On Wednesday evening, the House of Representatives passed Rep. Maxine Waters’ bill, (H.R. 4573)- the Debt Relief for Earthquake Recovery in Haiti Act. It passed under what is known as ‘a suspended rule’ meaning that it is not considered controversial, so the vast majority of the House Members voted for it. This legislation directs the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury to seek the cancellation of Haiti’s $1.2 billion debts to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and other multilateral development institutions. It also directs the Secretary to urge other bilateral, multilateral, and private creditors to cancel all debts owed by Haiti to such creditors. We expect the Senate to take up and pass the Waters bill in the next few weeks, so President Obama can sign it into law.

The voices of ONE members and our partners are being heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill. We will keep monitoring the progress of this legislation, and its implementation, when it becomes law.