency through exports to service foreign
debt rather than on production for domestic African
food and other needs.
(B) Net transfer of resources from sub-Saharan
Africa to developed countries has increased substan-
tially for almost every sub-Saharan African nation.
(C) Two prominent examples are Zambia,
whose debt service ratio was 25.3 in 1980 and
174.44 in 1995—a 600 percent increase—and Si-
erra Leone, whose debt service nearly tripled from
1980 to 1995.
(15) Certain industrial agriculture practices im-
posed on sub-Saharan Africa under International
Monetary Fund programs and other international
loan programs, including substitution of export crops
for staple food production, use of chemical fer-
tilizers, hybrid seeds and other products, have re-
sulted in damage to local farmers and agriculture
and loss of food security.
(16)(A) Current large scale ‘‘development’’
projects have not been designed in a manner that
produces benefits to most Africans.
(B) For instance, oil and mining projects such
as Sierra Rutile and Terebebe have not benefited
most Africans economically and have caused severe
environmental damage and led to conflicts with local
communities.
(C) More projects of this sort are now under
consideration, such as the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development’s pending May
1999 decision on a $3,000,000,000 request for a
Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline that has been harshly
criticized on social and environmental grounds.
(17) Many sub-Saharan African countries are
suffering from epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis,
malaria and other diseases, many of which are treat-
able or preventable with existing pharmaceutical and
medical treatments.
(18)(A) The key principles that must guide any
United States economic policy toward sub-Saharan
Africa are those repeatedly identified by African gov-
ernments.
(B) Documents providing a concrete guide to
these sub-Saharan African priorities include the
‘‘Lagos Plan’’ developed by the finance ministers of
the sub-Saharan African countries in coordination
with the Organization for African Unity.
(C) The overriding priority expressed in such
African policies is freedom for each African country
to self-determine what economic policies suit the
needs of their people and development.
(D) The priority goals these policies are aimed
to meet are food self-sufficiency and security, and
broad access to potable water, shelter, primary
health care, education, and affordable transport.
(19) Fair trade and mutually beneficial invest-
ment can be important tools for broad-based eco-
nomic development.
(20)(A) Global production utilizing free trade
among developed countries that have a common eco-
nomic and social system often carries significant
benefits—an expansion of demand, employment, pro-
ductivity, and a general increase in living standards.
(B) However, global production utilizing free
trade between developed and underdeveloped coun-
tries that have different economic and social systems
and standards appears to produce significantly dif-
ferent results—a general reduction of wages and de-
mand resulting in over-production and under-con-
sumption, a reduction in worker rights and safety,
fewer environmental protections and social welfare
mandates, and a transfer of income and wealth from
underdeveloped countries to the wealthy in developed
countries—thus increasing income and wealth dis-
parities both within developed countries and between
developed and underdeveloped countries and a gen-
eral lowering of living standards in developed coun-
tries.
(C) Therefore, mutually beneficial trade ar-
rangements among countries with significantly dif-
ferent levels of development will require a more com-
prehensive approach that combines trade opportuni-
ties with other necessary policies that raise living
standards rather than lower them.
SEC. 4. DECLARATIONS OF POLICY.
The Congress makes the following declarations:
(1)(A) The worth of economic development of a
country is measured only by the well-being of the
people of the country.
(B) A program of adjustment or development
that causes a deterioration in conditions for most
people is a failure that must be remedied.
(2) Economic relations between sub-Saharan
Africa and the United States must be oriented to-
ward benefiting the majority of the people of sub-Sa-
haran Africa and of the United States.
(3) The Congress endorses the goals stated in
the Lagos Plan developed by sub-Saharan African
Finance Ministers in cooperation with the Organiza-
tion for African Unity.
(4) In accordance with the goals of the Lagos
Plan, the primary goals of the United States with
respect to developing new economic relations with
sub-Saharan Africa include the following:
(A) Strengthening and diversifying the eco-
nomic production capacity of sub-Saharan
Africa.
(B) Improving the level of people’s incomes
and the pattern of distribution in sub-Saharan
Africa.
(C) Adjusting the pattern of public expend-
itures to satisfy people’s essential needs in sub-
Saharan Africa.
