[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 93 (Monday, June 11, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H6194]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROVIDING THAT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK 
      MAY SERVE ON BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF INTER-AMERICAN FOUNDATION

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the Senate bill (S. 676) to provide that the Executive Director of the 
Inter-American Development Bank or the Alternate Executive Director of 
the Inter-American Development Bank may serve on the Board of Directors 
of the Inter-American Foundation.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The text of the Senate bill is as follows:

                                 S. 676

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

     SECTION 1. AUTHORITY TO APPOINT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OR 
                   ALTERNATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INTER-
                   AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK TO THE BOARD OF 
                   DIRECTORS OF THE INTER-AMERICAN FOUNDATION.

       The third sentence of section 401(g) of the Foreign 
     Assistance Act of 1969 (22 U.S.C. 290f(g)) is amended to read 
     as follows: ``Three members of the Board shall be appointed 
     from among the following: officers or employees of agencies 
     of the United States concerned with inter-American affairs, 
     the United States Executive Director of the Inter-American 
     Development Bank, or the Alternate Executive Director of the 
     Inter-American Development Bank.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) and the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. 
Lamborn) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from American Samoa.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from American Samoa?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this proposed legislation.
  The Inter-American Foundation is an important agency of the United 
States Government that strengthens relations between the United States 
and Latin America and makes significant contributions to economic 
development and civil society throughout the region. The foundation, 
which also receives contributions from the Inter-American Development 
Bank, primarily funds partnerships among grass-roots and nonprofit 
organizations and businesses and local governments. These partnerships 
are directed at improving the quality of life of poor people and 
strengthening civic participation, accountability, and democratic 
practices.
  The foundation is therefore a vital agency that bolsters Latin 
America and ought to have the full support of relevant agencies and 
bodies, especially the Inter-American Development Bank.
  The bill before the House today comes to us from the Senate. It 
simply makes explicit that the executive director of the Inter-American 
Development Bank should be eligible for appointment to the board of the 
Inter-American Foundation. While it was previously assumed that the 
head of the bank could be appointed to the foundation board, such 
eligibility was never codified in the law.
  This bill is a technical fix that our good friends, the distinguished 
chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Biden; and the 
senior ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. 
Lugar, believe that this law should be installed.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation adds a technical clarification to the 
Inter-American Foundation Act. By background, this bill would amend the 
Inter-American Foundation Act to clarify that the President may appoint 
the U.S. executive director of the Inter-American Development Bank, or 
IADB, or his alternate to serve as a member of the Board of the Inter-
American Foundation.
  The Inter-American Foundation Act requires that three members of the 
nine-member board ``shall be appointed from among officers or employees 
of agencies of the United States concerned with inter-American 
affairs.''
  The authors of this legislation appear to believe the clarification 
is necessary because some have recently questioned whether or not a 
U.S. executive director to an international financial institution, or 
IFI, like the IADB, is actually an officer or employee of agencies of 
the United States.
  I would note simply that this question is largely a nonissue. To my 
knowledge, never before has Congress questioned whether a U.S. 
executive director could concurrently serve on the Inter-American 
Foundation's board.
  Indeed, any experience with the day-to-day operations of the 
international financial institutions would suggest that the U.S. 
executive directors to IFIs effectively function as officers or 
employees of the United States. In this regard the World Bank Web site 
states that ``the U.S. executive director is an employee of the U.S. 
Department of Treasury and is supported by an alternate executive 
director for the United States, as well as a team of advisers 
representing different executive branch agencies.''
  The U.S. representatives to the IFIs receive detailed instructions 
from the Secretary of the Treasury regarding the position of the United 
States Government on all votes pending before the board, as well as on 
all outstanding policy matters. The U.S. representatives to these 
institutions are also eligible to receive employee benefits, and the 
Treasury Department serves as the employing office for collecting, 
accounting for all retirement and health insurance benefits payments 
made by these individuals.
  Having said that, passage of this act will certainly do no harm and 
may serve to help expedite the consideration of Hector Morales to serve 
as a member of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation. 
Mr. Morales is currently serving as the United States executive 
director of the Inter-American Development Bank, a position to which he 
was appointed after receiving the advice and consent of the Senate in 
November 2004. The position on the Board of Inter-American Foundation 
would be a part-time appointment.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, the gentleman 
from Colorado, for his most eloquent statement.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) that the House suspend 
the rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 676.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

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