Chris Dodd: “I rise to introduce the Currency Reform and Financial Markets Access Act of 2007 on behalf of myself, Senator Shelby…”

“I rise to introduce the Currency Reform and Financial Markets Access Act of 2007 on behalf of myself, Senator Shelby, Senator Bayh, Senator Carper, Senator Brown, and Senator Casey. Nearly two decades ago, the Senate Banking Committee enacted legislation which required the Treasury Department to identify countries that manipulate their currency for purposes of gaining an unfair competitive trade advantage and to take prompt action to eliminate the unfair trade advantage when manipulation is found. One of the very first actions that I undertook as chairman-elect of the Senate Banking Committee in December 2006 was to write a letter with then-Chairman Shelby to the Treasury Secretary about the report required under this legislation, the International Economic and Exchange Rate Policy Report and the inaugural U.S.-China strategic economic dialogue, SED. In that letter, we expressed our concern that the Treasury Department had not cited China, and potentially other nations, as currency manipulators.”