Global Poverty Act

The Global Poverty Act was a bill in the U.S. Congress co-sponsored by 84 Representatives and 30 Senators.

The Global Poverty Act would require the U.S. President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day. This would require the United States to add 0.7 percent of the U.S. gross national product (23 billion to 98 billion a year) to its overall spending on Humanitarian Aid. This bill has been endorsed by The Borgen Project, Habitat for Humanity, Bread for the World, RESULTS and CARE.

The bill passed the Foreign Affairs Committee in July 2008. It was never scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor, however, and died at the end of the session.

Read more about Global Poverty Act:  Timeline

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