The president asked for nearly______ dollars over______ years for debt-relief [o

President Clinton says his administration is prepared to cancel all of the debt owed to the United States by the world’ s poorest countries provided that the money saved is used to relieve poverty. The president announced the proposal in a speech to a joint meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington. Mr. Clinton said unsustainable debt is hindering development in many of the world’ s poor countries. And he said the international community has a moral and economic imperative to do more to help debt-ridden nations. "Last week to make good on an America’ s commitment I made it in my budget request to Congress and asked for nearly a billion dollars over 4 years for this purpose. We must keep adequate assistance flowing to the developing countries, especially through the international development association" The president also urged leading industrialized nations to move ahead with a debt relief plan approved a few days ago. That plan would cancel as much as 70 billion dollars in debt owed by 40 of the world’ s poorest nations.