NEWS STORY: Clinton, Religious Leaders Rally for Debt Relief

c. 2000 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ President Clinton joined an unusual array of religious leaders and members of Congress on Monday (Oct. 2) to urge final passage of a sweeping debt relief package that would aid the world’s poorest countries in paying off their foreign debts. Clinton was joined at the White House by […]

c. 2000 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ President Clinton joined an unusual array of religious leaders and members of Congress on Monday (Oct. 2) to urge final passage of a sweeping debt relief package that would aid the world’s poorest countries in paying off their foreign debts.

Clinton was joined at the White House by Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson and U2’s Bono for a strategy session to urge Congress to pass a $435 million aid package which is currently stalled on Capitol Hill.


The United States has promised more than $900 million as part of a global $50 billion debt relief package. One-third of that money would forgive debts owed directly to the United States, and the remaining two-thirds would go toward a fund to write off debts owed to entities such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Clinton asked Congress for $435 million as part of this year’s debt package, but some leading congressional Republicans have been hesitant to include the money in the current budget negotiations.

Debt relief has emerged as the signature issue for an array of religious groups, uniting Jews, Muslims, Catholics and Protestants in a historic political and moral alliance.

Clinton called debt relief a “moral imperative” at Monday’s summit and said it was the only issue that could “bring economists and evangelicals into the same room.”

“We must do the good work that our different faiths demand of us,” Clinton said at the meeting. “This is a remarkable opportunity that we must take now.”

The first phases of debt relief have already shown promising signs, supporters said. Already, Uganda has doubled its school enrollment and Honduras has increased its school system from six years to nine because of money saved on debt payments.

Rep John Kasich, R-Ohio, who chairs the House Budget Committee, said debt relief offered a “historic act of grace” for the United States. He said he will not settle for anything less than the $435 million and promised, “At the end of the day, we will reach enough agreement to make this happen.”


Robertson, one of Clinton’s harshest critics, had not previously been a vocal supporter of debt relief. He said more than 1.3 billion people around the world are living on less than $1 a day and that helping them is a moral necessity.

“This is something that’s right for America, the richest nation on the planet, to give some relief … to those who so desperately need it,” Robertson said.

Supporters said that if the United States does not contribute its share to the global relief package, other countries might decide not to contribute. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the United States would be an “immoral nation” if it did not pay its fair share.

The most striking aspect of the White House summit was the diversity of its participants, from political and theological liberals to conservatives like Robertson. Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said Robertson was finally convinced it made good economic sense.

U2’s Bono, long a champion of debt relief, said Robertson had finally been convinced that debt relief is “really a no-brainer.”

But the Rev. David Beckman, president of Bread for the World, said perhaps God had finally moved Robertson’s heart.


“No matter what your theology, it’s hard to not read your Bible and see that God is concerned about poor people,” Beckman said. “It’s hard to find religious leadership of any kind that does not think this is the right thing to do.”

DEA END ECKSTROM

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