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June 7, 2001 IS
U.S. TREASURY ABOVE THE LAW? WASHINGTON, D.C. – As Congress and the Administration discuss reforming the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, a new study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington shows that the U.S. Treasury department violated U.S. law in December when it failed to oppose the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper [PRSP] for Tanzania. As the paper documents, the PRSP for Tanzania contained user fees on health care. The actions of the U.S. Treasury Department were therefore governed by a law passed by Congress last year, Section 596 of Public Law 106-429, requiring the United States to oppose any loan agreement or debt relief action at the IMF or the World Bank which included “user fees” – service charges – on access to primary health care or education. Yet, based on recently leaked minutes of the World Bank Board meeting where the PRSP for Tanzania was approved, the CEPR study shows that the U.S. government failed, not only to oppose the Tanzania PRSP, but to speak to the issue of user fees on health care at all, even though the subject was explicitly discussed in the meeting. Moreover, the U.S. Treasury Department failed to report within 10 days to the U.S. Congress’ Committees on Appropriations within 10 days of the approval of the Tanzania PRSP, as the law required. “We now have the ‘smoking gun’ that proves that the U.S. Treasury Department knowingly, willfully and deliberately violated U.S. law,” said CEPR Senior Policy Analyst Robert Naiman, author of the study. “It is hard to see how we can hold the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank accountable to the U.S. taxpayer if we cannot hold the U.S. Treasury Department accountable to a clear, specific and unambiguous Congressional mandate.” The CEPR study is available at www.cepr.net. Mr. Naiman can be reached for comment at 202-293-5380 x212. |
