{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-1998-11-12-pt1-PgE2307", "1998-11-12", 105, 2, null, null, "IMF REFORM IS URGENTLY NEEDED", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "ALLOTHER", "E2307", "E2307", "[{\"name\": \"Jim Saxton\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"105\", \"type\": \"HR\", \"number\": \"3331\"}]", "144 Cong. Rec. E2307", "Congressional Record, Volume 144 Issue 152 (Thursday, November 12, 1998)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 152 (Thursday, November 12, 1998)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Page E2307]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n[[Page E2307]]\n\n                     IMF REFORM IS URGENTLY NEEDED\n\n                                 ______\n\n                            HON. JIM SAXTON\n\n                             of new jersey\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                      Thursday, November 12, 1998\n\n  Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of reforming the\nInternational Monetary Fund (IMF). The reforms to be included in the\nappropriations bill, and particularly the enforcement provisions, are\nnot nearly as extensive as I would have liked. Nonetheless, if these\nreforms are permitted to take effect, they will be steps in the right\ndirection toward a longer-term reform of the IMF.\n  The implementation of the IMF reforms in this bill will be an\nimportant test of the good faith and credibility of the Treasury\nDepartment and IMF. We in Congress will also have to do our part to\nmaintain vigilant and intensive oversight to ensure these reforms are\nimplemented in accordance with congressional intent, and I am planning\nto establish a systematic way to do this while also advancing an agenda\nfor further IMF reform.\n  With regard to the reforms themselves, a review of their development\nfrom earlier legislation is critical to understanding congressional\nintent. The structure of the reforms pertaining to transparency and\nmarket interest rates is clearly based on the IMF Transparency and\nEfficiency Act, H.R. 3331, which I introduced with Majority Leader\nArmey and others last March. The reform proposals in the budget bill\nare essentially narrowed versions of the policy changes mandated in the\nIMF Transparency and Efficiency Act.\n  The biggest change is in the enforcement mechanism in this act, which\nhas been replaced by a much weaker enforcement provision in the\nappropriations bill. Obviously I am disappointed with these changes,\nparticularly with the weaker enforcement provisions, because it is\nunclear how diligently the Treasury and IMF will implement the reforms\nwithout airtight enforcement. Further enforcement measures will be\ncalled for if this mechanism proves insufficient.\n  With respect to the IMF transparency reforms in the appropriations\nbill, suffice it to say they reflect a strong congressional consensus\nthat IMF documents be publicly released, and that IMF minutes of IMF\nboard meetings should be publicly released in some form. Any abuse of\nthe flexibility provided in this language would clearly not be\nacceptable.\n  With regard to the interest rate provisions, the higher interest\nrates are required any time the defined conditions of a balance of\npayments problem emerge. The compromise language uses some terms to\ndescribe these conditions also used by the IMF to describe an existing\nIMF loan facility, but there are essential differences that are\nimportant to note. Most importantly, the reform is to apply to all\nsituations where the defined and rather typical characteristics\nassociated with a balance of payments problem are present, whereas the\nIMF loan facility is to be used only in ``exceptional'' circumstances.\n  Furthermore, the clear intent of this reform initiative is to require\ninterest rates comparable to market interest rates, as expressed in\nH.R. 3331. What I intended in my bill was the use of a basic reference\nmarket interest rate, with an adjustment for risk added, so as to\napproximate the market interest rate a particular borrower would face.\nThis would be at least equal to the market interest rates available to\na borrower just before a crisis.\n  Prior to these negotiations, the staff of the Joint Economic\nCommittee devised a floor to permit an objective limit on how low the\nrate could go for the sole purpose of limiting the potential for\negregious abuse. What emerged in the reform was an interest rate\nformula providing a floor, whereas in the IMF lending facility this\napproach appears to be effectively a ceiling. The interest rates floor\nin the reform should not be viewed as determining the appropriate\ninterest rate, which will vary depending on the risk factors present in\ndifferent borrowing countries.\n  In the course of four hearings held by the Joint Economic Committee\n(JEC) the issues involving transparency and an end to interest rate\nsubsidies were explored in extensive detail, as well as other issues. A\ncomplete legislative history of the IMF reforms about to be enacted\nwith a view toward establishing congressional intent must include not\nonly H.R. 3331, but also the germane material covered in these JEC\nhearings, the only hearings held that examined these reforms in any\ndetail.\n  In summation, the broad congressional intent behind these IMF reforms\nis clear, and is reflected in the legislative history. A good faith\neffort to carry out these IMF reforms in keeping with the letter and\nspirit of the law will be as evident as the failure to do so.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-1998-11-12-pt1-PgE2307"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 6.635303026996553, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}