Jubilee is preparing for the reintroduction of Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation in 2009. Thanks to the commitment and hard work of our grassroots, we celebrated 2008 with the passage of the act in the House of Representatives and the Senate Foreign Relations committee.
The Jubilee Act will expand eligibility for 100 percent debt cancellation without harmful economic conditions to 67 impoverished countries in the Global South.
The House version (H.R.2634) was introduced June 2007 into the House by Rep. Waters (D-CA) and Rep. Bachus (R-AL). The Senate version, (S.2166) was introduced in October 2008 by Sen. Casey (D-PA), Sen. Lugar (R-IN) and Sen. Dodd (D-CT).
On Wednesday, April 16, 2008, the Jubilee Act (HR 2634) was debated and passed in the House of Representatives. If you'd like to watch a video of the House vote, visit the archived page on the CSPAN website. Proceedings on the Jubilee Act (HR 2634) begin at 1:21 (1hr, 20 min).
The Jubilee Act had a hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations committee on April 24, 2008, and was passed by the Senate Foreign Relations committee a month later.
The Jubilee Act: Cancels impoverished country debt, prohibits harmful economic and policy conditions on debt cancellation, mandates transparency and responsibility in lending from governments and international financial institutions, calls for a new legal framework to restrict the activities of predatory “vulture funds,” and calls for a U.S. audit of debts resulting from odious and illegitimate lending.
