Gephardt to campaign for IMF funding

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

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FOCUS-White House optimistic about funds for IMF
Date: Thu Feb 26 17:06:14 CST 1998
                                         
         WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior White House official said
Thursday he was confident that Congress would approve a much-criticized
$18 billion funding package for the International Monetary Fund. 
         ``I am confident that we have the support up there to move
forward on financing the IMF,'' Budget Director Franklin Raines told
reporters after speaking to a meeting of economists. 
         ``I think we've made a lot of progress in talking to members.
If we had a vote today, I'd be very optimistic about our prospects.''
         Raines's assessment was uncharacteristically upbeat -- Treasury
Secretary Robert Rubin said only that he saw ``positive momentum'' from
lawmakers on Capitol Hill -- and the administration has up to now been
much more wary. 
         Officials want Congress to approve the money to replenish
reserves drained by costly bailouts for Asian states. They view IMF
funding as insurance in case Asia's crisis spreads and say the package
will not cost the U.S. taxpayer a cent. 
         Congressional opponents say the money would be better used at
home, and many lawmakers believe the IMF package does not have enough
support to pass, especially in the lower house. 
         But in a boost for the administration, House Minority Leader
Richard Gephardt, who led the fight against his own Democratic president
last year on trade legislation, said he was launching a public campaign
to pass IMF funding. 
         The Missouri Democrat will outline his plans in a speech to the
Council on Foreign Relations on March 3 in New York. 
         Lawmakers on all sides of the American political spectrum have
accused the IMF of being excessively secretive; New Jersey Republican
Rep. Jim Saxton, chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, said he would
introduce legislation requiring the fund to be more accountable. 
         The legislation would require the IMF to publish the minutes of
its regular board meetings and release loan documents, staff studies and
analyses. The bill would also force the IMF to make all its loans at
market interest rates. 
         If these reforms were not implemented, future U.S. funding for
the IMF would be suspended, Saxton said. 
         ``This bill will open up the IMF and remove the veil of secrecy
that cloaks the IMF and its operations,'' he added. 
         In a separate issue, abortion foes in the House have vowed to
link the IMF funding package to promises not to use U.S. aid money for
institutions promoting abortion. 
         The link could derail the funding because it would drive away
many Democrats and infuriate the administration. 
         Two Republicans want to tie the IMF funding to investigations
into financing the 1996 presidential campaign. 
         The House Banking Committee has scheduled a March 5 vote on yet
another set of proposed IMF reforms in legislation by committee chairman
Rep. Jim Leach. 
         His bill would authorize Washington to boost IMF resources in
exchange for assurances that IMF loan programs honor labor rights and
promote environmental protection. 
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U.S. business group lobbies Congress to support IMF
Date: Wed Feb 25 21:21:35 CST 1998
                                         
         WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - The largest U.S. business
federation sent letters to members of Congress on Wednesday urging them
to approve an $18 billion package for the International Monetary Fund to
protect the world's top economy. 
         "Continued U.S. economic prosperity may hinge on congressional
backing of the IMF," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Ad Hoc Coalition for
IMF Replenishment said in the letter. 
         The letter was part of a broader campaign by business groups
and policymakers to persuade a skeptical Congress to support the IMF and
its multibillion-dollar bailouts for Indonesia, South Korea and
Thailand. 
         President Bill Clinton wants Congress to approve $18 billion in
new money to replenish IMF funds drained by the three rescue packages
totaling well over $100 billion. 
         Weeks of lobbying on Capitol Hill by top administration
officials have paid off in the Senate, but Republicans in the House of
Representatives could still sink the IMF funding package. 
         Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers told reporters on
Wednesday that he was "encouraged" by recent meetings with lawmakers on
Capitol Hill. 
         "The IMF is absolutely essential to a successful new economic
world," Summers told New York's Foreign Policy Association. 
         But he also stressed that the IMF should be more open and
accountable, making clear that the administration backed some of the
criticism from lawmakers, who describe the IMF as opaque and inflexible. 
         "We need much wider publication of IMF internal data. We need
much more scope, as we have seen recently, for external evaluations of
key IMF policies," Summers said. 
         The Chamber of Commerce's letter was signed by more than 200
businesses, trade associations and chambers of commerce, and called for
the "expeditious approval" by Congress of the entire IMF package. 
         "Without IMF support, U.S. leadership in the global economic,
foreign policy and national security arenas will suffer," said Willard
Workman, the chamber's vice president for international affairs. 
         The coalition said the economic crisis gripping Asia was having
a serious impact on U.S. manufacturers, farmers, investors, workers and
small businesses. 
         The coalition urged Congress to approve the entire $18 billion
IMF package, and said lawmakers should not attach conditions to the
money. 
         "In the face of an economic crisis at the door of America, now
is not the time to insist on legislative conditions for IMF reform that
cannot be met immediately," Workman said. 
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