(D) Providing institutional support for
transition to functioning market economies in
sub-Saharan Africa through debt relief.
(E) Supporting environmentally sustain-
able development in sub-Saharan Africa.
(F) Promoting democracy, human rights,
and the strength of civil society in sub-Saharan
Africa.
(5) To achieve these primary goals of the
United States with respect to developing new eco-
nomic relations with sub-Saharan Africa, the Con-
gress calls for the following:
(A)(i) Full and unconditional cancellation
of all debts owed by sub-Saharan African coun-
tries to the United States, to other foreign
countries, to the International Monetary Fund
and the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development.
(ii) Prior to this full and unconditional
cancellation of debt owed by sub-Saharan Afri-
can countries, each sub-Saharan African coun-
try shall not, in making debt payments de-
scribed in subclause (i), pay in any calendar
year an aggregate amount greater than an
amount equal to 5 percent of the export earn-
ings of the country for the prior calendar year.
(B) Encouraging sub-Saharan African
countries to adhere to their United Nations
20/20 Initiative commitment to support invest-
ment in human development by directing at
least 20 percent of savings from debt cancella-
tion to basic social services, with appropriate
input from civil society in developing basic serv-
ice plans as called for in the 20/20 Initiative.
(C) Targeting United States assistance
and trade initiatives so as to encourage local
processing of raw materials, using environ-
mentally protective techniques rather than seek-
ing export of raw commodities for processing in
other countries, will increase sub-Saharan Afri-
can employment, create an industrial base, and
encourage sustainable rates of resource extrac-
tion.
(D) Targeting United States assistance
and trade opportunities to sub-Saharan African
nations that allocate the levels recommended in
the Lagos Plan—25 percent to food production
and security and 30 percent to health, edu-
cation and other vital social services will in-
crease the equity and sustainability of develop-
ment.
(E) United States representatives at all
multilateral banks and other international eco-
nomic institutions should vote for and otherwise
support these policies and others aimed at solu-
tions that do not contribute to exacerbating so-
cial and environmental ills.
(F) United States corporations and foreign
corporations operating in sub-Saharan Africa
and doing business with the United States must
operate under the same core environmental
standards as those used in the operations and
facilities of those corporations in the United
States or other developed countries.
(G) United States policy toward sub-Saha-
ran Africa provides an opportunity to redress
issues of racial inequities in the United States.
United States economic policy toward sub-Saha-
ran Africa must provide African Americans
with the opportunities and potential benefits of
new economic relations between the United
States and Africa.
(6) It is the policy of the United States Govern-
ment to assist sub-Saharan African countries in ef-
forts to make safe and efficacious pharmaceuticals
and medical technologies as widely available as pos-
sible.
TITLE 
I—CANCELLATION 
OF
DEBT OWED BY SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICAN COUNTRIES
SEC. 101. DECLARATIONS OF POLICY.
The Congress makes the following declarations:
(1)(A) For the majority of people in sub-Saha-
ran Africa to be able to benefit from new trade, in-
vestment, and other economic opportunities provided
by this Act, and amendments made by this Act, the
pre-existing burden of external debt of sub-Saharan
African countries must be eliminated.
(B) This fresh start will allow operation of local
credit markets and eliminate distortions currently
hindering development in sub-Saharan Africa.
(2) The cancellation of debt provisions con-
tained in this title, and amendments made by this
title, shall serve to help establish a more level play-
ing field on which sub-Saharan African countries
may move forward under the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 102. CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED TO THE UNITED
STATES GOVERNMENT BY SUB-SAHARAN AF-
RICAN COUNTRIES.
The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘PART VI—CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED TO
THE UNITED STATES BY SUB-SAHARAN AFRI-
CAN COUNTRIES.
‘‘SEC. 901. CANCELLATION OF DEBT.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall cancel all
amounts owed to the United States (or any agency of the
United States) by sub-Saharan African countries defined
in section 603 of the Human Rights, Opportunity, Part-
nership, and Empowerment for Africa Act as a result of—
‘‘(1) concessional loans made or credits ex-
tended under any provision of law, including the pro-
visions of law described in subsection (b)(1); and
‘‘(2) nonconcessional loans made, guarantees
issued, or credits extended under any of provisions
of law, including the provisions of law described in
subsection (b)(2).
