Friday, February 5, 2010

94 Reps Signed IMF Letter to Cancel Haiti's Debt!

Congratulations: 94 Representatives Signed the House IMF Letter to Cancel Haiti's Debt!

Responding to the urgent humanitarian crisis in Haiti, Representatives Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) are sending a message that Haiti's debt must be cancelled.

Last week the IMF approved an emergency $100 million loan, adding to the $165 million already owed by Haiti to the Fund. Haiti owes an additional $447 million to the Inter-American Development Bank, and tens of millions to other institutions. As an influential member of these multilateral organizations, the U.S. will be critical in ensuring Haiti's debt will be canceled.

Representatives Waters and Ros-Lehtinen have sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner urging him to work to immediately suspend Haiti's debt payments, cancel any existing or newly incurred debt, and provide further assistance in the form of grants rather than debt-creating loans. Thanks in part to the efforts of RESULTS activists, so far 94 members of Congress have signed this letter, including IL reps Davis, Guiterrez, Jackson Jr, Quigley, Rush, Schakowksy.

We'll be watching to see if this strong message from Congress is heeded by the administration.

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