Cliff Stearns: “I rise today to discuss attempted misappropriation of American taxpayers' money for the International Monetary Fund. I…”

“I rise today to discuss attempted misappropriation of American taxpayers' money for the International Monetary Fund. I applaud the efforts by our Speaker to create a second supplemental appropriations bill to handle this. This will give the House the ability to have a straight up or down vote on increasing our financial commitment to the IMF. The U.S. now presently provides about 18 percent of the IMF funds, and we are being asked to cough up another $18 billion without a full debate on the House floor about the merits of such a proposal. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, three outstanding experts on international finance gave their views on the International Monetary Fund. George Shultz, President Reagan's Secretary of State; William Simon, Presidents Nixon and Ford's Secretary of Treasury; and Walter Wriston, former Chairman of Citicorp and Citibank. They asked the question, who needs the IMF? They point out that President Clinton and the IMF have shifted into overdrive in their efforts to save the economies of Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand, or to be more accurate, to save the pocketbooks of international investors who can face a tide of defaults if these markets are not now shored up. I welcome the support of these distinguished experts on this subject. The way I see it, the IMF places American taxpayers in the position of guaranteeing a return on investment to those who engage in these risky schemes.”