I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2482
To call for the cancellation of loans made to Iraq by multilateral financial 
institutions. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 16, 2003
Mrs. MALONEY (for herself and Mr. LEACH) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To call for the cancellation of loans made to Iraq by 
multilateral financial institutions.
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 ‘‘Iraqi Freedom From 
Debt Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Debt cancellation can be an essential tool in 
rebuilding a nation destroyed by war and humiliated 
by its leadership. It is an effective development tool
that releases funds within a nation that can be used 
to address poverty and meet essential human needs. 
(2) A significant amount of Iraq’s outstanding 
loans were taken out at the behest of Baath Party 
leadership and rather than being used for the benefit 
or the well-being of the Iraqi people were used for 
building lavish palaces, secret police, prisons, and il-
legal weapons programs. 
(3) According to international precedent, debts 
incurred by dictatorships for the purposes of op-
pressing their people or for personal purpose may be 
considered ‘‘odious’’. In cases where borrowed money 
is used in ways contrary to the people’s interest, 
with the knowledge of the creditors, the creditors 
may be said to have committed a hostile act against 
the people. Under such reasoning, such debts may 
be questioned. 
(4) The United States set the first precedent of 
odious debt forgiveness in 1898 when it seized con-
trol of Cuba from Spain. 
(5) Odious debt includes illegal lending. The 
United Nations Security Council Resolution 661 ex-
pressly forbade ‘‘the sale or supply...of any commod-
ities or products, including weapons or any other
military equipment’’. Numerous countries appear to 
have violated this resolution. 
(6) The IMF and the World Bank have suffi-
cient resources to cancel or adjust significantly 
downward all of Iraq’s debts to these institutions. 
Such an action would set a precedent to follow for 
other creditors, odious or not, throughout the rest of 
the world. 
(7) The World Bank group does not maintain 
active operations in Iraq. The last time an institu-
tion in the group approved a loan for Iraq was in 
1973. In 1990, Iraq entered into non-accrual status 
(failure to make loan payments) with the Inter-
national Bank for Reconstruction and Development 
(World Bank). Iraq’s obligations to the World Bank 
total $82,000,000. 
(8) Iraq does not have any outstanding loans 
from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but 
Iraq does have arrears of close to $72,000,000 
(slightly over 52,000,000 Special Drawing Rights) 
on its use of Special Drawing Rights. 
(9) The cancellation of all of Iraq’s debts would 
remove a major impediment to poverty reduction 
and economic growth in Iraq, enable Iraq to invest 
its resources in health care, education, and poverty
reduction, and give Iraq a fresh start in the post-
war period. 
SEC. 3. RELIEF OF THE ODIOUS DEBT OF IRAQ. 
(a) UNITED STATES POSITION
IN
THE INTER-
NATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.—The Secretary of 
the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive 
Director at each international financial institution (as de-
fined in section 1701(c)(2) of the International Financial 
Institutions Act) to use the voice, vote, and influence of 
the United States to induce the respective institution to 
cancel or radically adjust downward all debts owed by Iraq 
to the institutions in line with the Paris Club negotiations. 
(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—The Congress urges 
the President to commence immediately, within the Paris 
Club of Official Creditors and elsewhere, efforts to urge 
France, Russia, and all other public and private creditors 
to cancel or radically reduce all debt owed by Iraq. 
SEC. 4. REPORT TO THE CONGRESS. 
Not later than December 31 of each year, the Presi-
dent shall—
(1) submit to the Committees on Financial 
Services, on Appropriations, and on International 
Relations of the House of Representatives and the 
Committees on Foreign Relations, on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs, and on Appropriations
of the Senate a report on the activities undertaken 
under this Act; and 
(2) make public a copy of the report.
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