Sheila Jackson Lee: “This is a very historic occasion. I would like to thank Congresswoman Waters for her continued and persistent leadership…”

“This is a very historic occasion. I would like to thank Congresswoman Waters for her continued and persistent leadership on debt relief for countries around the world. I thank the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Meeks of New York, for his persistence and guidance on passing this bill so quickly with Mr. Bachus and Mr. Miller. Thank you for your commitment and for your interesting and very good idea about putting Americans to work. Madam Speaker, I rise today to support this legislation to acknowledge that we are talking about a country right now that has only 20 percent of the revenue that it needs to run its nation. They need seed. They need fertilizer. They are living some 80 percent below the poverty line, owing some $709 million in debts to multilateral financial institutions--$447 million to the Inter-American Development Bank--and also to countries such as Venezuela. This legislation will, in essence, help us clear the slate of all of those debts, and it will help us track what the United States has done. I would like to take this time to thank all of the first responders, USAID and so many who stood tall when Haiti called.”