‘‘(b) PROVISIONS OF LAW.—
‘‘(1) CONCESSIONAL PROVISIONS OF LAW.—The
provisions of law described in this paragraph are the
following:
‘‘(A) Part I of this Act, chapter 4 of part
II of this Act, or predecessor foreign economic
assistance legislation.
‘‘(B) Title I of the Agricultural Trade De-
velopment and Assistance Act of 1954 (7
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).
‘‘(2) 
NONCONCESSIONAL
PROVISIONS
OF
LAW.—The provisions of law described in this para-
graph are the following:
‘‘(A) Sections 221 and 222 of this Act.
‘‘(B) The Arms Export Control Act (22
U.S.C. 2751 et seq.).
‘‘(C) Section 5(f) of the Commodity Credit
Corporation Charter Act.
‘‘(D)(i) Section 201 of the Agricultural
Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5621).
‘‘(ii) Section 202 of such Act (7 U.S.C.
5622).
‘‘(E) The Export-Import Bank Act of
1945 (12 U.S.C. 635 et seq.).
‘‘(c) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority
to cancel debt under this section shall terminate on Sep-
tember 30, 2002.
‘‘SEC. 902. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.
‘‘(a) REDUCTION OF DEBT NOT CONSIDERED TO BE
ASSISTANCE.—A reduction of debt under section 901 shall
not be considered to be assistance for purposes of any pro-
vision of law limiting assistance to a country.
‘‘(b) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN PROHIBITIONS
RELATING TO REDUCTION OF DEBT.—The authority to
provide for reduction of debt under section 901 may be
exercised notwithstanding section 620(r) of this Act.
‘‘SEC. 903. REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31,
1999, and December 31 of each of the next 3 years, the
President shall prepare and transmit to the appropriate
congressional committees an annual report concerning the
cancellation of debt under section 901 for the prior fiscal
year.
‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘appro-
priate congressional committees’ means—
‘‘(1) the Committee on Banking and Financial
Services and the Committee on International Rela-
tions of the House of Representatives; and
‘‘(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate.
‘‘SEC. 904. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘For the cost (as defined in section 502(5) of the
Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990) for the cancellation
of debt under section 901, there are authorized to be ap-
propriated to the President such sums as may be nec-
essary for each of the fiscal years 2000 through 2002.’’.
SEC. 103. ADVOCACY OF CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED TO
FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS BY SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICAN COUNTRIES.
(a) ADVOCACY OF CANCELLATION OF DEBT.—The
Secretary of State shall provide written notification to
each foreign government that has provided loans, guaran-
tees, or credits to the government of a sub-Saharan Afri-
can country (and such loans, guarantees, or credits are
outstanding) that it is the policy of the United States to
fully and unconditionally cancel all debts owed by each
such sub-Saharan African country to the United States.
In addition, the Secretary shall urge in writing each such
foreign government to follow the example of the United
States and fully and unconditionally cancel all debts owed
by sub-Saharan African countries to each such foreign
government.
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 9 months after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall
prepare and submit to the Congress a report containing—
(1) a description of each written notification
provided to foreign governments under the first sen-
tence of subsection (a);
(2) a description of the response of each such
foreign government to such notification; and
(3) a description of the amount (if any) owed
to the United States by any foreign government op-
posing the United States policy advocated pursuant
to subsection (a).
SEC. 104. ADVOCACY OF CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED TO
THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND AND
THE INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECON-
STRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT BY SUB-SA-
HARAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES.
Title XVI of the International Financial Institutions
Act (22 U.S.C. 262c–262p–5) is amended by redesignat-
ing section 1622 as section 1623 and by inserting after
section 1621 the following:
‘‘SEC. 1622. ADVOCACY OF CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED
TO THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
AND THE INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECON-
STRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT BY SUB-SA-
HARAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Treasury shall
instruct the United States Executive Directors at the
International Monetary Fund and the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development to use the voice, vote,
and influence of the United States to advocate that their
respective institutions—
‘‘(1) fully and unconditionally cancel all debts
owed by any country in sub-Saharan Africa (as de-
fined in section 603 of the Human Rights, Oppor-
tunity, Partnership, and Empowerment for Africa
Act) to such institution; and
‘‘(2) encourage each country benefiting from
such debt cancellation to allocate 20 percent of the
national budget of the country, including savings
from such debt cancellation, to basic services, as the
country has committed to do under the United Na-
tions 20/20 Initiative, with appropriate input from
civil society in developing basic service plans.
