International Policies

The United States contributes nearly $1.5 billion annually to international financial institutions to fund international development programs. These funds are combined with the contributions of other donor countries to provide tens of billions of dollars in assistance in the form of grants, loans, and loan guarantees, to support economic development, education, healthcare, and other anti-poverty programs. The Financial Services Committee is responsible for oversight of U.S. policy in these international institutions, which include the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian and African Development Banks, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Committee Democrats have emphasized the importance of monetary and fiscal policies that promote low unemployment and solid wage growth along with manageable inflation. The Committee’s Democrats have also pointed to the need for a balanced and responsible fiscal policy that foregoes budget-busting tax cuts for a wealthy few, in favor of pro-growth investments in people and economic sectors.

Overseeing International Institutions

The Democratic Caucus of the Committee has actively promoted important reforms in international institutions. Democratic-led efforts include the landmark Enhanced Heavily-Indebted Poor Country Initiative, which provides billions of dollars in debt forgiveness to the world’s poorest countries. The Democratic Caucus has also actively sought important reforms at the two largest international financial institutions, the IMF and the World Bank, aimed at providing greater transparency within the institutions, more interaction with civil society, and a greater degree of focus in the missions of the two institutions. Committee Democrats will continue to seek policies and programs within the international financial institutions that are aimed at reducing poverty, promoting the health and well-being of poor people, and contributing to economic growth and stability globally.

Free Trade Agreements

Committee Democrats are also active in oversight of trade negotiations related to the financial services and investment provisions of trade agreements. They have opposed the Administration’s efforts in recent negotiations, such as the U.S. trade agreements with both Chile and Singapore, to severely restrict the ability of developing countries to limit the destabilizing effects of volatile capital (“hot money”) flows.

House Panel Holds Hearing on Chile and Singapore Trade Agreements (click here to view more)

Domestic Monetary Policy

The Financial Services Committee plays an important role in shaping the nation’s “macroeconomic” policies – interest rate, budgetary, and regulatory policies that affect the general performance of the economy and the economic well-being of all Americans. The Committee’s oversight function for macroeconomic policy is highlighted twice each year when the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board delivers the Monetary Policy Report to the Congress. Democratic Committee Members have used these hearings to highlight the economic status of middle and lower income Americans, calling attention to federal policies that affect their economic well-being, whether through the federal minimum wage or the response of mortgage rates to monetary policy actions.

Chairman Greenspan’s Testimony of February 11, 2003 (click here to view more)

The Monetary Policy Report to the Congress (click here to view more)