Bono on September 7, 2000 delivered a petition of 21.2 million signatures to the U.N. Millennium Summit Thursday calling on the world's wealthiest countries to forgive the debts of poor nations. The signatures, collected at religious and other organizations in 155 countries, were delivered by Bono and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the second day of the largest gathering of world leaders in history. Bono vowed to get debt relief ``up the list of priorities.'' Annan thanked Bono for his effort, saying ``we must understand people out there want something done.'' Leaders of the wealthy industrialized countries, but not the United States, have said they are willing to erase $100 billion in Third World debt, which would leave about $250 billion owed by poor nations.

w September 7, 2000 | 5:40 PM ET | Bernie Nunez | Reuters | AP

w Thursday | September 21 2000 | 1:32 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The man whose name is on a lot of dollars teamed up with a man whose name is on a lot of records outside the Capitol on Thursday in support of debt relief for the world's 40 poorest countries.

Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, whose signature appears on American currency, and Bono, a rock star with the Irish band U2, staged a news conference with congressional supporters of the debt relief iniative, which both the House and the Senate have cut signficantly back from the administration's requested $435 million.

In a news conference on Capitol Hill, Summers said U.S. failure to pay its full share had already stalled the debt relief initiative in countries like Bolivia and threatened to jeopardize relief to African nations plagued by some of the worst poverty in the world.

``It is absolutely vital that before it adjourns, Congress enables the United States to pay its full part in funding the enhanced HIPC debt relief initiative for the world's poorest countries that was agreed last year in Cologne,'' Summers said. ''Congress now holds the fate of this initiative in its hands.''

The black-clad Bono, wearing his signature goggle-style glasses, joked that he would have to provide a lot more free-tickets to his new-found friends he has picked up during the time he has spent lobbying on the issue.

``It's going to be a lot of tickets. Just the sight of Orrin Hatch in the mosh pit. ... It's exciting,'' Bono told the crowd as the conservative Republican senator from Utah stood behind him.

Bono said he was encouraged by the support he had seen in Washington, but remained cautious on whether Congress would respond to the calls to appropriate the necessary funds.

``It's hard to get people in this town to agree on anything and yet people have really come together on this,'' he said. ''But until I see the $435 million, I'm going to be a bit skeptical.''

Bono has spent the last several years lobbying governments around the world on the issue as part of a campaign being pushed by Jubilee 2000, a coalition of religious organizations.

The administration, as part of President Clinton 's 2001 budget request, asked Congress to provide $435 million to fund America's share of a proposal to forgive a portion of the debt held by the world's 40 poorest nations, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

The money would be funneled through the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and various regional development banks.

However, the House approved only $224 million while the Senate approved just $75 million of the administration's request. The issue has become entangled in a separate debate of the need to push through reforms of the IMF and World Bank, who have come under heavy criticism from Republicans who control both the House and Senate for failing to properly handle the 1997-98 Asian currency crisis.

Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has been blocking approval of separate legislation needed to authorize IMF gold sales as part of the debt relief iniative.

In an effort to overcome these objections, the administration has been applying pressure to both the IMF and the World Bank to accelerate the pace of their internal reforms.

The IMF last Friday approved a package of measures to overhaul its crisis lending programs. This was an area highlighted by a congressional advisory panel chaired by Alan Meltzer, an economics professor at Carnegie-Mellon University.

Christi Harlan, a spokeswoman for the Banking Committee, said that Gramm continued to have discussions with Summers over the debt relief and reform proposals and was optimistic that the issue could be resolved before Congress' scheduled adjournment in two weeks.

In addition to the approaching congressional adjourment, the administration was hoping to receive assurances about the money in advance of global financial meetings that get under way on Saturday in Prague.

Thousands of protesters have vowed to disrupt the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank over the coming week because of their unhappiness with the slowness of debt relief and other IMF and World Bank reforms.

-MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer | AP

PRAGUE - Rock star Bono on Monday urged the world's rich nations and top financial institutions to deliver a ``historic act'' this year and wipe out the debt of the world's poorest countries. The lead singer of the pop group U2 said it made people sick that an estimated 19,000 children died each day in poor countries for want of basic health care, and described as an ``obscenity'' that for every dollar flowing as aid to poor countries each year, $8 are sent back in debt payments.

``We want to help the president of the World Bank finish the act he has started. We want to end the year with a far more historic act than we began it with,'' he told a forum on the fringes of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Bono voiced support for a plan presented by Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin that calls for industrialized countries to place a moratorium on debt repayments from the most heavily indebted nations. Bono met privately with Martin and afterwards said, "He struck me as more than a money man actually--he had some vision about it. He found it to be nuts--I think was his word--that we are still debating the issue of debt cancellation, so I was grateful to him for that, and for sticking his neck out and getting in trouble with all the rest of the big shots here, because, you know, he has taken a moral position."

``The idea of cutting the debts of the poor countries to the rich countries, at a time of unimaginable prosperity in the world, is the only idea that people will remember 2000 for.''

Bono is a leading figure in the Jubilee 2000 coalition of charities and church groups campaigning for a 100 percent write-off of the crippling debts of the world's poorest countries, most of which are in Africa. Many of them spend far more on debt payments each year than on health and education.

The campaign has been highly successful in forcing the issue of debt relief right up the international agenda, so much so that IMF chief Horst Koehler appeared for a photo opportunity with Bono on Monday while World Bank President James Wolfensohn joined him on the forum podium.

Frustration That Debt Relief Going Slowly

The World Bank and IMF launched the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative in 1996, promising large-scale debt write-offs for countries that reformed their economies and drew up schemes to channel the money saved into reducing poverty.

But the scheme has been slow to deliver any meaningful debt cancellation. It was overhauled last year to try and deliver deeper and faster relief and the international community pledged to get 20 countries into the scheme by the end of this year.

A key IMF committee on Sunday approved reforms suggested by the IMF and World Bank earlier this month which would relax some of the onerous conditions of the HIPC scheme, but Jubilee 2000 criticized them for still not going far or fast enough.

Wolfensohn told the forum that Bono was a ``remarkable man'' who had done a great deal to promote the issue.

Bono replied in what was a good natured exchange he thought Wolfensohn was a ``moral man'' who deserved credit for launching the HIPC initiative.

``He was brave, bold and stupid enough to let me into his office to bend his ear on this. But I represent a constituency of people...who have lost confidence in institutions like the IMF and World Bank. Something has gone wrong and we have to put it right.''

Bono said he was aware that debt relief was not a ``panacea'' for all the problems of poverty in the world. ``But if we are to make a start on the greatest problem of the year, debt cancellation is a door we must go through.''

Wolfensohn said he was not deaf to demonstrators in Prague protesting against what they see as the harmful effects of globalization.

``The central issue both inside and outside the building is that globalization has many advantages but many dangers. Our responsibility is to make sure that the opportunities are taken advantage of and the dangers diminished.''

-Ashley Seager | Reuters

w Monday | October 2 2000 | 5:46 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Bono and Christian conservative leader Pat Robertson, President Clinton made a plea on Monday for Congress to approve $435 million to cut the debt of the poorest countries.

Clinton brought together people from across the political spectrum to try to nudge the Republican-led U.S. Congress to fund the U.S. share of an initiative that aims to write off up to tens of billions of dollars in debt held by 41 nations.

Congress has so far failed to provide the full amount that the White House has sought to foot its part of the bill for the debt relief, with the House of Representatives approving $225 million and the Senate $75 million.

``I imagine this is the most amazing group of Americans that is gathered together here in this room since Theodore Roosevelt inaugurated it in 1902,'' Clinton told those seated in the White House Cabinet room. The gathering included Bono, lead singer of the Irish pop group U2, who wore an earring and dressed in black, and preacher and former Republican presidential candidate Robertson.

``It shows you the depth and breadth of commitment of congressional, religious and civic leaders to convince Congress to appropriate the entire $435 million that we pledged in debt relief,'' Clinton added. ``It's not often we have a chance to do something that economists tell us is a financial imperative and religious leaders say is a moral imperative.''

The meeting included Democratic and Republican lawmakers as well as religious leaders like Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of the U.S. Catholic Conference and Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center.

``This is a coalition that is really designed to advance a wonderful common good: which is to take some of the bounty of the United States in the 21st century and to say we've got to share it with some other people,'' said Rep. John Kasich, the Ohio Republican who chairs the House Budget Committee.

-Arshad Mohammed | Reuters

Clinton Signs Global Debt Relief Measure

With a nod of thanks to Pope John Paul II and pop star Bono, President Clinton signed legislation on Monday providing $435 million in relief to some of the world's most indebted poor countries. ``Global poverty is a moral affront, and confronting the challenge is simply the right thing to do,'' Clinton said at a White House ceremony attended by religious leaders, legislators and others who worked to pass the bill. The measure meets a U.S. commitment toward an international effort to forgive the debts of 33 poor countries that Clinton said were laboring under a ``crippling burden of massive debt,'' often piled up by departed dictators. It also authorizes the International Monetary Fund to sell gold ``off market'' to finance its participation in the initiative. The international plan, endorsed last year by the Group of Seven major industrial nations, aims to wipe out $90 billion of debt owed by the world's poor debtor nations, reducing the total to about $37 billion. The relief is given on the condition that the savings are used for projects such as education and health care, and that the recipients refrain from military conflict. Eleven countries had so far met the standards and nine others may qualify by the end of this year, the White House said.

The Pope And The Pop Stars. The president credited a global popular effort for leading to the measure. He cited the pope's call for a ``Jubilee'' debt forgiveness to mark the turn of the millennium, and the publicity efforts of Bono, lead singer for the Irish rock band U2. ``When we get the pope and the pop stars all singing on the same sheet of music, our voices do carry to the heavens,'' Clinton said. Although Bono had lobbied the White House and the U.S. Congress for the measure, he was not at the ceremony. Clinton noted that Bono's ``passionate devotion'' had brought together politicians ranging across the political spectrum from conservative Republican Sen. Jesse Helms to Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers. The president said that for many poor nations debt payments often exceeded spending on health and education, slowed economic growth and diverted money that could be used for clean water, food and other necessities. Clinton said the legislation would, in particular, enable Bolivia to devote an extra $77 million to health and education, and Honduras to offer nine years of schooling to every child instead of six.'' The president said last year the United States would cancel all of the $5.7 billion in debt owed to Washington by the qualifying countries, rather than the 70 percent level envisioned under the G7 plan.--Randall Mikkelsen