before the G8 Summit in the summer of 1999. The proposal that President Clinton brought to the Summit became the international debt relief initiative. By September the U.S. Treasury had won international agreement on reforms at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The Bank and IMF were instructed to focus the benefits of debt relief on the reduction of poverty and to encourage democratic processes to help develop poverty reduction strategies in these countries.
Congress as a whole still had to approve and fund U.S. participation in international debt relief. Bachus lobbied his conservative colleagues, and Pat and Elaine kept up their grassroots work back in Birmingham. They engaged other churches in writing letters to Bachus, organized an event at the local Baptist university to honor him, and convinced the
Birmingham News
to praise his leadership on this issue.
“I really hadn’t thought much about places like Africa before,” Bachus says frankly. But he had come to see the world differently because of church people back home.
In November 1999, Bono—lead singer of U2—made his first lobbying visit to Washington. Bono’s advisors on Africa issues, Jamie Drummond and Bobby Shriver, convinced him that the international Jubilee campaign couldn’t succeed without support from the U.S. Congress.
Bobby Shriver had a relationship with Representative John Kasich, chair of the House Budget Committee. Kasich hosted Bono’s first visit to Congress and arranged for him to meet other key Republicans, including Senator Jesse Helms, the arch-conservative chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. Bread for the World organized a press event for Bono and U.S. church leaders outside St. Peter’s Catholic Church, just south of the Capitol.
Big policy changes typically require many steps, and we needed to keep pushing throughout the year 2000. The campaign gained broad support. But Senator Phil Gramm, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, was still dead set against the idea, and there was no way around him.
In November 2000, Representative John Kasich helped organize an unusual meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House. President Clinton led the meeting. Key Republicans and Democrats from Congress were there. Five religious leaders were also around the table. We talked about how to win final passage for debt-relief funding. I closed the meeting with a prayer.
I then scooted around the table to talk with President Clinton. I caught up with him as he was speaking to Rev. Pat Robertson, a leader among politically active Christian conservatives. Robertson hadn’t been involved in Jubilee, but that meeting convinced him to speak in favor of debt relief for poor countries on his
700 Club
television program. He told his viewers in Texas to contact Senator Gramm, and that was the unexpected help we needed. The debt-relief bill passed.
The White House invited me to introduce President Clinton at the signing ceremony. The president looked at Spencer Bachus and said, “Without your leadership, we wouldn’t be here today.” I used my two minutes to talk about the essential involvement of grassroots people and churches across the country. I specifically mentioned Pat Pelham, Elaine Van Cleave, and Father Martin Muller.
The Jubilee Campaign of 1999–2000 started a process that has reduced the debt obligations of thirty relatively well-governed poor countries by $78 billion. They are paying $3 billion less in debt service every year, and the increase in their annual funding for basic health and education has been more than that. 4 Debt relief was the initial source of funding for the dramatic expansion of school enrollment in Africa.
Because we stressed grassroots participation in our Jubilee bill, the World Bank now encourages all poor-country governments to involve civil society in developing poverty reduction strategies. Religious bodies, farmer organizations, and groups that focus on environmental or gender issues
Congress as a whole still had to approve and fund U.S. participation in international debt relief. Bachus lobbied his conservative colleagues, and Pat and Elaine kept up their grassroots work back in Birmingham. They engaged other churches in writing letters to Bachus, organized an event at the local Baptist university to honor him, and convinced the
Birmingham News
to praise his leadership on this issue.
“I really hadn’t thought much about places like Africa before,” Bachus says frankly. But he had come to see the world differently because of church people back home.
In November 1999, Bono—lead singer of U2—made his first lobbying visit to Washington. Bono’s advisors on Africa issues, Jamie Drummond and Bobby Shriver, convinced him that the international Jubilee campaign couldn’t succeed without support from the U.S. Congress.
Bobby Shriver had a relationship with Representative John Kasich, chair of the House Budget Committee. Kasich hosted Bono’s first visit to Congress and arranged for him to meet other key Republicans, including Senator Jesse Helms, the arch-conservative chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. Bread for the World organized a press event for Bono and U.S. church leaders outside St. Peter’s Catholic Church, just south of the Capitol.
Big policy changes typically require many steps, and we needed to keep pushing throughout the year 2000. The campaign gained broad support. But Senator Phil Gramm, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, was still dead set against the idea, and there was no way around him.
In November 2000, Representative John Kasich helped organize an unusual meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House. President Clinton led the meeting. Key Republicans and Democrats from Congress were there. Five religious leaders were also around the table. We talked about how to win final passage for debt-relief funding. I closed the meeting with a prayer.
I then scooted around the table to talk with President Clinton. I caught up with him as he was speaking to Rev. Pat Robertson, a leader among politically active Christian conservatives. Robertson hadn’t been involved in Jubilee, but that meeting convinced him to speak in favor of debt relief for poor countries on his
700 Club
television program. He told his viewers in Texas to contact Senator Gramm, and that was the unexpected help we needed. The debt-relief bill passed.
The White House invited me to introduce President Clinton at the signing ceremony. The president looked at Spencer Bachus and said, “Without your leadership, we wouldn’t be here today.” I used my two minutes to talk about the essential involvement of grassroots people and churches across the country. I specifically mentioned Pat Pelham, Elaine Van Cleave, and Father Martin Muller.
The Jubilee Campaign of 1999–2000 started a process that has reduced the debt obligations of thirty relatively well-governed poor countries by $78 billion. They are paying $3 billion less in debt service every year, and the increase in their annual funding for basic health and education has been more than that. 4 Debt relief was the initial source of funding for the dramatic expansion of school enrollment in Africa.
Because we stressed grassroots participation in our Jubilee bill, the World Bank now encourages all poor-country governments to involve civil society in developing poverty reduction strategies. Religious bodies, farmer organizations, and groups that focus on environmental or gender issues
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