[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1795 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1795

   To reform the International Monetary Fund and to authorize United 
 States participation in a quota increase and the New Arrangements to 
   Borrow of the International Monetary Fund, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 18, 1998

 Mr. Hagel  (for himself, Mr. Grams, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Chafee, and Mr. 
   Domenici) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To reform the International Monetary Fund and to authorize United 
 States participation in a quota increase and the New Arrangements to 
   Borrow of the International Monetary Fund, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``International Monetary Fund Reform 
Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION.

    For purposes of this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional 
committees'' means the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee 
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee 
on International Relations and the Committee on Banking and Financial 
Services of the House of Representatives.

                  TITLE I--INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

SEC. 101. PARTICIPATION IN QUOTA INCREASE.

    The Bretton Woods Agreements Act (22 U.S.C. 286-286mm) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 61. QUOTA INCREASE.

    ``(a) In General.--The United States Governor of the Fund may 
consent to an increase in the quota of the United States in the Fund 
equivalent to 10,622,500,000 Special Drawing Rights.
    ``(b) Subject to Appropriations.--The authority provided by 
subsection (a) shall be effective only to such extent or in such 
amounts as are provided in advance in appropriations Acts.''.

SEC. 102. CONDITIONS FOR RELEASE OF FUNDS.

    (a) Limitations on Funding.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, any funds appropriated or otherwise made available for an increase 
in the quota of the United States in the International Monetary Fund 
pursuant to this title shall not be available for such increase until 
the Secretary of the Treasury makes the certifications described in 
subsection (b) and (c) to the appropriate congressional committees.
    (b) Certification Regarding Transparency.--The certification 
described in this subsection means a certification by the Secretary of 
the Treasury to the appropriate congressional committees that the 
United States is taking all necessary and appropriate steps to--
            (1) ensure that the internal processes of the IMF become 
        open and transparent;
            (2) strengthen the ability of all countries, Congress, and 
        the public to obtain timely and accurate information about the 
        decision making process and other internal processes of the 
        IMF;
            (3) obtain routine release to the public of IMF documents, 
        including official working papers, past evaluations, all 
        Letters of Intent, and Policy Framework Papers;
            (4) provide for greater accessibility, for both 
        policymakers and members of the public, of the IMF and its 
        staff; and
            (5) obtain timely and complete publication of the Article 
        IV consultations conducted by the IMF for each member country.
    (c) Certification Regarding Future Lending Standards.--The 
certification described in this subsection means a certification by the 
Secretary of the Treasury to the appropriate congressional committees 
that the International Monetary Fund routinely seeks, as a standard 
condition for lending and other uses of the Fund's resources, that 
borrower countries be required to--
            (1) comply with the borrower country's international 
        trading obligations including, if applicable, with the 
        standards of the World Trade Organization;
            (2) comply with appropriate international banking and 
        financial standards and not engage in the pattern or practice 
        of improper government-directed lending to favored industries, 
        enterprises, parties, or institutions; and
            (3) have or be developing bankruptcy laws and procedures to 
        provide for liquidation and restructuring of businesses, and 
        make progress toward assuring nondiscriminatory treatment of 
        domestic and foreign creditors, debtors, and other concerned 
        persons.
    (d) Report.--Not later than October 1, 1998, and not later than 
March 1 of each year thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report describing 
the steps taken by the United States to achieve the objectives set 
forth in subsection (b) and progress made toward achieving such 
objectives.

                  TITLE II--NEW ARRANGEMENTS TO BORROW

SEC. 201. NEW ARRANGEMENTS TO BORROW.

    Section 17 of the Bretton Woods Agreements Act (22 U.S.C. 286e-2 et 
seq.) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``and February 24, 1983'' and 
                inserting ``February 24, 1983, and January 27, 1997''; 
                and
                    (B) by striking ``4,250,000,000'' and inserting 
                ``6,712,000,000'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``4,250,000,000'' and 
        inserting ``6,712,000,000''; and
            (3) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) by inserting ``or the Decision of January 27, 
                1997,'' after ``February 24, 1983,''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``or the New Arrangements to 
                Borrow, as applicable'' before the period at the end.
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