Young Oak Kim: “I thank Mr. McHenry for yielding and supporting my legislation. I also thank Representative Green of Texas for…”

“I thank Mr. McHenry for yielding and supporting my legislation. I also thank Representative Green of Texas for co-leading this bill, H.R. 540, and making it a bipartisan effort. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill, H.R. 540, the Taiwan Non-Discrimination Act. Longstanding U.S. policy towards Taiwan has supported its membership in international organizations where statehood is not a prerequisite. The U.S. also advocates for Taiwan's voice to be heard where membership is not possible. This principle has lasted decades across Republican and Democratic administrations, and it has repeatedly been reaffirmed in bills passed by Congress. My bill is straightforward. It requires the Treasury Department to implement our Taiwan policy at the International Monetary Fund, or IMF. Taiwan is not required to be a member state of the United Nations in order to gain membership in the IMF. For example, Kosovo, also not a U.N. member, has belonged to the IMF for over a decade. If Taiwan seeks admission to the IMF, then the Treasury Department should carry out our longstanding U.S. policy and support its application. While Taiwan awaits its admission to the IMF, H.R. 540 encourages the U.S. Governor of the IMF to support integrating Taiwan into the IMF's regular economic monitoring activities and Taiwanese nationals with equal employment opportunities at the IMF.…”