It is a pleasure to be here today to discuss the President's budget for international programs. This is, I believe, the first time that both the Secretaries of State and Treasury have appeared together to discuss the importance of these programs for maintaining U.S. leadership in the world.

Our budget calls for spending a total of $1.6 billion on international programs, of which about $300 million will be used to partially pay down arrears that last year totaled well over $1 billion. The remainder will go to our regularly scheduled payments for this year. Every day that we delay making our payments in full hurts our ability to lead and gives our allies and partners reason to raise questions about America's role in the world.

As the President has said, our foreign affairs budget request is essential to our role as the world's indispensable nation. Our engagement in -- and support for -- the United Nations, the World Bank, the regional development banks, and the International Monetary Fund -- are vital to the economic self-interest and national security self-interest of the United States and our citizens.

Bringing developing nations into the economic mainstream promotes political stability, raises living standards, increases markets for U.S. exports and create jobs here at home. For the past 50 years, the World Bank, the IMF and other multilateral development banks have been absolutely central to that effort. In 1995, for example, U.S. firms exported more than $25 billion worth of goods and services to the 79 very poor countries eligible for International Development Association funds and roughly $60 billion worth to IDA graduates. The IMF has played a critical role in creating the economic foundation for stability in countries where the United States has major strategic interests, such as Russia. With assistance from the IMF and the multilateral banks, more countries are now assuming their fair share of the responsibility for maintaining global economic growth and the financial stability. To further these efforts, our proposal seeks authorization to strengthen the IMF's capacity to deal with financial emergencies.

Can these multilateral institutions become more efficient? Absolutely. Indeed, this Administration has aggressively promoted reform and it is paying off: Largely because of reforms pushed by this Administration and the Congress, these institutions have become very effective promoters of growth, free markets, and private sector development. There is more to do, and we continue to pursue vigorously a reform agenda, but our leverage in these institutions will be reduced if we keep failing to meet our commitments. We cannot lead with other people's money.

These are good investments for the United States. They help us create jobs and promote good economic conditions in this country. I look forward to working with Congress to pass the President's budget, maintain our leadership in these institutions and make the American people more prosperous.