To improve the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.

Bill: 108-hr-1376
Sponsor: Rep. Smith, Christopher H. [R-NJ-4]
Introduced: 2003-03-20 in the House
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: AIDS (Disease)
Agricultural assistance
Agriculture and Food
Armed Forces and National Security
Arms control
Arms sales
Biological warfare
Caribbean area
Chemical warfare
Child health
Citizen participation
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Crime and Law Enforcement
Debt relief
Developing countries
Development credit institutions
Disasters
Economic assistance
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Elementary and secondary education
Elementary education
Emergency Management
Employee rights
Environmental Protection
Environmental degradation
Export controls
Export finance
Exports
Families
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Government Operations and Politics
Gross national product
Health
Human immunodeficiency viruses
Human rights
Infrastructure
International cooperation
Labor and Employment
Latin America
Malaria
Maternal health services
Negotiations
Nutrition
Potable water
Poverty
Preventive medicine
Prostitution
Public corruption
Public health
Refuse and refuse disposal
Science, Technology, Communications
Slavery
Social Welfare
State-sponsored terrorism
Technology transfer
Terrorism
Torture
Treaties
Tuberculosis
User charges
Water Resources Development
Water supply
Women
World health

Summary:
action_date: 2003-03-20
text: 
Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 for the U.S. payment to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Trust Fund administered by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank). Authorizes additional appropriations for payment to such Fund to meet the additional financing needs of the Enhanced HIPC Initiative, provided the Secretary of the Treasury determines that an agreement by certain multilateral financial institutions regarding modification of the Initiative has been reached.
 
Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to direct the Secretary to commence immediately efforts within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, as well as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other appropriate multilateral development institutions, to accomplish certain modifications in the Initiative, including requiring that: (1) the amount of debt stock reduction for a country eligible for debt relief under the Initiative be sufficient to reduce, for a specified period, the net value of outstanding public guaranteed debt of the country and its annual payments due on such debt to not more than specified formulated percentages; and (2) the debt cancellation under such Initiative not be conditioned on any agreement by an impoverished country to implement or comply with policies that deepen poverty or degrade the environment, or that implement user fees on primary education or primary health care, increase the cost to consumers with incomes of less than $2.00 per day for access to clean drinking water, or that undermine internationally recognized worker rights.
 
Makes ineligible for debt relief any country that: (1) supports international terrorism; (2) engages in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights; or (3) has been designated as a &quot;Tier 3&quot; nation pursuant to the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 for its failure to cooperate on international trafficking in persons prevention efforts. Conditions debt cancellation upon the country's agreeing to ensure that the financial benefits of such debt relief are applied to programs to combat poverty and to redress environmental degradation.
 
Amends certain Federal laws to prohibit the provision of foreign assistance or the transfer of certain weapons and technology to countries (or persons) that fail to cooperate with the United States on efforts to combat international terrorism.
 
Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on options to expand debt relief to non-HIPC countries.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-03-27
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology.
action_date: 2003-03-20
text: Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, 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.
action_date: 2003-03-20
text: Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, 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.
action_date: 2003-03-20
text: Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, 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.
action_date: 2003-03-20
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2003-03-20
text: Introduced in House