Hearing on the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending

Hearing on the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending, Today, Nov. 8 @ 10 a.m.!

The hearing will take place on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 10 a.m. in Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2128 on Capitol Hill. If you are in Washington, D.C. or nearby, you are welcome to attend. For those outside of D.C. or if you can't get away from work, watch/listen to it online via live webcast! Go directly to the Financial Services Committee hearing page online at 10 a.m. today and join in!

Led by Rep. Barney Frank, Rep. Spencer Bachus, and Rep. Maxine Waters (and thanks in no small part due to the grassroots pressure created by the Cancel Debt Fast and Rev. David Duncombe's ministry), the House Financial Services Committee has scheduled a legislative hearing on the Jubilee Act for Expanded Debt Cancellation and Responsible Lending (HR 2634).
Among the expected witnesses are:

Neil Watkins, National Coordinator, Jubilee USA Network
Emira Woods, Foreign Policy In Focus Co-Director, Institute for Policy Studies
Gerry Flood, Counselor, Office of International Justice & Peace-U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Aldo Caliari, Coordinator, Bretton Woods Project, Center of Concern

The hearing will consider provisions of the Jubilee Act (HR 2364, S 2166), which currently has 86 cosponsors in the House and 11 in the Senate. The Jubilee Act would:

Cancel the debts of up to 26 additional nations not currently eligible for debt cancellation, provided that they demonstrate plans to spend the money wisely on poverty reduction;

Cut harmful requirements that are delaying access to life-saving debt relief for countries like HaitiLiberia; and

Call on U.S. Treasury Secretary to address the challenges presented by so-called vulture funds, one of which recently extracted $15 million from impoverished Zambia; and

Establish policies for responsible lending to avoid odious and unjust debt accumulation in the future.

This hearing is an important first step as we work towards passage of this important legislation.
Be sure to visit the Jubilee USA website a few hours after the hearing, where we'll post transcripts of the speeches from the scheduled witnesses.

Thanks for all the work you do for Jubilee justice!

Funeral for Debt Event

Jubilee Oregon held a "funeral" for debt here in Portland yesterday (October 10th) as part of the Jubilee USA rolling cancel debt fast actions going on across the country. October 10th is the cancel debt fast day focused on HIV/AIDS. We were joined by our friends in the PAGAC in this cancel debt fast ceremony to highlight the strong links between debt cancellation and the crucial need to fund HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

Over 20 participants, dressed in black, attended the funeral ceremony. Three coffins depicted debt in Latin America, Asia and Africa were front and center.


We started our rally at Senator Gordon’s Smith’s local office. We gave speeches on the importance of the Jubilee act and its link to funding for AIDS prevention and treatment. We sang songs and chanted debt cancellation demands.


We presented plates to Senator Smith's representative and then headed out on our funeral procession. The procession carried the coffins through downtown Portland, calling out the names of the 67 countries "presente" who are targeted in the Jubilee Act.
We arrived at Senator Wyden’s office for our second presentation of plates. Six of our group met with Senator Wyden’s staffer Loretta Smith while the rest of us remained outside chanting for debt cancellation, calling out the names of the 67 Jubilee Act countries and signing songs.





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Jubilee Act Update : new cospnsors/ senate version

Two great news items from Washington D.C. regarding the Jubilee Act.

First in the House of Representatives, we have secured the support of Representatives Peter DeFazio, Darleen Hooley and Greg Walden as co-sponsors of the Jubilee Act (HR 2634). Since we already have Blumenauer and Wu signed on, that means we have four out of Oregon\'s five representatives sponsoring the Act. Now, all we need is to have Representative Darlene Hooley sign on as a co-sponsor and we will have all the Oregon House delegation on board. PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL HER OFFICE IMMEDIATELY TO ASK FOR HER SUPPORT OF HR 2634 - The Jubilee Act.
Oregon Office phone: 503 557-1324Washington D.C. office: (202) 225-5711 phoneEmail: jennifer.wagner@mail.house.gov

Next, a companion bill has finally been introduced into the Senate The brand new Senate bill (S2166) currently has 6 co-sponsors: Senators Casey (D-PA), Lugar (R-IN), Dodd (D-CT), Biden (D-DE), Sununu (R-NH), and Obama (D-IL).

We're working hard to have the entire Oregon Congressional delegation stand up and speak out for an end to global poverty. So contact Wyden and Smith and ask them to co-sponsor S2166 now.

Pick up the phone and call the Capitol Switchboard: 202.224.3121.

Ask to be connected to your Senator's office. The receptionist will answer. Introduce yourself a constituent from Oregon and ask the Senator to support S2166, The Jubilee Act.

Thanks for your help - Andy Szatkowski

Mr. Salil Shetty, the Director of the Millennium Campaign for the United Nations will speak at St. Luke Lutheran Church on Tuesday, October 30th, at 7

The Millennium Campaign is based on the Millennium Development Goals that set a framework to end extreme poverty by 2015. In 2007, we are halfway there. Mr. Shetty's compelling presentation addresses how far we have come and what obstacles remain. This is a unique opportunity to hear first hand how the MDG's are working, and how we can help implement them.

For more information on the Millennium campaign, go to http://www.millenniumcampaign.org/ .

