[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 160 (Tuesday, October 17, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1949]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



               E X T E N S I O N S   O F   R E M A R K S


[[Page E 1949]]


     A RENAISSANCE MAN OF VISION, HUMANITY, AND TECHNICAL EXPERTISE

                                 ______


                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 17, 1995

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the leadership 
James D. Wolfensohn is displaying in his new role as the President of 
the World Bank. At the Bank's annual meeting this past week in 
Washington, Mr. Wolfensohn unveiled his ambitious blueprint for the 
global development agency's role in a changing world. He is fully 
cognizant of the difficulties facing the organization, but emphasizes 
the new opportunities for the Bank, the donor countries, and the 
recipient nations to forge a more effective partnership.
  Of course, Mr. Wolfensohn has been forging productive partnerships in 
the business, academic, and philanthropic communities throughout his 
long and distinguished career. Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. 
Wolfensohn was an international banker who played a prominent role in 
the performing arts.
  Before assuming the presidency of the World Bank on June 1, 1995, Mr. 
Wolfensohn was the chairman of the board of trustees of the John F. 
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. From 1980 to 1991, as chairman 
of New York's Carnegie Hall, he oversaw the much hailed renovation of 
this treasured national cultural landmark.
  Mr. Wolfensohn also held several key positions in the international 
community in addition to leading the World Bank. He is chairman of the 
Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University as well as the 
finance chairman of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In addition, 
he is an honorary trustee of the Brookings Institution and member of 
the Council on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to include in the Record some highlights 
from Mr. Wolfensohn's address to the Board of Governors of the World 
Bank Group at their joint annual discussion on October 10. I think he 
offers sound advice on the future of multilateral development 
assistance that all of us would do well to consider:

Excerpts of James D. Wolfensohn's Address to the Board of Governors of 
                    the World Bank, October 10, 1995

       ``We have made good progress on poverty reduction in 
     several areas--in East Asia and some parts of Latin America. 
     But there are still 1.3 billion people living on a dollar a 
     day or less. Adequate sanitation and electricity are still 
     beyond the reach of two-fifths of the world's people.
       ``This shocking poverty is fueled by continuing rapid 
     population growth--increasing by more than 80 million people 
     a year, 95 percent of them in the developing countries. And 
     it is compounded developing world. . . .
       ``It strikes me as bitterly ironic that just as we are 
     reaching a consensus on how to address these challenges in 
     our changing world, the threat to development assistance has 
     never been greater. I refer here specifically to the funding 
     crisis facing our concessional affiliate, the International 
     Development Association--IDA. . . .
       ``. . . IDA is the backbone of the international effort to 
     help the poorest nations help themselves. And yet, despite 
     the record, there is a serious question about the fulfillment 
     of some donor commitments under IDA-10 (covering the years 
     1993-1996). Budget cutting by the U.S. Congress has led to 
     delays, and probably large reductions in the size of the 
     contribution by IDA's leading donor. And for every dollar cut 
     by the United States, IDA could a total of $% as other 
     nations reduce their contributions proportionally.
       ``This means that if congressional estimates of a U.S. cut 
     of approximately 50 percent materialize, overall donor 
     contributions to IDA this coming 12 months could be reduced 
     from $6 billion to under $3 billion. Achieving an adequate 
     IDA-11 (covering the years 1996-1999) for the next three 
     years will be extraordinarily difficult if IDA-10 is reduced 
     so drastically. This is not only a threat to IDA, it is a 
     threat to the long-term viability of multilateral financing 
     for development.
       ``As Michael Camdessus (Managing Director of the 
     International Monetary Fund) has pointed out, if there is a 
     seriously underfunded IDA, we will be faced with a world of 
     increasingly unstable nations. . . .
       ``The donor community needs to understand the cons of an 
     underfunded IDA. We must explain that world citizenship has a 
     price and that IDA is central to the whole development 
     process. National budget cutting exercises in the developed 
     countries must give due weight to international 
     considerations. Money saved now for domestic purposes will 
     lead to huge costs later. It is the donors' own self-interest 
     to maintain an adequate level of support.
       ``Obviously, IDA and its partners in government and civil 
     society must be accountable--and must be seen to spend scarce 
     resources wisely and well. There must be a `compact': that in 
     return for the donor community ensuring IDA has adequate 
     resources, recipient countries and the bank must ensure that 
     those resources are used more effectively. Projects must be 
     well managed and corruption eliminated. In addition, we need 
     to provide better information about the benefits of this 
     important work to donor governments--and to their voters. . . 
     .
       ``From my experience in the private sector I know the power 
     of partnership. This was reaffirmed during my recent travels 
     (to China, Mexico, and the West Bank and Gaza). . . .
       ``We must deepen our cooperation--as we have begun to do--
     with the UN system, the IMF and the WTO. We can expand our 
     cooperation with the private sector--which plays such an 
     increasingly important role in development. And we can do 
     much more to reach out to NGOs and civil society. Let me also 
     pay tribute to the regional development banks with whom we 
     work, and to their leaders who have given me so much advice 
     and help. . . .
       ``Of all our partnerships, we must remember that the most 
     important is that with the governments to which we lend--and 
     the people that they serve. It is a point worth repeating: we 
     must get closer to our clients. This will mean continuing to 
     strengthen our field presence, while maintaining a very 
     strong base at the center. At the same time, we must be 
     mindful that the projects we finance are not World Bank 
     projects--they are Chinese, or Haitian, or Malawian projects. 
     But it is for the countries to own them and be responsible 
     for them.''

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