Drop the Debt bill before Congress

Many developing countries face the difficult decision to forgo necessary improvements to their… Many developing countries face the difficult decision to forgo necessary improvements to their social service systems in favor of repaying loans to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. government.

Two seniors and one recent graduate from Pitt have been running their own “Drop the Debt” campaign for over two years, encouraging awareness and the elimination of such debt.

“A lot of people don’t see the point because it is such a large-scale kind of thing,” senior nursing major Amanda Edris said. “But I think the thing that’s kept me going is seeing the steps that have been made and seeing the countries that have had debt cancelled.

“It was just me desiring to help God’s people in a different kind of way and learn more about economical structures and the way that they forced people into poverty,” she said.

Edris, senior Lacey Meckley and graduate Kevin Cox meet every Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. in Posvar Hall to discuss what college students can do. Their current goal is to encourage students to contact their local legislators before a vote is taken on the issue.

Today, a bill, the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancelation, will go to the House of Representatives. It includes billions of dollars owed by countries who aren’t eligible for the IMF’s Heavily Indebted Poor Countries relief program.

The House Financial Services Committee approved the bill by a voice vote last week. Floor debate over the bill is timed to coincide with meetings of the World Bank/IMF scheduled for April 12 to 13 in Washington.

Co-sponsoring the House version of the bill is Pa. Congressman Mike Doyle, D-Pittsburgh.

“I’m proud to be a co-sponsor of the Jubilee Act,” Doyle said. “The debt relief it would provide is probably the single most effective thing we could do to improve the lives of millions of poor people around the world.”

On the Senate side, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., co-sponsors the bill with presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill..

Most of the debt dates back to the 1970s, when oil-producing countries had excess dollars because of high oil prices. The World Bank and the IMF had excess money to spend, so they made massive loans to many impoverished countries.

However, in the ’80s the organizations and well-off countries began to seek repayment from the loaner countries.

A lot of the money was squandered by unelected regimes and corrupt leaders, and these countries now are in serious debt and are unable to pay back loans on increasing interest rates.

Also, dollars needed for public works programs, AIDS relief and education are instead being used to repay the debt.

The bill’s name refers to an Israelite practice in the Old Testament in which every seventh year loans were supposed to be forgiven.

Edris first learned about cause when a group from the Jubilee USA network, an organization made up of 80 religious denominations and human rights groups focusing on debt cancellation, came through Pitt.

Last year, Edris and her Drop the Debt chapter hosted another tour that made stops at Pitt, Grove City College and Westminster College.

The group also participated in Pitt’s International Week this year where the theme was international health. The group focused on how the debt takes money away from AIDS awareness programs and world hunger.