Nita Lowey: “I rise in strong support of funding for the International Monetary Fund. This is one of the most important issues facing…”

“I rise in strong support of funding for the International Monetary Fund. This is one of the most important issues facing this body. The ongoing economic turmoil in Asia and Russia is having a very serious impact on Wall Street and other markets around the world. We must provide the IMF with the resources it needs to respond to the economic insecurity in Asia and Russia as it promotes badly needed reforms in those economies. The leadership in my judgment is playing a very dangerous political game by not allowing a vote on this issue today. The global economic crisis demands immediate leadership, not political gamesmanship. The IMF's resources are at a dangerously low level, jeopardizing its ability to perform its basic mission and respond effectively if the economic crisis deepens or spreads to even more markets. The $18 billion requested for U.S. commitments can leverage about $75 billion in usable global commitments from the IMF's 181 members. This degree of burdensharing would provide the IMF with sufficient resources to sustain its operations well into the next decade and would reduce the possibility that the United States will be forced to bear a disproportionate share of the financing in any future financial crisis.”