Political Quotes

“I chair the Domestic and International Monetary Policy Subcommittee of the House Banking and Financial Services Committee, which is the authorizing committee for U.S. participation in the multilateral development banks. In this era of limited budgets, it is absolutely imperative that every taxpayer dollar be spent in the most cost-effective manner possible. I submit that with multilateral development we multiply each contributed dollar fivefold or sixfold for optimal leverage of our resources. Therefore, I would like to share with my colleagues the action the authorizing subcommittee took on the multilateral funding levels requested by the administration. As we noted when the administration presented its request to my subcommittee, we should acknowledge the substantial progress already made in reforming the International Financial Institutions [IFI's]. The best way to do this and encourage the process is by paying the United States arrears on commitments to the 10th capital replenishment of the International Development Association [IDA] made by previous administrations. It is most difficult to continue to assert a position of leadership in the various IFI's and yet owe a total of $1.56 billion in overdue obligations to them. This undermines our moral and practical influence over these institutions, and even though we still spend a very large sum of money each year, the expenditure produces little domestic or international good will.”