‘‘(b) ADVOCACY OF POLICY TO PREVENT SUB-SAHA-
RAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES FROM PAYING MORE THAN 5
PERCENT OF ANNUAL EXPORT EARNINGS FOR DEBT
SERVICE ON IMF OR WORLD BANK LOANS.—The Sec-
retary of Treasury shall instruct the United States Execu-
tive Directors at the International Monetary Fund and the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development,
until their respective institutions have fully and uncondi-
tionally canceled all debts owed to such institutions by any
country in sub-Saharan Africa (within the meaning of sub-
section (a)(1)) to use the voice, vote, and influence of the
United States to advocate that their respective institutions
not be party to, and that no future loan from their respec-
tive institutions be used to finance in whole or part the
implementation of, any agreement which requires the gov-
ernment of any such country, during any 12-month period
beginning on the date of the enactment of this section or
any anniversary of such date, to pay an amount exceeding
5 percent of the annual export earnings of the country
during the year toward the servicing of foreign loans.
‘‘(c) ADVOCACY METHODS.—The Secretary of Treas-
ury shall instruct the United States Executive Directors
at the International Monetary Fund and the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development to carry out
such instructions by all appropriate means, including by
letter to the country representative members governing
bodies of their respective institutions, and by requesting
formal votes on these matters.
‘‘(d) REPORT.—Within 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury
shall submit to the Committees on International Relations
and on Banking and Financial Services of the House of
Representatives and the Committees on Foreign Relations
of the Senate a report that contains—
‘‘(1) a description of the response by foreign
governments to the policies advocated pursuant to
this section;
‘‘(2) the result of any votes taken pursuant to
requests made under subsection (c);
‘‘(3) the amount (if any) owed to the United
States by any country opposing any such policy; and
‘‘(4) a copy of the letter referred to in sub-
section (c).’’.
SEC. 105. CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED TO UNITED
STATES LENDERS BY SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN
COUNTRIES.
(a) REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 2000, the
Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to the Congress
a report on the amount of debt owed to any United States
person by any country in sub-Saharan Africa. The report
shall specify the amount owed to each such person by each
such country, the face value and market value of the debt,
and the amount of interest paid to date on the debt.
(b) ACQUISITION OF THE DEBT BY THE UNITED
STATES.—Not later than September 1, 2000, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall acquire each debt obligation
owed to any United States person by any country in sub-
Saharan Africa. It is the sense of the Congress that the
price at which such an obligation is acquired should be
the market value of the debt obligation as of January 1,
1999.
(c) DEBT CANCELLATION.—On the acquisition of a
debt obligation pursuant to this section, the debt obliga-
tion is hereby canceled.
SEC. 106. STUDY ON REPAYMENT OF DEBT IN LOCAL CUR-
RENCIES BY SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUN-
TRIES.
Section 603 of the Foreign Operations, Export Fi-
nancing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1999
(as contained in section 101(d) of division A of the Omni-
bus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appro-
priations Act, 1999) is amended—
(1) in subsection (e)—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (3);
(B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as
paragraph (5); and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the
following:
‘‘(4) the viability and desirability of having each
indebted country in sub-Saharan Africa (as defined
in section 603 of the Human Rights, Opportunity,
Partnership, and Empowerment for Africa Act)
repay foreign loans made to the country (whether
made bilaterally, multilaterally, or privately) in the
currency of the indebted country; and’’; and
(2) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(6) The matters described in subsection
(e)(4).’’.
SEC. 107. ALLOCATION OF PERCENTAGE OF NATIONAL
BUDGETS OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUN-
TRIES FOR BASIC SERVICES.
