Minister Ends 40 Day Fast for Debt Relief on Capitol Hill
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Rev. David Duncombe, a United Church of Christ minister from Washington State , broke his 40 day fast during a prayer breakfast on Capitol Hill this morning, ending his nearly six week lobbying ministry for the Jubilee Act for Expanded Debt Cancellation and Responsible Lending. Rev. Duncombe was joined by Representatives Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO), each of whom broke their own one-day fasts for the legislation. The introduction of a new Senate companion bill sponsored by Senators Robert Casey (D-PA), Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) was also announced. Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE) and John Sununu (R-NH) are original co-sponsors of the legislation. Rev. Duncombe had been leading the nationwide “Cancel Debt Fast,” organized by Jubilee USA Network, and was supported by some 14,000 Americans who also fasted and contacted their Members of Congress. The Fast resulted in a commitment to a fall hearing on the Jubilee Act (H.R. 2634) in the House Financial Services Committee, 20 additional House bill sponsors, and the introduction of a Senate companion bill. “We welcome and fully support the legislation introduced today in the Senate, which would expand the promise of debt cancellation to more countries that need it to fight poverty,” said Neil Watkins, National Coordinator of Jubilee USA Network, an alliance of 80 faith-based, human rights, and development groups. “The bill also gets at some of the problems with the current World Bank and IMF debt relief initiative by cutting out economic policy conditions which hurt the poor and by taking action against unscrupulous vulture funds.” The House and Senate versions of the Jubilee Act would: * Cancel the debts of up to 26 additional nations not currently eligible for debt cancellation, provided that they demonstrate plans to spend the money wisely on poverty reduction; * Cut harmful requirements that are delaying access to life-saving debt relief for countries like Haiti and Liberia ; * Call on the Treasury Secretary to address the challenges presented by so-called vulture funds, one of which recently extracted $15 million from impoverished Zambia ; and * Establish policies for responsible lending to avoid odious and unjust debt accumulation in the future, beginning with an audit of past odious debts by the Government Accountability Office. During his 40 day ministry, Rev. Duncombe made 200 visits to Senators’ and Representatives’ Hill offices. “Most people who work on Capitol Hill never meet a starving person,” said Duncombe. “I don’t think risking your life is a bad thing if there’s a good chance you can save someone else’s.” Other speakers at the morning event included: Dr. Stephen M. Colecchi, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Dr. Ulrich Duchrow, German Theologian; Ruth Messinger, President, American Jewish World Service; Rev. Bernice Powell Jackson, North American President, World Council of Churches; Jim McDonald, Vice President, Bread for the World; Ombeni Sefue, Tanzanian Ambassador the United States; Rt. Rev. Jean Zache Duracin, Episcopal Bishop of Haiti; Given Lubinda, Zambian MP; Hilary O. Shelton, NAACP Washington office; and Rabbi Michael Lerner, Tikkun. During the 40 day fast, Jubilee activists in 33 states wrote messages to their Senators and Representatives on 8,000 empty paper plates calling for an end to hunger and poverty; some plates were delivered by Rev. Duncombe, others have been or will be delivered directly by constituents. More than 8,000 nuns from 150 different provinces also fasted for one or more days. Debt relief provided to date by world leaders is an effective tool to fight hunger and poverty, but should be expanded, says Jubilee USA. Developing countries already relieved of debt have increased their own domestic spending on poverty reduction by 75 percent. For example, after Zambia ’s debts were canceled, the country’s education spending increased by 130 percent, enabling approximately 1.5 million children to return to school almost overnight. |