Cliff Stearns: “this morning I would like to call my colleagues' attention to an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal this morning called…”

“this morning I would like to call my colleagues' attention to an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal this morning called ``Who Needs the IMF?'' It is written by George Schultz, who is the former Secretary of State under President Reagan; Mr. William Simon, who was Secretary of Treasury under Presidents Nixon and Ford; and Mr. Riften, who is a former Chairman of Citicorp/Citibank. The American taxpayers are being asked to bail out the IMF, and I believe they are being taken advantage of. The bailout has been organized by the IMF fund to which the United States has contributed roughly 18 percent of the IMF's reserve fund. The IMF, as of 1996, there was about $210 billion in the reserve fund. The United States has been liable for approximately $47 billion of this. This fund has responded to the East Asian financial crisis by nearly liquidating its assets. Thailand has received $17 billion in bailout money; $40 billion has been handed to Indonesia, and South Korea has been given a staggering $68 billion in funds. The total cost of this bailout amounts to more than 14 percent of East Asia's gross domestic product. Let us put this in perspective: 14 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product would equal over $1 trillion. This breathtaking figure would be 61 percent of the Federal budget. The IMF is engaging in a policy of privatizing the profits and socializing the losses.”