The Secretary of State shall encourage the govern-
ment of each sub-Saharan African country to allocate 20
percent of its national budget, including the savings from
the cancellation of debt owed by the country to the United
States (pursuant to part VI of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961, as added by section 102 of this Act), to other
foreign countries (as called for in section 103 of this Act),
to the International Monetary Fund and the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (as called for
in section 1622 of the International Financial Institutions
Act, as added by section 104 of this Act), and to United
States persons (as called for in section 105 of this Act),
for the provision of basic services to individuals in each
such country, as provided for in the United Nations 20/
20 Initiative. In providing such basic services, each such
government should seek input from appropriate non-
governmental organizations.
SEC. 108. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS RELATING TO LEVEL
OF INTERIM DEBT PAYMENTS PRIOR TO
FULL DEBT CANCELLATION BY SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICAN COUNTRIES.
It is the sense of the Congress that, prior to the full
and unconditional cancellation of all debts owed by sub-
Saharan African countries to the United States (pursuant
to part VI of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added
by section 102 of this Act), to other foreign countries (as
called for in section 103 of this Act), and to United States
persons (as called for in section 105 of this Act), each
sub-Saharan African country should not, in making debt
payments described in the prior provisions of law, pay in
any calendar year an aggregate amount greater than an
amount equal to 5 percent of the export earnings of the
country for the prior calendar year.
TITLE 
II—TRADE 
PROVISIONS
RELATING TO SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICA
SEC. 201. ENCOURAGING MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL TRADE
AND INVESTMENT.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following
findings:
(1) A mutually beneficial United States-Sub-Sa-
haran Africa trade policy will grant new access to
the United States market for a broad range of goods
produced in Africa, by Africans, and include safe-
guards to ensure that the corporations manufactur-
ing these goods respect the rights of their employees
and the local environment. Such trade opportunities
will promote equitable economic development and
thus increase demand in African countries for
United States goods and service exports.
(2) Recognizing that the global system of textile
and apparel quotas under the MultiFiber Arrange-
ment will be phased out under the Uruguay Round
Agreements over the next 5 years with the total ter-
mination of the quota system in 2005, the grant of
additional access to the United States market in
these sectors is a short-lived benefit. Indeed, exclu-
sive focus on this sector may create incentives for in-
vestment in Africa in a sector that will become un-
competitive for Africa when the quota system termi-
nates and Chinese textile and apparel production
predominates world markets.
(b) TREATMENT OF QUOTAS.—
(1) KENYA AND MAURITIUS.—Pursuant to the
Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, the United
States shall eliminate the existing quotas on textile
and apparel exports to the United States from
Kenya and Mauritius, respectively, not later than 30
days after each country demonstrates the following:
(A) The country does not engage in signifi-
cant violations of internationally recognized
human rights.
(B)(i) The country is providing for effec-
tive enforcement of internationally recognized
worker rights throughout the country (including
in export processing zones) as determined under
paragraph (5), including the core labor stand-
ards enumerated in the appropriate treaties of
the 
International 
Labor 
Organization,
including—
(I) the right of association;
(II) the right to organize and bargain
collectively;
(III) a prohibition on the use of any
form of coerced or compulsory labor;
(IV) the international minimum age
for the employment of children (age 15);
and
(V) acceptable conditions of work with
respect to minimum wages, hours of work,
and occupational safety and health.
(ii) The government of the country ensures
that the Secretary of Labor, the head of the na-
tional labor agency of the government of that
country, and the head of the International Con-
federation of Free Trade Unions-Africa Region
Office (ICFTU-AFRO) each has access to all
appropriate records and other information of all
business enterprises in the country.
(C) The country is taking adequate meas-
ures to prevent illegal transshipment of goods
that is carried out by rerouting, false declara-
tion concerning country of origin or place of or-
igin, falsification of official documents, evasion
of United States rules of origin for textile and
apparel goods, or any other means, in accord-
ance with the requirements of subsection (d).
(D) The cost or value of the textile or ap-
parel product produced in the country, or any
2 or more sub-Saharan African countries, plus
the direct costs of processing operations per-
formed in the country or such countries, is not
less than 60 percent of the appraised value of
the product at the time it is entered into the
customs territory of the United States.
