Religious leaders cheer debt relief

Christian Century, Nov 15, 2000

A broad coalition of legislators, religious leaders and celebrities is celebrating the decision by Congress to provide $435 million as the American share of a global debt-relief initiative that could relieve up to $90 billion of debt in 33 of the world's poorest countries.

The Jubilee 2000 campaign, inspired by the Hebrew biblical concept of "jubilee"--forgiving debts every 50 years--received active endorsements from mainline and evangelical Protestants as well as Catholics--and plenty of political lobbying along the way.

"It has support from conservative Christian leader Pat Robertson to U2 rock star Bono, from antiglobalization activists to multinational corporations," said Tom Hart, an Episcopal Church official who chaired lobbying efforts of the Jubilee 2000 campaign. Not to mention Billy Graham, Desmond Tutu and Jesse Jackson as well as Pope John Paul II, who has long supported debt-relief measures by wealthier nations.

A House-Senate conference committee agreed on the night of October 24 to fund President Clinton's entire request of $435 million for debt relief. The package is the second installment in a $920 million deal that will help erase debts owed to the U.S., along with debts owed to institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

When George W. Bush strongly backed the measure in one of the presidential debates, that endorsement gave the bill "the Republican leadership's attention," said Hart, director of the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations in Washington, D.C. Episcopal staffers helped coordinate the support of other church groups. "Our church, which took a principled stand for debt relief, can be justly proud of what has been accomplished," said Brian Grieves, the Episcopal Church officer for peace and justice ministries.

"We are heartened by the show of bipartisan support in the Congress," said Dan Driscoll-Shaw, U.S. coordinator for Jubilee 2000. "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 people."

Sojourners magazine repeated that an early victory in the campaign was when a conservative Republican and Southern Baptist, Representative Spencer Bacchus (R., Ala.), was approached by a group of independent Presbyterians in his district. A Bread for the World member convinced Bacchus to support the effort, and he in turn became a passionate advocate on the House Banking Committee and led Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers to back the idea in the administration, the magazine said.

The debt-relief package was opposed late in the campaign by Senator Phil Gramm (R., Tex.), but Associated Baptist Press reported that Pat Robertson told his 700 Club viewers to call Gramm urging his support. At the same time, the Baptist Standard, newspaper of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, asked church members to let the powerful senator from Texas know of their support.