ACTION
ALERT - AUGUST 2003
GOOD
SHEPHERD VOICES FOR JUSTICE
_____________________________________
Jubilee Summer Blizzard to Cancel
the Debt
Pile up a snowbank of postcards for Treasury Secretary Snow
The following alert was written and
circulated by Jubilee USA, www.jubileeusa.org
Jubilee USA invites you to join its summer postcard campaign to cancel the debt of impoverished nations.
For
the first time since the year 2000, legislation for deeper debt relief has
passed the U.S. Congress, largely due to the response of citizens who called
and wrote their representatives. Thank you for supporting Jubilee to make
this happen.
The
legislation is just a small step towards Jubilee’s goal of complete debt
cancellation for impoverished countries. However, it could double the
amount of debt relief for currently eligible poor countries ... if the
legislation is implemented.
That
means doubling the number of kids going back to school, and doubling the
resources available for vaccinations and for the fight against HIV/AIDS ... if
the legislation is implemented.
In
order for deeper debt relief to be a reality, our Treasury Department must
negotiate the terms with other rich countries and with the IMF and World
Bank. At the Fall meetings of the IMF and World Bank, the U.S. Treasury
must act for meaningful debt relief and an end to the destructive preconditions
for receiving such relief. It’s time to turn up the heat on U.S. Treasury
Secretary John Snow.
CATHOLIC/GOOD
SHEPHERD CONNECTION
Remember Jubilee 2000? It was a
very important moment for our church globally, here in our archdiocese, and so
too at Good Shepherd. Part of the biblical Jubilee call is to reflect and
replenish. It is a time to bring together all that the community has at one
table and to share it as need dictates. In practical plain terms, it is a time
for the affluent to share anew with the needy. It is a time to absolve debt.
At Good Shepherd we pledged that
as a result of Jubilee 2000 “we would never be the same again”. It is in this
same spirit of committing to being a changed (transformed) people, and the
specific of debt relief, that we ask you to consider this issue and action.
ACTION
Our
goal is to generate 10,000 postcards to Treasury Secretary Snow by summer’s
end. Help us create a postcard blizzard! Please be sure to contact us and
tell us how many postcards you have sent so that we can keep an accurate tally
of our progress. Send reports to: mara@jubileeusa.org
We
know from experience that the administration takes notice when thousands of
postcards from around the country start flooding in. When we generated
thousands of postcards from tabling at U2 concerts, the Treasury Department
reported the impact this had to the media and to high level policy
officials. We know it can make a difference.
Here’s
how you can join the Blizzard:
==========================
Dear
Treasury Secretary Snow,
Please implement the
Congressional legislation for deeper debt relief for impoverished countries, as
one step towards full debt cancellation.
Pick ONE reason from
below or write your own:
Ø
Debt cancellation is
needed to make the fight against HIV/AIDS effective.
Ø
Debt cancellation is
needed to build global stability through poverty reduction.
Ø
U.S. foreign aid will
not be effective until we plug the debt drain.
Ø
Debt cancellation would
save the lives of 19,000 children daily if those resources were used for basic
health and clean water.
I/we look forward to your
active efforts to negotiate for deeper debt cancellation at the upcoming World
Bank and IMF meetings this fall.
Sincerely,
Full
name
Full
address
List
faith community or organization
===============================
Send
to:
Treasury
Secretary John Snow
1500
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington,
D.C. 20220
More
ideas:
Maryknoll
Office for Global Concerns: Peace, Social Justice & Integrity of
Creation
P.O. Box
29132 Washington, D.C. 20017
phone: (202)832-1780 fax: (202)832-5195