Posted on 05/03/2004 5:57:39 AM PDT by mountaineer
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) today called for Senate support of two bills designed to reduce the burden on immigrants to the United States who send money to family members in their native lands. The Senator made her remarks during the unveiling of a report on these Foreign Remittances entitled "All in the Family." The report was produced by the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington D.C. based organization that focuses on issues affecting the Western Hemisphere.
"Unlike tourism dollars and export revenues, these remittances go directly to segments of the general population that need the most help," said Senator Clinton. "This hard currency income has a dramatic impact on the lives of the people who desperately need it. In many countries like Honduras and El Salvador and a few other developing nations in Latin America, remittances can often double the income of the poorest 20 percent of the population," she added.
According to the Inter-American Dialogue, of the $25 billion in remittances sent from immigrants in the United States to family members in the Latin American and Caribbean region last year, nearly $4 billion was eaten up by fees and other transaction costs.
"These costs are mostly borne by low-wage working poor immigrants in the United States who are themselves struggling to stay out of poverty," said Senator Clinton. She pointed out that these immigrants send home an average of $200 per month in spite earnings that generally run below $25,000 per year.
Senator Clinton is co-sponsoring two bills designed to ease the burden of fees and transaction costs. The International Remittances Services Enhancement and Protection Act will remove regulatory barriers that discourage credit unions from offering services to the poor and will require full disclosure of the fees and exchange rates they charge. The hope is this will increase competition, thereby reducing costs.
The Money Wire Act will further foster transparency in the money transfer business, giving immigrants the information they need to make informed choices about who they allow to handle these transactions.
Senator Clinton also called on President Bush to live up a promise he made at the Special Summit of the Americas, held in Mexico in January of this year. At that summit he vowed to reduce the cost of international remittances by 50 percent by 2008. "Despite his rhetoric, the President Fiscal Year 2005 budget neither includes significant funding, nor meaningful policy initiatives to achieve this goal," she said.
A power-packed Indian caucus was officially launched at the US Senate on Thursday, making it even more difficult for Pakistan to push its case on the Capitol Hill.
Sen Hillary Clinton, in her address to the caucus, recalled her fond memories of trips to India as America's first lady and vowed to help promote Indian interests in the US legislature.
"It is imperative that the Unites States do everything possible to reach out to India. This caucus is dedicated to expanding areas of agreement with India and engaging in a candid dialogue of differences," she said.
Sen John Cornyn stressed the importance of the caucus to strengthening the ties.
"This bipartisan caucus will encourage further advances between the US and India, one of our greatest allies and a nation that shares the deepest convictions of democratic freedom," he said.
Ms Clinton, a Democrat, and Mr Cornyn, a Republican, are the co-chairs of the bipartisan caucus. The caucus already has 32 members, including Senate majority Leader Tom Daschle. source
"Hillary Clinton endorses effort to reduce our burden on immigrants
Par for the course.
Amazing!!! Since that $200 a month means they're sending $24,000 of their less than $25,000 yearly earnings out of the country ---- that means we're paying virtually all their living expenses. It seems we're already helping them quite a bit. We're supporting them and their large families and giving them money that they can send home to whoever is left.
Yea .. but that article in post#1 about India could backfire on her .. Isn't that the kind of thing Edwards was complaining about during the primaries?
FMCDH
Of course. And the cozy relationship she and her alleged husband have with India is a little strange, too. Of course, wealthy Indians in the U.S. have given beaucoups of bucks to both Clintons, but there's probably more to it than that.
You mean the times they encouraged Companies to do business over there and then turned around and blamed it all on President Bush??
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) today called for Senate support of two bills designed to reduce the burden on immigrants to the United States who send money to family members in their native lands. The Senator made her remarks during the unveiling of a report on these Foreign Remittances entitled "All in the Family." The report was produced by the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington D.C. based organization that focuses on issues affecting the Western Hemisphere.
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