The Jubillee Act H.R. 2634

I decided to do some reading on the Jubilee Act after receiving Josh Peck's e-mail. The summary he gave made me recall the video I posted months back on Fair Trade and the plight of many poor nations struggling to meet the basic necessities in life such as food, clothing, shelter and water.

Many areas in my own country suffer as much and I have seen tv documentaries of people illegally selling their vital organs to hospitals and patients needing transplants just to feed their families.

It's quite ironic and so pathetic that while so many of the poorest nations struggle for the basic necessities in life, much of their countries' money goes to paying their external debts to rich nations and international financial institutions. I have for years heard many economists here say that our unborn grandchildren's grandchildren will continue to pay our external debts. This is what the Jubilee Act focuses on...providing debt relief to the poorest nations and ensuring that the money is used in worthwhile projects that address poverty.

In summary, the Jubilee Act, which was sponsored by Rep. Maxine Waters with other Co-sponsors, provides for greater responsibility in lending and expanded cancellation of debts owed to the United States and other international financial institutions by the poorest countries. It basically qualifies 67 of the poorest nations in the world for debt cancellation and ensures that the debt cancellation funds go to poverty reduction projects.

A Frequently Asked Questions article on the Jubilee Act is available. It gives information on what countries qualify for debt cancellation, how the Act will ensure that debt cancellation funds go to poverty reduction projects such as education, school infrastructure and other anti-poverty projects, including ways on how these poor countries will be protected from illegitimate debts, among others.