Debt Relief for Haiti Recovery Act (H.R. 4573)

In the aftermath of Haiti’s worst earthquake in 200 years, we are praying for the people of Haiti, for CRWM and CRWRC relief staff, and contributing to CRWRC relief efforts.

The Office of Social Justice encourages you to raise your voice as well as your prayers for fair assistance for Haiti, so that the country is able to make a sustainable recovery in the long term. Please contact your Senators and Representative today and urge them to co-sponsor the Debt Relief for Haiti Earthquake Recovery Act (H.R. 4573/S. 2961).

H.R. 4573 was introduced in the House by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA). The bill would achieve the two goals we've been advocating for by:

Directing the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Directors at the IMF, the IDB, and other multilateral development institutions to:

1. Provide additional assistance from such institutions to Haiti in grant form in order to avoid additional debt accumulation;

2. Place a moratorium on Haiti's debt payments to such institutions until the debts are canceled completely; and

3. Cancel all debts owed by Haiti to such institutions.

Directing the Secretary to urge other bilateral, multilateral, and private creditors to cancel all debts owed by Haiti to such creditors.

A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) called the Haiti Recovery Act (S. 2961) that would also provide debt relief.

Take Action

Raise your voice to ensure that assistance will be effective in enabling Haiti's long-term recovery! Urge your Representative to co-sponsor the Debt Relief for Earthquake Recovery in Haiti Act (H.R. 4573) and your Senators to co-sponsor the Haiti Recovery Act (S. 2961).

How do I contact my representatives?

To call, dial the Capitol Hill operator at (202) 224-3121 and ask for the office of one of your representatives (e.g. "The office of Senator Levin of Michigan, please.")
To email, visit the Senate or House website to find your representative's email address, or try the easy-to-use web forms.

What do I say?

First, click to see if your Representative and/or Senators have become co-sponsors of this bill. If so, you should still contact them to thank them for their support. If not, explain to them why this bill is important to you!

Advocating is easy! Just use these talking points:

I am a constituent, and I urge you to help the Haitian people in this time of crisis by co-sponsoring the Debt Relief for Earthquake Recovery in Haiti Act (H.R. 4573)/Haiti Recovery Act (S. 2961). As a Christian, I believe that justice for the Haitian poor requires not only relief assistance, but also structural reforms such as debt cancellation.

First, aid should be given in the form of grants which need not be repaid, because a greater debt burden will hinder Haiti's long term recovery. This bill will help to ensure that international financial institutions provide Haiti with sufficient assistance in grants, not loans.
Second, Haiti's remaining debts should be cancelled so that Haiti's limited resources can be directed at recovery, not debt repayment. This bill would ensure that U.S. Executive Directors to international financial institutions advocate for debt relief for Haiti and demand a moratorium on debt payments until the cancellation agreement can be reached.

For helpful tips about how to contact public officials, check out OSJ's advocacy guide.

If you do make a call, we'd love to hear about it - email osjha@crcna.org with your story, or visit www.crcjustice.org to find our social networking options.