[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5085 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5085

 To reduce the long-term lending activities of the IMF and its role in 
             developing countries, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2000

Mr. Sanders (for himself, Mr. Campbell, Mr. DeFazio, and Mr. Kucinich) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                     Banking and Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reduce the long-term lending activities of the IMF and its role in 
             developing countries, 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 ``IMF Reform Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was conceived at 
        Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to promote a stable international 
        financial system;
            (2) in the last 2 decades, the IMF has taken on the role of 
        lending to governments which cannot pay their international 
        debts, managing negotiations over international debt repayments 
        and access to credit markets, and imposing and encouraging 
        ``structural adjustment'' policies in developing countries;
            (3) structural adjustment policies have in many cases led 
        to economic instability, increased poverty and inequality, the 
        destruction of productive enterprises, and environmental 
        degradation, while failing to reduce debt burdens;
            (4) the policies of the IMF in lending to and managing the 
        international debts of developing countries have often ignored 
        the human rights and basic needs of the majority of people in 
        developing countries, and have allowed repressive regimes to 
        borrow money without popular consent, with the burden of 
        repayment left to the people;
            (5) the international financial institutions have sometimes 
        encouraged developing countries to borrow money for policies 
        and projects later acknowledged by such institutions to have 
        failed economically;
            (6) the international financial institutions have often 
        lent money to corrupt regimes, which misspent or 
        misappropriated the money, which then had to be paid back by 
        the population; and
            (7) in managing the issue of the international debt, the 
        IMF has not adequately responded to concerns about the morality 
        of forcing developing countries to repay unjust debts, and 
        indeed has ignored the human toll that servicing these debts 
        has caused, and so another mechanism is needed for addressing 
        these issues.

SEC. 3. ACTIONS TO REDUCE LONG-TERM LENDING BY THE IMF.

    (a) Reduction of Long-Term Lending by the IMF.--Title XVI of the 
International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262p-262p-7) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 1625. CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED TO THE IMF BY ELIGIBLE POOR 
              COUNTRIES.

    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) Cancellation of debt.--In order to achieve 
        multilateral debt cancellation and promote human and economic 
        development and poverty alleviation in eligible poor countries 
        the Congress urges the President to commence immediate efforts, 
        within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International 
        Monetary Fund (IMF), and other appropriate multilateral 
        development institutions to accomplish the following:
                    ``(A) The IMF shall cancel all debts owed to the 
                IMF by eligible poor countries, the cancellation of 
                which can be financed from ongoing operations, 
                procedures, and accounts of the IMF established as of 
                the end of the most recent fiscal year, including the 
                Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (formerly known 
                as the `Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility' or 
                `ESAF').
                    ``(B) Any waiting period before receiving debt 
                cancellation shall not exceed 4 months from the date of 
                an eligible poor country's application for debt 
                cancellation.
                    ``(C) The government of each eligible poor country 
                shall be encouraged to allocate 20 percent of its 
                national budget, including the savings from the 
                cancellation of debt owed by the country to the IMF, 
                for the provision of basic health care services, 
                education services, and clean water services to 
                individuals in each country as provided for in the 
                international 20/20 Initiative. In providing such 
                services, the government should seek input from 
                appropriate members of civil society.
            ``(2) Prohibitions on certain new lending practices.--In 
        order to ensure lasting reduction of long-term lending by the 
        IMF, the Congress urges the President to commence immediate 
        efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the IMF, 
        and other appropriate multilateral development institutions to 
        accomplish the following:
                    ``(A) Prohibition of new concessional loans.--The 
                IMF shall not issue any new concessional loans, 
                guarantees, insurance, or credits to any country which 
                receives cancellation of debt under this section, 
                within 3 years after the date on which the country 
                receives such cancellation.
                    ``(B) Prohibition of privilege for imf credit.--The 
                IMF shall not require or allow any country receiving 
                new concessional loans to privilege the IMF as a 
                creditor over the United States or private creditors.
            ``(3) Report from the comptroller general.--Within 90 days 
        after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
        Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare and 
        submit to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services of 
        the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, 
        Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report on the 
        availability of the ongoing operations, procedures, and 
        accounts of the IMF for canceling the debt of eligible poor 
        countries.
            ``(4) Report from the president.--Not later than December 
        31 of each year, the President shall submit to the Committees 
        on Banking and Financial Services, and on International 
        Relations of the House of Representatives and the Committees on 
        Foreign Relations and on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 
        the Senate a report, which shall be made available to the 
        public, on the activities undertaken under this section, and 
        other progress made in accomplishing the purposes of this 
        section, for the prior fiscal year. The report shall include a 
        list of the countries that have received debt cancellation, a 
        list of the countries whose request for such debt cancellation 
        has been denied and the reasons therefore, and a list of the 
        countries whose requests for such debt cancellation are under 
        consideration.''.
    (b) Promotion of Equitable Burden Sharing.--In order to promote 
equitable burden-sharing by bilateral, multilateral, and private 
creditors, the Congress urges the President to commence immediately 
efforts to ensure that such creditors draw upon their own resources to 
finance debt reduction to the extent possible without diverting funds 
from other high priority poverty alleviation programs.

