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Debt Relief Enhancement Act of 2002

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Apr 18, 2002

Debt Relief Enhancement Act of 2002 - Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to commence efforts immediately within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other appropriate multilateral development institutions to modify the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative so that the amount of debt stock reduction approved for a country eligible for debt relief shall be sufficient to reduce, by a specified deadline, the net present value of the outstanding public and publicly guaranteed debt of the country, and the annual payments due, to levels determined according to certain formulae.Prohibits conditioning any such debt cancellation on an agreement by an impoverished country to implement or comply with policies that deepen poverty or degrade the environment.Prescribes other specified conditions and prohibitions with respect to country eligibility.Requires any country otherwise eligible to receive debt cancellation under the modifications to the Initiative made by this Act to agree to: (1) ensure that the financial benefits of debt cancellation are applied to programs to combat HIV/AIDS and poverty; and (2) implement transparent and participatory policymaking and budget procedures, good governance, and effective anticorruption measures.Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on the options and costs associated with expanding debt relief under the Initiative to poor countries not eligible for inclusion in it.

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Who introduced it

Sen. Biden, Joseph R., Jr. [D-DE] · D–DE

Committees

  • Foreign Relations Committee
14 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

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  1. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

  2. Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2966-2967)

  3. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

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Source last updated: Aug 19, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

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