by E. Manning

Created on: July 29, 2008

This year, the U.S. Congress is proposing the Global Poverty Act, otherwise known as S.2433 and based on H.R. 1302 legislation. The Global Poverty Act is being co-sponsored by Republican Richard Lugar of Indiana and Democrat Senators Barack Obama, Joseph Biden, Maria Cantwell, Chris Dodd, Dick Durbin, Russ Feingold, Dianne Feinstein, Charles Hagel, and Robert Mendez.

The language of the bill is fairly straightforward and unpretentious on the surface. The wording and intention of the bill appears to be a good deal for humanity in general. The bipartisan bill, if adopted, would require the president "to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the U.S. foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal.

In a unique stance, the proposed bill dictates function on the President of the United States. This is a curious action to require the cooperation of the president to go along with what is ostensibly the heartfelt devotion of Congressional lawmakers combined with the desires of the United Nations in an effort to better global hunger and poverty. Unfortunately, forcing any U.S. President's hands with federal law induced by lawmakers or perhaps by the United Nations creates a scenario where the President is duty-bound to cooperate in the name of global poverty legislation. In essence, according to proposed legislation, the U.S. President is responsible to be responsive and adaptive to global policy, which is a function outside the primary position of President. Even more curious, Congress has decided on legal measures to enforce a certain agenda instead of relying on a treaty.

The Global Poverty Act relies heavily on a policy set by the United Nations. The policy directives of the "Millennium Development Goal" is probably the most comprehensive global anti-poverty program ever created, painted with 8 simple and elegant goals.

Mandate 1 proposes the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger.

Mandate 2 works to achieve universal primary education.

Mandate 3 promotes gender equality and empowers women.

Mandate 4 creates an effort designed reduce child mortality.

Mandate 5 creates an effort to improve maternal health.

Mandate 6 combats HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

Mandate 7 works to ensure environmental sustainability.

Mandate 8 establishes a global partnership for development of these United Nations goals.

While there are concerns by many,

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