All are welcome. Free.

St. Luke is located at 6835 SW 46th Avenue , Portland, Oregon between SW Vermont and SW 46th Avenue (near Gabriel Park).

Mr. Shetty joined the United Nations in 2003 as the Director of the Millennium Campaign. In the last four years, Mr. Shetty has played a key role in building up the advocacy campaign for the MDG's in 50 countries. Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr. Shetty was the chief executive of ActionAid, a leading international development NGO. There he worked in the field in sub-Sahara Africa and in South Asia and in fundraising and advocacy programs in the United States and Europe

Oregon Center for Christian Values presents: Faith & American Values Conference (oct 6)

Come to our 2nd annual Faith & American Values Conference Poverty & Politics:
responding to god’s call for action Featuring Dr. Ron Sider Author of “Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger” and Founder of Evangelicals for Social Action
Register Now

“I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy and executes justice for the poor.”
Psalm 140:12

Do you want to:
Learn about how you can impact poverty in Oregon?
Join a movement to promote public policies for the common good?
Learn more about the biblical call to care for the poor?
Network with organizations addressing poverty in Oregon?
Then join us for a discussion on how the Christian community in Oregon can work together to address poverty in our communities

Event Details:
Date: Saturday, October 6th
Time: 12:45 – 4:00 PM
Where: Mosaic Community Church
1832 NE 39th Ave Portland, OR 97212

Lecture & Discussion, Book-signing to follow
Contact Laura at laura@occv.org or call 503-222-2072 to register for the event or get more information.

“The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.”
Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963.

Join Jubilee Oregon this Sunday, August 12th to launch the Cancel the Debt Fast

David Duncombe to Preach on Purpose for Cancel Debt Fast

Westminster Presbyterian Church,

1624 NE Hancock Portland

Sunday, August 12

10:30 am

David Duncombe spent almost two decades as chaplain for the Yale School of Medicine and a lecturer at Yale Divinity School, his alma mater. In 1967, his chaplaincy at Yale was one of the first at a nondenominational American medical school.

He was active in the civil rights movement, and has long been involved in peace and justice protests. In recent years, his activism has taken the form of protest fasts in the name of peace and poverty. In his social justice ministry, he has been arrested almost 100 times and sometimes jailed.

NEWS ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION Friday, August 4, 2007

Contact: Ray Utech, 901-573-7477 ray.utech@gmail.com

Local pastor to fast for 40 days in the nation’s capital, send-off slated for Sunday, August 12, as part of

Hungry for Justice: Jubilee Debt Cancellation movement ‘s 40-Day National Fast September 6 – October 15

Jubilee Oregon is hosting a public event to encourage and support Reverend David Duncombe's trip to Washington D.C. to lobby for debt cancellation.

Event: Reverend David Duncombe Send-Off for Jubilee's "Cancel Debt Fast"

Where: Irving Park; 875 Northeast Fremont Street, Portland, OR 97212

When: 1pm-3pm

Sponsor: Established in 2000, Jubilee Oregon, a coalition of religious and

community groups, is a part of Jubilee USA, a network of local

congregations and 80 religious denominations, faith-based networks,

development and community organizations in the US, including Sojourners, Action Aid International, and World Vision. Jubilee USA also partners on efforts to fight global poverty as a member of the ONE Campaign. Jubilee USA is part the global Jubilee network, with grassroots networks in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe

News/Press RSVP: Jubileeoregon@ gmail.com or call 503-287-7847 or 901 573 7477

PORTLAND, OR – The Rev. David Duncombe, whose water only ‘fast for life’ in 2000 in the halls of Congress convinced people like Jessie Helms and Ted Kennedy to approve debt cancellation measures for the world’s poorest countries, will begin a new fast.

Echoing his statement made then, the 77 year old United Church of Christ minister says now, “I've reached a point in my life in which it's very difficult for me to live on a playing field that isn't level. And it's very difficult for me to avoid the knowledge in my own life that there are millions of starving people and to go about my life as though there were not. I find it very undesirable to eat when other people can't.”

“I believe strongly that as a Christian that we are asked to love our neighbors and particularly people that are at a disadvantage and so this is a window of opportunity to express that. Being a pastor I wanted to do this in a pastoral way so I’ll go from office to office not only to talk about legislations but to try to get to know the staff as people and to understand where they're coming from. I intend to symbolize starvation. I want to do that because a lot of people in Congress -- by no fault of their own -- have never seen a starving person. Their only contact with starvation is that in a very abstract way they know that so many people are starving, but they have never seen it, they have never looked upon it they have never touched it. So I will go back to each office about once a week and let my starving body talk for itself and I hope that my message will get through and lift their consciences."

For additional information and background: http://www.jubileeusa.org/

Jubilee Jumble Success by St John the Baptist at Mission of the Atonement

The Lutheran and Roman Catholic Mission of the Atonement, on busy Scholls Ferry Rd, provided the perfect location of St. John’s first Jubilee fund raiser—a jumble (Brit for rummage) sale on June 30.

St. John’s location is a quarter mile off the road at Oregon Episcopal School. Member Valerie McIntyre caught a vision for the sale and saw it through netting over $800 divided between JubileeUSA and Jubilee Oregon. A good time had by all!