(E) Not less than 90 percent of employees
in business enterprises producing the textile
and apparel goods are citizens of that country,
or any 2 or more sub-Saharan African coun-
tries.
(F) The country is taking adequate meas-
ures to prevent being used as a transit point for
the shipment of goods in violation of the Agree-
ment on Textiles and Clothing or any other ap-
plicable textile agreement.
(2) OTHER
SUB-SAHARAN
COUNTRIES.—The
President shall continue the existing no quota policy
for each other country in sub-Saharan Africa if the
country is in compliance with the requirements ap-
plicable to Kenya and Mauritius under subpara-
graphs (A) through (F) of paragraph (1).
(3) TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE.—The Customs
Service shall provide the necessary technical assist-
ance to sub-Saharan African countries in the devel-
opment and implementation of adequate measures
against the illegal transshipment of goods.
(4) OFFSETTING
REDUCTION
OF
CHINESE
QUOTA.—When the quota for either Kenya or Mau-
ritius is first eliminated, the quota for textile and
apparel products from the People’s Republic of
China for each calendar year in each product cat-
egory shall be reduced by the amount equal to the
volume of imports of all textile and apparel products
in that product category from all sub-Saharan Afri-
can countries into the United States in the preced-
ing calendar year, plus 5 percent of that amount.
(5) DETERMINATION
OF
COMPLIANCE
WITH
INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED WORKER RIGHTS.—
(A) DETERMINATION.—
(i) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of
carrying out paragraph (1)(B), the Sec-
retary of Labor, in consultation with the
individuals described in clause (ii), shall
determine whether or not each sub-Saha-
ran African country is providing for effec-
tive enforcement of internationally recog-
nized worker rights throughout the country
(including in export processing zones)
under such paragraph.
(ii) INDIVIDUALS
DESCRIBED.—The
individuals described in this clause are the
head of the national labor agency of the
government of the sub-Saharan African
country in question and the head of the
International Confederation of Free Trade
Unions-Africa 
Region 
Office 
(ICFTU-
AFRO).
(B) CONTINUING
COMPLIANCE.—In the
case of a country for which the Secretary of
Labor has made an initial determination under
subparagraph (A) that the country is in compli-
ance with the requirements of paragraph
(1)(B), the Secretary, in consultation with the
individuals described in subparagraph (A),
shall, not less than once every 3 years there-
after, conduct a review and make a determina-
tion with respect to that country to ensure con-
tinuing compliance with the requirements of
paragraph (1)(B).
(C) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and
(bb) providing appropriate
United States officials with inac-
curate or incomplete information,
including information required
under the provisions of this sec-
tion; and
(cc) 
denying 
appropriate
United States officials access to
information or documentation re-
lating to production capacity of,
and outward processing done by,
manufacturers, producers, con-
tractors, or subcontractors within
the country.
(4) PENALTIES.—
(A) FOR
IMPORTERS
AND
RETAILERS.—
The penalty for a violation of any provision of
this section by an importer or retailer of textile
and apparel goods—
(i) for a first offense (except as pro-
vided in clause (iii)), shall be a civil pen-
alty in an amount equal to 200 percent of
the declared value of the merchandise plus
forfeiture of the merchandise;
(ii) for a second offense (except as
provided in clause (iii)), shall be a civil
penalty in an amount equal to 400 percent
of the declared value of the merchandise
plus forfeiture of the merchandise, and, in
addition shall be prosecuted as an offense
punishable by a fine of not more than
$100,000, imprisonment for not more than
1 year, or both; and
(iii) for a third or subsequent offense,
or for a first or second offense if the viola-
tion of the provision of this section is com-
mitted knowingly and willingly, shall be
prosecuted as an offense punishable by a
fine of not more than $1,000,000, impris-
onment for not more than 5 years, or both,
and, in addition, shall result in forfeiture
of the merchandise.
(B) FOR
COUNTRIES.—The failure of a
country to undertake the measures or the co-
operation required by this section shall result in
an automatic imposition of a quota, based on
the first 12 of the prior 24 months of ship-
ments of apparel or textile product category or
categories involved, or the imposition of duty on