Drop Haiti’s Debt! - Write Congress Today

Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the
land! “When will the new moon be over,” you ask “that we may sell our
grain, and the Sabbath, that we may market our wheat? skimping the
measure, boosting the price, and cheating with dishonest scales!
buying the poor with silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals;
selling even the sweepings with the wheat!” The Lord has sworn by
the pride of Jacob, “I will never forget anything they have done.” -
Amos 8: 4-7

The Haiti Debt Cancellation Resolution (H.Res. 241) has momentum --
there are now 65 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. This
progress came from work by Representatives Maxine Waterss, Spencer
Bachus, Luis Gutierrez and Barbara Lee, who urged their colleagues to
join them in a letter earlier this year and by hundreds of people
throughout the country who have called or written to tell their
representatives that debt relief for Haiti is the right thing to do.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the
poorest countries in the developing world. About 80 percent of the
rural Haitian population lives in poverty, and the poverty situation
in Haiti has been deteriorating over the past decade.

Only about one child in five of secondary-school age actually attends
secondary school. Health conditions are poor. Only about one-fourth
of the population has access to safe water and almost one quarter of
the children under five are chronically malnourished. The
overwhelming majority of the Haitian people live in deplorable
conditions of extreme poverty.

Haiti's international debt is estimated at 1.4 billion US dollars and
rising. Scheduled debt repayment for 2005 was $56.3 million. To put
this figure into perspective, in 1999 Haiti spent $4 per person on
health and $5 per person on education, while also spending $5 per
person on debt. Haiti's debt kills. Instead of being able to invest
in education, health care or the environment, Haiti's people are
forced to repay a debt they did not incur and from which they did not
benefit.

Haiti's debt is unjust. Its first centuries-long debt was exacted by
the former colonial power, France, to repay slave holders for their
losses after Haiti won its independence. In 1825, France offered
Haiti official recognition in return for 150 million francs. Having
just recovered from a revolution Haiti was bankrupt and so took out a
loan from a French bank. This was the beginning of Haiti's long term
debt. However, it was estimated by a critic of the agreement that the
wages owed slaves but never paid during the period of 1665 to 1790
was 25 billion francs.

Almost half of Haiti's current debt was accrued under the Duvalier
dictatorship and used to finance the Duvalier family's lavish
lifestyle and support their 29 year rule, which was notorious for
human rights abuses. Rather than use their influence to stop the
abuse, international financial institutions kept the money flowing to
Haiti's unelected leaders, knowing it was not reaching Haiti's
people. When Duvalier left, these organizations chose to hold Haiti's
people responsible.

H.Res. 241 is an immediate solution to this injustice. It would
direct the U.S. representatives to Haiti's creditors, the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund, and Inter-american bank to use our
voice, vote and influence (the U.S. is the largest shareholder of all
three) to obtain the immediate cancellation of Haiti's debts. As soon
as the debts are cancelled, Haiti could immediately invest the
payments- $6.19 million in May 2007 alone- in saving lives and
teaching kids.

Contact Your Representative!

This immediate solution needs your immediate help. Write your
Representative this week and ask her or him to co-sponsor the Haiti
debt cancellation resolution in the House (H.Res. 241). Use the
sample email below or send an email using the alert posted on the
Presbyterian Legislative Action Center http://capwiz.com/pcusa/issues/
alert/?alertid=10468881&type=CO

Sample email:

As a person of faith, I urge you to cosponsor H.Res. 241, which
supports debt cancellation for Haiti.

I am deeply concerned about the people of Haiti. Haiti is the
poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and its international debt
is estimated at 1.4 billion US dollars and rising. Scheduled debt
repayment for 2005 was $56.3 million. To put this figure into
perspective, in 1999 Haiti spent $4 per person on health and $5 per
person on education, while also spending $5 per person on debt.

Haiti’s debt kills. Instead of being able to invest in education,
health care or the environment, Haiti’s people are forced to repay a
debt they did not incur or benefit from. H.Res. 241 would provide
immediate debt cancellation for Haiti. By canceling the debt
immediately we can support Haiti in the improvement of healthcare,
education, sanitation and other essential services and infrastructure.

I urge Representative _______ to co-sponsor this important
legislation. To co-sponsor, your staff should contact Kathleen
Sengstock in Representative Maxine Waters’ office at(202)225-2201.

General Assembly Guidance

The 1996 General Assembly adopted a comprehensive statement on global
economics, “Hope for a Global Future.” Sections of this statement
have direct application to the situation in Haiti:

“The repayment of debts and interest at the expense of the basics of
life raises serious questions of justice. The burden of debts must be
shared equitably in ways that reduce poverty, protect the
environment, and avoid perverse incentives in the future.”
Calls upon all governments, all multilateral lending institutions,
and commercial banks . . . to strive to insulate the poor of indebted
countries from the costs of debt repayment and to consider seriously
debt forgiveness or debt relief for the most heavily indebted and
poorest countries.
Urges all creditor governments, multilateral institutions, and
private lenders, in reaching agreements on debt relief, to condition
them on the effects debt relief likely will have on the incidence of
poverty in debtor countries . . . (Minutes, 1996, pp. 539-540)