[House Report 110-586]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
110th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 110-586
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PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H.R. 2634) TO PROVIDE FOR
GREATER RESPONSIBILITY IN LENDING AND EXPANDED CANCELLATION OF DEBTS
OWED TO THE UNITED STATES AND THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
BY LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
_______
April 14, 2008.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Welch, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H. Res. 1103]
The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration
House Resolution 1103, by a nonrecord vote, report the same to
the House with the recommendation that the resolution be
adopted.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION
The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 2634, the
Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt
Cancellation of 2007, under a structured rule. The rule
provides one hour of general debate equally divided and
controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the
Committee on Financial Services. The rule waives all points of
order against consideration of the bill except clauses 9 and 10
of rule XXI. The rule provides that the amendment in the nature
of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Financial
Services now printed in the bill shall be considered as an
original bill for the purpose of amendment and shall be
considered as read. The rule waives all points of order against
the amendment in the nature of a substitute except for clause
10 of rule XXI. This waiver does not affect the point of order
available under clause 9 of rule XXI (regarding earmark
disclosure).
The rule makes in order only those amendments printed in
this report. The amendments made in order may be offered only
in the order printed in this report, may be offered only by a
Member designated in this report, shall be considered as read,
shall be debatable for the time specified in this report
equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an
opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be
subject to a demand for a division of the question in the House
or in the Committee of the Whole. All points of order against
the amendments except for clauses 9 and 10 of rule XXI are
waived. The rule provides one motion to recommit with or
without instructions. The rule provides that, notwithstanding
the operation of the previous question, the Chair may postpone
further consideration of the bill to a time designated by the
Speaker.
EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS
Although the rule waives all points of order against
consideration of the bill (except for clauses 9 and 10 of rule
XXI) the Committee is not aware of any points of order. The
waiver of all points of order is prophylactic. The waiver of
all points of order against the amendment in the nature of a
substitute (except clause 10 of rule XXI) includes a waiver of
clause 7 of rule XVI, relating to germaneness.
COMMITTEE VOTES
The results of each record vote on an amendment or motion
to report, together with the names of those voting for and
against, are printed below:
Rules Committee record vote No. 467
Date: April 14, 2008.
Measure: H.R. 2634.
Motion by: Mr. Sessions.
Summary of motion: To make in order and provide appropriate
waivers for an amendment by Rep. King (IA), #6, which modifies
the definition of an ``eligible low-income country'' to include
a requirement that an eligible country must be one that
supports the efforts of the United States to curtail human
smuggling.
Results: Defeated 3-7.
Vote by Members: McGovern--Nay; Matsui--Nay; Cardoza--Nay;
Welch--Nay; Castor--Nay; Sutton--Nay; Dreier--Yea; Hastings
(WA)--Yea; Sessions--Yea; Slaughter--Nay.
SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER
1. Frank (MA)/Bachus (AL)/Biggert (AL): The amendment makes
various technical corrections within the bill's ``Findings''
section, and adds under the eligibility criteria the
requirement that a country must also be complying with minimum
standards for eliminating human trafficking; cooperating with
American efforts to stop illegal immigration to the United
States; and be committed to free and fair elections. (10
minutes)
2. Rohrabacher (CA): The amendment adds a provision to
Section 1626, defining an ``eligible low-income country'' to
include that the government shall have been chosen by, and
permits, free elections. (10 minutes)
3. Hastings (FL): The amendment adds a Sense of the
Congress that, due to the current humanitarian and political
instability in Haiti, including food shortages and political
turmoil, the Secretary of the Treasury should use his influence
to expedite the complete and immediate cancellation of Haiti's
debts to all international financial institutions, or if such
debt cancellation cannot be provided, to urge the institutions
to immediately suspend the requirement that Haiti make further
debt service payments on debts owed to the institutions. (10
minutes)
4. Weiner (NY): The amendment modifies the qualification
for ``eligible low-income country'' to include those countries
that are eligible for both International Development
Association loans and World Bank loans. (10 minutes)
TEXT OF AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER
1. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Frank of Massachusetts,
or His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes
Page 6, beginning on line 17, strike ``economic policy
conditionality'' and insert ``certain economic policy
conditionalities''.
Page 6, beginning on line 22, strike ``economic'' and all
that follows through ``IMF,'' on line 24 and insert ``certain
economic policy conditions, including the privatization of
essential basic services such as water,''.
Page 7, line 22, strike ``requirements'' and insert
``economic criteria''.
Page 9, line 5, insert ``, without undermining the financial
integrity of the institution'' before the period.
Page 9, line 14, insert ``, or to other countries eligible
for assistance from the International Development Association''
before the period.
Page 15, line 9, insert ``from'' before ``the''.
Page 15, line 20, strike ``repeatedly''.
Page 16, line 1, insert ``with the United States'' after
``cooperating''.
Page 16, line 2, strike ``and''.
Page 16, line 5, strike ``consistent''.
Page 16, line 6, strike ``rights.'' and all that follows
through the second period and insert ``rights (as defined in
section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (Public Law
87-195));''.
Page 16, after line 6, insert the following:
``(7) the government of which has not been identified
in the most recent Trafficking in Persons Report issued
by the Department of State as not fully complying with
minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking and
not making significant efforts to do so;
``(8) the government of which has been determined by
the President to be cooperating with United States
efforts to stop illegal immigration to the United
States; and
``(9) the government of which has been determined by
the President to be committed to free and fair
elections.''.
Page 16, beginning on line 21, strike ``without any
conditions except requiring the government of such a country
to--'' and inserting ``only on the condition that the
government of such a country--''.
----------
2. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Rohrabacher of
California, or His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes
In section 1626(h) of the International Financial
Institutions Act, as proposed to be added by section 3 of the
bill, strike ``and'' at the end of paragraph (5), strike the
period at the end of paragraph (6) and insert ``; and'', and
add at the end the following:
``(7) the government of which was chosen by and
permits free and fair elections.''.
----------
3. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Hastings of Florida, or
His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes
At the end of the bill, add the following:
SEC. ___. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.
(a) Finding.--The Congress finds that Haiti is scheduled to
send $48,700,000 in debt payments to multilateral financial
institutions in 2008.
(b) Sense of the Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress
that, due to the current humanitarian and political instability
in Haiti, including food shortages and political turmoil, the
Secretary of the Treasury should use his influence to expedite
the complete and immediate cancellation of Haiti's debts to all
international financial institutions, or if such debt
cancellation cannot be provided, to urge the institutions to
immediately suspend the requirement that Haiti make further
debt service payments on debts owed to the institutions.
----------
4. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Weiner of New York, or
His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes
Page 15, beginning on line 9, strike ``but not'' and insert
``and''.