Lloyd Bentsen: “I as well as the gentlewoman from California and some others have introduced a bill that would direct representatives to…”

“I as well as the gentlewoman from California and some others have introduced a bill that would direct representatives to both the IMF and the World Bank to use their voice and vote to oppose any additional funding under the IMF-G7 credit facility that was implemented last year to Indonesia until such time as the President can certify to the Congress that the situation has been peacefully resolved. There are a number of us on the floor today who in the last year worked very hard for adding capital to the IMF to help follow through with this program to help Indonesia, to help Thailand, to help South Korea, because we believed it was in the best interest of the United States that we contain the Asian currency crisis because of what a large export market it is for us. I find myself very frustrated by the fact that Indonesia has continually failed to follow up to the requirements that the Congress put in, the requirements that the IMF and the World Bank have called for, and I think the situation in East Timor is the proverbial stick that broke the camel's back. The fact is, this is not a credit that the United States taxpayers should want to underwrite so long as the government and the military are willing to persecute the people of East Timor.”