Jubilee Proclaimed on Capitol Hill

Bread for the World
Wednesday, 25 October 2000

Grassroots action key to final debt relief agreement

Today, Congress has taken an historic step toward ending hunger in our world by agreeing to fully fund the U.S. portion of the international debt relief initiative put forth by the G-7 countries. By working across party lines and supporting the full $435 million package and the revaluation of International Monetary Fund gold to finance the initiative, Congress and the Clinton administration have helped lift the burden of debt that has trapped many poor countries in a cycle of poverty.

The real story, however, is the important role churches and individuals have played in bringing the debt relief issue into the national arena. Not since Dr. Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement has the grassroots action of churches and people of goodwill so influenced our nation's leaders. The debt relief initiative is a great victory for hungry people in the poorest countries around the world and is a direct result of the concerned citizens in this country who raised voices on their behalf.

At Bread for the World, we believe debt relief is hunger relief. Our grassroots members generated about 250,000 letters to Congress in support of debt relief over the past two years. Their letters, combined with the voices of countless others across the nation, have helped propel debt relief from an obscure biblical concept to a lifesaving global initiative.

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