SEC. 4. ACTIONS TO PROTECT ELIGIBLE POOR COUNTRIES FROM HARMFUL IMF AND 
              WORLD BANK POLICIES.

    Title XVI of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 
U.S.C. 262p-262p-7) is further amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 1626. PROTECTION AGAINST HARMFUL IMF AND WORLD BANK POLICIES.

    ``(a) In General.--In order to protect against harmful 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) policies in eligible poor 
countries the Congress urges the President to commence immediate 
efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, as well as the 
World Bank, the IMF, and other appropriate multilateral development 
institutions to accomplish the following:
            ``(1) The IMF and the World Bank shall not impose, 
        encourage, approve of, or endorse any government policy which 
        has the intention or effect of reducing access to basic social 
        services, including health, education, nutrition, clean water, 
        and sanitation.
            ``(2) The IMF and the World Bank shall not impose, 
        encourage, approve of, or endorse any government policy which 
        has the intention or effect of undermining the ability of 
        workers to exercise their internationally recognized worker 
        rights. For purposes of this section, the term `internationally 
        recognized worker rights' has the meaning given that term in 
        section 502(a)(4) of the Trade Act of 1974.
            ``(3) The IMF and the World Bank shall not impose, 
        encourage, approve of, or endorse any government policy which 
        has the intention or effect of damaging local small-scale 
        enterprises and farms.
            ``(4) The IMF and the World Bank shall not impose, 
        encourage, approve of, or endorse any government policy which 
        has the intention or effect of degrading the environment.
            ``(5) The IMF and the World Bank shall not impose, 
        encourage, approve of, or endorse any government policy which 
        has the intention or effect of undermining democracy, including 
        free and fair elections; civilian control of military, law 
        enforcement and security forces; the rule of law, equality 
        before the law and respect for individual and minority rights; 
        and freedom of speech, publication, and association.
    ``(b) Report to the Congress.--Not later than December 31 of each 
year, the President shall submit to the Committees on Banking and 
Financial Services and on International Relations of the House of 
Representatives and the Committees on Foreign Relations and on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report, which shall be made 
available to the public, on the activities undertaken under this 
section, and other progress made in accomplishing the purposes of this 
section, for the prior fiscal year.''.

SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMS.

    (a) Prohibition of Structural Adjustment Conditions.--In order to 
promote human and economic development and poverty alleviation in 
eligible countries the Congress urges the President to commence 
immediate efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, as well 
as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World 
Bank), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other appropriate 
multilateral development institutions to accomplish the following: The 
provision of debt cancellation to poor countries shall not be 
conditioned on any country adopting or implementing any structural 
adjustment program. In this section, the term ``structural adjustment 
program'' means any structural adjustment program of the Enhanced 
Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) or its successors, any structural 
adjustment program operated or overseen by the IMF or the World Bank, 
or any other program of the IMF.
    (b) Report to the Congress.--Not later than December 31 of each 
year, the President shall submit to the Committees on Banking and 
Financial Services and on International Relations of the House of 
Representatives and the Committees on Foreign Relations and on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report, which shall be made 
available to the public, on the activities undertaken under this 
section, and other progress made in accomplishing the purposes of this 
section, for the prior fiscal year.

SEC. 6. ELIGIBLE POOR COUNTRIES.

    In this Act, the term ``eligible poor countries'' means any poor 
country which has a functioning democratic government and which is 
among the entities identified by Jubilee 2000 UK as needing significant 
debt cancellation, including Angola, Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, 
Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic 
of Congo, Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, 
Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guniea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Kenya, Lao 
PDR, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, 
Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, 
Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Gambia, 
Haiti, Jamaica, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, and 
Zimbabwe.

SEC. 7. ADVISORY COMMISSION; INTERNATIONAL DEBT CONFERENCE.

    (a) Advisory Commission.--
            (1) Establishment.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        establish an International Debt Advisory Commission (in this 
        section referred to as the ``Commission'').
            (2) Duties.--The Commission shall--
                    (A) conduct a study of--
                            (i) the debts owed to the international 
                        financial institutions (as defined in section 
                        1701(c)(2) of the International Financial 
                        Institutions Act), the servicing of which 
                        prevents the governments of developing 
                        countries from providing that their citizens 
                        have access to basic education and health care;
                            (ii) the debts owed to the international 
                        financial institutions as a result of lending 
                        for projects or policies now acknowledged by 
                        the international financial institutions to be 
                        economic failures;
                            (iii) the ecological damage that has 
                        resulted from lending to developing countries 
                        by international financial institutions; and
                            (iv) excess mortality and morbidity in 
                        developing countries since 1982 as a result of 
                        the implementation of ``structural adjustment'' 
                        policies designed by the international 
                        financial institutions; and
                    (B) make recommendations concerning how the debt 
                crisis may be definitively resolved and such crises be 
                averted in the future, which recommendations may 
                include proposals to remove the international financial 
                institutions from their central role in managing 
                international debt, and to institute mechanisms in 
                debtor and creditor countries to deter the accumulation 
                of unsustainable debt.
            (3) Membership.--
                    (A) In general.--The Commission shall be composed 
                of 12 members, as follows:
                            (i) 3 members appointed by the Speaker of 
                        the House of Representatives.
                            (ii) 3 members appointed by the majority 
                        leader of the Senate.
                            (iii) 3 members appointed by the minority 
                        leader of the House of Representatives.
                            (iv) 3 members appointed by the minority 
                        leader of the Senate.
                    (B) Deadline for appointments.--All appointments to 
                the Commission shall be made not later than 45 days 
                after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                    (C) Term of office.--Members of the Commission 
                shall be appointed for the life of the Commission.
                    (D) Vacancies.--Any vacancy in the Commission shall 
                be filled in the same manner as the original 
                appointment was made.
                    (E) No pay.--Members of the Commission shall serve 
                without pay.
                    (F) Travel expenses.--Members of the Commission 
                shall receive travel expenses, including per diem in 
                lieu of subsistence, in accordance with sections 5702 
                and 5703 of title 5, United States Code.
                    (G) Chairman.--The majority leader of the Senate, 
                after consultation with the Speaker of the House of 
                Representatives and the minority leaders of the House 
                of Representatives and the Senate, shall designate 1 
                member of the Commission to serve as Chairman of the 
                Commission.
            (4) Staff.--
                    (A) In general.--The Commission may appoint and fix 
                the pay of additional personnel as the Commission 
                considers appropriate.
                    (B) Experts and consultants.--The Commission may 
                procure temporary and intermittent services under 
                section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code.
            (5) Powers.--
                    (A) Hearings and sessions.--The Commission may, for 
                the purpose of carrying out this subsection, hold 
                hearings, sit and act at times and places, take 
                testimony, and receive evidence as the Commission 
                considers appropriate. The Commission may administer 
                oaths or affirmations to witnesses appearing before it.
                    (B) Powers of members and agents.--Any member or 
                agent of the Commission may, if authorized by the 
                Commission, take any action which the Commission is 
                authorized to take by this subsection.
                    (C) Mails.--The Commission may use the United 
                States mails in the same manner and under the same 
                conditions as other departments and agencies of the 
                United States.
                    (D) Obtaining official information.--The Commission 
                may secure directly information that the Commission 
                considers necessary to enable the Commission to carry 
                out its responsibilities under this Act. Upon request 
                of the Chairperson of the Commission, the head of that 
                department or agency shall furnish that information to 
                the Commission.
                    (E) Administrative support services.--Upon the 
                request of the Commission, the Administrator of General 
                Services shall provide to the Commission, on a 
                reimbursable basis, the administrative support services 
                necessary for the Commission to carry out its 
                responsibilities under this Act.
            (6) Report.--Within 180 days after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the 
        Committees on Banking and Financial Services and on 
        International Relations of the House of Representatives and the 
        Committees on Foreign Relations and on Banking, Housing, and 
        Urban Affairs of the Senate a written report on--
                    (A) whether the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 
                has canceled the debts owed to it by the eligible poor 
                countries;
                    (B) whether new IMF lending to such countries has 
                ceased; and
                    (C) the role, if any, the IMF is playing in these 
                countries.
            (7) Termination.--The Commission shall terminate 6 months 
        after the first meeting of the Commission, which shall be not 
        later than 30 days after the appointment of all members of the 
        Commission.
    (b) International Debt Conference.--Not later than 180 days after 
the Commission submits the report required by subsection (a)(6), the 
President of the United States shall call for a conference of 
representatives of the governments of the member countries of the IMF 
and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World 
Bank) to consider and enact proposals for resolution of the 
international debt crisis, and to consider and enact proposals to 
prevent recurrence of international debt crises, including such 
recommendations as are proposed by the Commission pursuant to 
subsection (a).

SEC. 8. CONDITIONAL BAN ON PROVIDING FUNDS TO THE IMF.

    (a) In General.--None of the funds appropriated in any Act may be 
obligated or made available to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 
unless--
            (1) the IMF has cancelled all debts owed to it by eligible 
        poor countries as described in the amendment made by section 3 
        of this Act;
            (2) the IMF has taken actions to protect eligible poor 
        countries against harmful IMF policies as described in the 
        amendment made by section 4 of this Act;
            (3) the IMF has terminated its involvement in the Enhanced 
        Structural Adjustment Facility and its successors and has 
        ceased to condition debt relief on implementation of structural 
        adjustment programs as described in section 5 of this Act; and
            (4) the Secretary of the Treasury has certified to the 
        Congress that the conditions referred to in paragraphs (1), 
        (2), and (3) have been met.
    (b) Limitation.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to any funds 
appropriated to provide debt relief to poor countries.

SEC. 9. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN ACTIONS BY UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT 
              OFFICIALS RELATING TO ELIGIBILITY FOR UNITED STATES 
              BILATERAL ASSISTANCE OR LOAN PROGRAMS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no officer or employee 
of the United States Government may require, as a condition of 
eligibility of a country for United States bilateral assistance or loan 
programs, that--
            (1)(A) the country have an agreement with the International 
        Monetary Fund (IMF) or the International Bank for 
        Reconstruction and Development (World Bank); or
            (B) in the judgment of IMF or World Bank officials, the 
        country have adhered to past agreements with the IMF or World 
        Bank; or
            (2) the country have adopted a particular economic policy, 
        unless this requirement has been specifically approved by the 
        Congress.

SEC. 10. DELINKING WORLD BANK CONDITIONS FROM IMF CONDITIONS.

    (a) Position of the United States.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
shall instruct the United States Executive Director at the 
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) to 
vote to oppose the linkage of World Bank loans to policy conditions 
designed by the International Monetary Fund, and to use the voice and 
influence of the United States to urge the other executive directors at 
the World Bank from other countries to oppose such linkage.
    (b) Conditional Ban on Providing Funds to the World Bank.--None of 
the funds appropriated in any Act enacted after the enactment of this 
Act, including appropriations for callable capital, may be obligated or 
made available to the World Bank unless the World Bank has ceased 
conditioning its loans on whether a country has an agreement with the 
International Monetary Fund (IMF), or whether in the judgment of IMF 
officials such country has adhered to an agreement with the IMF. The 
preceding sentence shall not apply to any funds appropriated to provide 
debt relief to poor countries, or to provide resources for the 
International Development Association.
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