Salt of the Earth: In Session

In Session: legislative update
December 2000

Debt relief passes in Washington
California changes course on drug offenses

Debt relief passes in Washington
Responding to growing global pressure from a unique coalition of civic and religious organizations, including the international phenomenon of Jubilee 2000, Congress appropriated $435 million October 25 for the cancellation of bilateral and multilateral debt owed by the world's highly indebted, low-income countries, and authorized the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revalue its gold stocks to fund multilateral debt reduction. Congress also called on international financial institutions to discontinue user fees in health and education in heavily indebted poor countries.

The bipartisan legislation will make it possible for the US to provide contributions due in fiscal year 2000 and 2001 to an international plan for a reduction of the debts of up to 33 countries. (Contributions for fiscal year 2002 and 2003 are still outstanding). The measure was signed into law by President Clinton on November 6 at a White House celebration which drew representatives from the various religious and secular organizations which had pushed so hard over the last two years for the United States to make a meaningful gesture toward debt relief for the world's poorest nations. During the ceremony, Clinton raised the possibility of debt relief being extended to more nations in the near future.

"One in 10 children [in highly indebted nations] dies before his or her first birthday," Clinton said during the signing ceremony. "One in three is malnourished. The average adult has only three years of schooling. This is not right, not necessary, and no longer acceptable. . . . We have to implement this program well; and if we do implement it well and it works, then there will be broad support around the world to extend it to other nations.

"I believe this is one of the most important moments of the last eight years for the United States of America. I believe that this will put our country squarely on the side of humanity for a very, very long time to come. And I am profoundly grateful to all of you.

"We are heartened by the show of bipartisan support in the Congress," said Dan Driscoll-Shaw, national coordinator for Jubilee 2000/USA. "We also congratulate all the members and supporters of Jubilee 2000/USA, as well as so many others in this country who have worked so hard to free up these funds for debt relief. We believe this demonstrates that the people of the United States are serious about our commitment to walk with our sisters and brothers of Africa, Latin America and Asia."

According to Jubilee 2000, the new law, by easing the burden of foreign debt on poor nations, will literally save lives in the developing world. The group says that debt cancellation has the potential to save 21 million children from disease and hunger in Africa alone.

United Nations figures indicate that as many as 19,000 children die each day of malnutrition and preventable disease in the world's most impoverished countries due to the burden of foreign debt. In Tanzania, the government spends nine times more on debt payments than on health care. In Mozambique, one in four children dies before age five due to infectious disease, yet the government spends four times more on debt servicing than on health care.

"Now that Congress has acted, it is up to the countries to make sure that the money freed as a result of debt cancellation is spent in a transparent way for the betterment of their people," Driscoll-Shaw said. "Jubilee 2000/USA will do all in its power to support our colleagues in civil society in the countries that receive debt relief to see that these funds go to the poorest sectors of the population. In that way we both overcome this economic injustice and build up democracy from the grass roots."

The Jubilee 2000 campaign is inspired by the scriptural idea of the Jubilee year that every 7 x 7 or 50 years, debts are forgiven and slaves are set free, an opportunity to return "balance" to society.

More:
Jubilee 2000
Bread for the World
Center of Concern
Mobilization for Global Justice
Fifty years is enough
Global Exchange: world trade rulemakers
Ruckus Society
International Monetary Fund
World Bank

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California changes course on drug offenses
In what could mark a turn from the punitive course toward drug offenders favored over two decades by U.S. politicians and public alike, California voters last month approved Proposition 36, which mandates that the state provide drug treatment over jail time for nonviolent drug users.

Proposition 36 bans incarceration for many first- and second-time drug offenders, instead sending them to treatment programs and ending the jail sentences. California voter's decision to provide drug treatment instead of jail for the state's estimated 24,000 nonviolent, minor drug offenders makes the state the first in the country to mandate and fund drug addiction treatment as an alternative to prison, according to Ethan Nadelmann, who heads the George Soros-backed Lindesmith Center Drug Policy Foundation.

"What happened in California provides a powerful model," Nadelmann said. "It is extremely likely that there will be other prop 36-like initiatives in other major states in 2002 and 2004."

"In terms of the broader drug policy reform agenda, this is almost certainly the most significant thing to happen in terms of reversing the tide on the war on drugs," he said.

Those opposed to the measure, led by California's prison guard unions, said it was a de facto decriminalization of hard drugs. Proponents, however, maintain that treatment will be a far more effective way to handle the state's drug problem—and will free up some 10,000 jail cells for violent criminals.

More:
CNN: Drug court program combines treatment, threat of jail
California Campaign for New Drug Policies

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