John Sarbanes: “I just want to say, I don't really have a basic quarrel with my good friend from Minnesota. I want to be on the side of…”

“I just want to say, I don't really have a basic quarrel with my good friend from Minnesota. I want to be on the side of environmental protection and on the side of workers' rights and on the side of human rights. The Secretary of the Treasury has committed himself to undertake a serious review of the international financial architecture. I have a lot of confidence in the Secretary of the Treasury. In fact, I think we have the best finance minister in the world in Secretary Rubin. I place great credibility in his proposals. But you cannot remodel the emergency room at the very time the patients are being brought in to be dealt with. That is the issue that is involved in this IMF replenishment. The distinguished chairman of the committee said on yesterday that the Asian flu is the El Nino of economics, and he warned that unless we understand that, we are liable to make a big mistake. I think the distinguished Senator from Alaska was absolutely right on that point. These countries got into trouble because of, in many respects, mismanagement of their economy. The IMF wasn't there to begin with. The IMF came in in order to try to help them out. Now, we can argue about its programs, and I have been critical of them in the past and, indeed, even critical of them in the current context.”