H.R. 4511: Justice and Understanding By IMF Loan Elimination and Equity Act of 2004

108th Congress · introduced 2004-06-03 · Foreign Trade and International Finance · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2004-06-03 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-35] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Justice and Understanding By IMF Loan Elimination and Equity Act of 2004

Plain summary

Justice and Understanding By IMF Loan Elimination and Equity (JUBILEE) Act of 2004 - Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to require the Secretary of the Treasury to commence immediate efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other appropriate multilateral development institutions (MDI's), to accomplish: (1) cancellation of all debts owed to the IMF by specified eligible poor countries, and the financing of such debt cancellation from ongoing IMF operations, procedures, and accounts established as of the end of the most recent fiscal year, including the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (formerly known as the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility or ESAF); (2) limitation of any waiting period before receipt of debt cancellation to one month from the date of an eligible poor country's application for it; and (3) encouragement of the government of each eligible poor country to allocate at least 20 percent of its national budget, including the savings from such debt cancellation, for the provision of basic health care services, education services, and clean water services to individuals in the country. Sets forth requirements for: (1) a prohibition against the IMF's requiring any country receiving new concessional loans to privilege the IMF as a creditor over the United States; (2) establishment of a framework to ensure the transparency regarding each international financial institution's activities; and (3) availability on the Treasury Department's website of U.S. Executive Directors' remarks at meetings of international financial institutions' Boards of Directors. Requires the Secretary to commence immediate efforts, within the Paris Club, the IMF, and other appropriate MDI's, to ensure that the provision of debt cancellation to such countries is not conditioned on any agreement by such a country to implement or comply with specified policies that deepen poverty or degrade the environment. Bars funds appropriated in any Act (except those providing for debt relief to poor countries) from being obligated or made available to IMF unless specified conditions are met relating to debt cancellation for all eligible poor countries and termination of conditioning debt relief on certain structural adjustment.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Justice and Understanding By IMF Loan Elimination and Equity Act of 2004

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-35] · 10 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA), James P. McGovern (D-MA)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-35] reported raising $1.1 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)

Appropriation: Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Fiscal year: The 12-month period a government uses for its budget. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30 and is named for the calendar year in which it ends. Most states use July 1 to June 30.
Obligation: A binding promise by a government agency to pay money, for example by signing a contract or awarding a grant. Spending data such as USAspending.gov counts money when it is obligated, which can be before it is actually paid out.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-108hr4511.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/108/hr>

Record fed-us-cong108-hr4511 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong108 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong108