[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3975 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3975

 To provide for acceptance of the Fourth Amendment to the Articles of 
   Agreement of the International Monetary Fund, to provide for the 
 Special Drawing Rights allocated to the United States pursuant to the 
     amendment to be contributed to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, 
Tuberculosis and Malaria, and to require the Secretary of the Treasury 
   to seek negotiations for the purpose of inducing the other member 
     countries of the International Monetary Fund to make similar 
       contributions to that Global Fund, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 2002

  Mr. Leach (for himself and Ms. Lee) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for acceptance of the Fourth Amendment to the Articles of 
   Agreement of the International Monetary Fund, to provide for the 
 Special Drawing Rights allocated to the United States pursuant to the 
     amendment to be contributed to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, 
Tuberculosis and Malaria, and to require the Secretary of the Treasury 
   to seek negotiations for the purpose of inducing the other member 
     countries of the International Monetary Fund to make similar 
       contributions to that Global 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. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) According to the Surgeon General of the United States, 
        the epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune 
        deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) will soon become the worst 
        epidemic of infectious disease in recorded history, eclipsing 
        the bubonic plague of the 1300's and the influenza epidemic of 
        1918-1919, the latter killing more than 20,000,000 people 
        worldwide.
            (2) The gap between rich and poor countries in terms of 
        transmission of HIV from mother to child has been increasing, 
        threatening to reverse years of steady progress of child 
        survival in developing countries to the point that UNAIDS 
        believes that by the year 2010 AIDS may have increased 
        mortality of children under 5 years of age by more than 100 
        percent in regions most affected by the virus.
            (3) At current infection and growth rates for HIV/AIDS, the 
        National Intelligence Council estimates that the number of AIDS 
        orphans worldwide will increase dramatically, potentially 
        increasing threefold or more in the next 10 years, contributing 
        to economic decay, social fragmentation, and political 
        destabilization in already volatile societies as children 
        without care or hope are drawn into prostitution, crime, 
        substance abuse, or child soldiery.
            (4) A January 2000 United States National Intelligence 
        Estimate (NIE) report on the global infectious disease threat 
        concluded that the economic costs of infectious diseases--
        especially HIV/AIDS--are already significant and could reduce 
        gross domestic product by 20 percent or more by 2010 in some 
        sub-Saharan African nations.
            (5) Despite the discouraging statistics on the spread of 
        HIV/AIDS, some developing nations, such as Uganda, Senegal, and 
        Thailand, have implemented prevention programs that have 
        substantially curbed the rate of HIV infection.
            (6) Accordingly, because infectious diseases do not respect 
        international boundaries, United States financial support for 
        medical research, education, and disease containment as a 
        global strategy has enormous benefits for all Americans.
            (7) Given the cost of combating AIDS and other infectious 
        diseases worldwide, a contribution to the Global Fund to Fight 
        AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria of all Special Drawing Rights 
        authorized to be allocated to the United States under a 
        proposed Fourth Amendment to the Articles of Agreement of the 
        International Monetary Fund would be a significant step in 
        combating this epidemic.
            (8) In September 1997, the international community endorsed 
        the proposed Fourth Amendment, but the amendment has not been 
        implemented because the Executive Branch has not requested 
        Congressional authorization for United States approval of the 
        Fourth Amendment.
            (9) The proposed Fourth Amendment has been accepted by 109 
        of the 110 members of the International Monetary Fund, 
        representing 72.18 percent of the total voting power of the 
        International Monetary Fund.
            (10) Whereas approval of the proposed Fourth Amendment by 
        the United States, which holds 17.16 percent of the voting 
        power at the International Monetary Fund, would enable the 
        Special Drawing Rights to be allocated to the United States.
            (11) The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and 
        Malaria is a method for leveraging resources from donor nations 
        to meet the extraordinary need for resources by creating a much 
        stronger multilateral ``burden-sharing'' approach to combating 
        the HIV/AIDS crisis.

SEC. 2. ACCEPTANCE OF FOURTH AMENDMENT TO THE ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT OF 
              THE FUND; CONTRIBUTION OF SPECIAL DRAWING RIGHTS TO THE 
              GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA.

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

``SEC. 64. ACCEPTANCE OF FOURTH AMENDMENT TO THE ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT 
              OF THE FUND; CONTRIBUTION OF SPECIAL DRAWING RIGHTS TO 
              THE GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA.

    ``(a) Acceptance of Fourth Amendment to the Articles of 
Agreement.--The United States Governor of the Fund shall, on behalf of 
the United States, accept the amendments to the Articles of Agreement 
of the Fund approved in resolution numbered 52-4 of the Board of 
Governors of the Fund.
    ``(b) Contribution of Special Drawing Rights to the Global Fund To 
Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.--
            ``(1) Instruction to seek agreement to allow the global 
        fund to hold special drawing rights.--The Secretary of the 
        Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Director at 
        the Fund to seek an agreement to include the Bank, in its 
        capacity as administrator of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, 
        Tuberculosis and Malaria, as a prescribed holder of Special 
        Drawing Rights.
            ``(2) Contributions.--On achieving the agreement described 
        in paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Treasury shall provide 
        for the contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, 
        Tuberculosis and Malaria, in each of fiscal years 2004 through 
        2006, of \1/3\ of the Special Drawing Rights received by the 
        United States pursuant to the amendments referred to in 
        subsection (a).
    ``(c) Negotiations To Urge Other Fund Members To Make Similar 
Contributions to the Global Fund.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
seek to enter into negotiations for the purpose of inducing the member 
countries of the Fund to contribute to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, 
Tuberculosis and Malaria the Special Drawing Rights allocated pursuant 
to the amendments referred to in subsection (a).''.
                                 <all>