Rock Musician Bono, Religious Leaders Call on Congress to Fund Debt Relief

Bread for the World
Thursday, 4 November 1999

Today, Bread for the World joins Bono, members of Congress and religious leaders to ask Congress to remove the unjust burden of debt that strangles the economies of the world's poorest countries and kills its children.

The Foreign Assistance budget passed by Congress and vetoed by the President included a mere $33 million for debt relief. As Congress passes a revised aid budget, it should provide $970 million over four years to meet our promises to fund debt relief. For the cost of an ice cream cone a year for each man, woman and child in the United States, we could lift this terrible burden. The time is now for Congress to do the right thing.

Bread for the World is a 44,000 member Christian citizens' movement against hunger. Founded in 1974, Bread for the World's members lobby Congress and the administration to bring about public policy changes that address the root causes of hunger and poverty in the United States and overseas. Bread for the World is a non-partisan organization sponsored by 45 denominations and many theological perspectives.

For more information, or to contact Bread for the World, see their website at: www.bread.org