‘The free ride is over’: GOP presents bill to halt giving cash to adversaries, but will it pass?

A Republican congressman believes it’s just “common sense” to avoid giving “taxpayer dollars to your enemies,” and is introducing legislation to prevent it from happening.

U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Fla., will reportedly be introducing a bill Tuesday that would effectively give Congress more legislative authority over the International Monetary Fund (IMF) so that U.S. taxpayer dollars are not handed over to American adversaries such as China, Iran, and North Korea.

The IMF Accountability Act seeks to “prohibit representatives of the United States from voting at the International Monetary Fund for any Special Drawing Rights allocations, quota increases, or policy modifications that would benefit certain countries, and for other purposes.”

A Special Drawing Right is defined by the IMF as “an international reserve asset” and is “equivalent to the value of a basket of world currencies. The SDR itself is not a currency but an asset that holders can exchange for currency when needed,” according to the IMF website.

“You don’t give taxpayer dollars to your enemies – that’s just commonsense,” Franklin said, according to Fox News. “Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has allowed the transfer of billions of dollars from the IMF, funded in large part by the U.S., to our adversaries like China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.”

“These funds are used to help them meet their political goals and strengthen their economies,” he added. “This projects weakness on the world stage and should never be allowed to happen. Our bill will strengthen Congressional oversight over these decisions and prevents American taxpayer dollars from ending up in the hands of the world’s worst actors.”

A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate led by fellow Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott as well as Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.

“Hostile actors and rogue regimes use IMF Special Drawing Rights to bolster their economies and reserves. This ability directly undermines American efforts to hold such regimes accountable through sanctions, and therefore the safety and security of Americans,” Cruz said in a statement last month.”It is long past time for the United States to counter these tactics.”

Sen. Scott warned that “the free ride is over” as he thanked Franklin “for leading the charge in the House.”

“As Iran-backed Hamas holds hundreds of hostages in Gaza, including Americans, and continues attacks against Israel, the United States must act,” the Florida senator said. “We must send a clear message to these terror sponsors and evil regimes across the world: the free ride is over, you are cut off. My bill, the IMF Accountability Act, will prohibit U.S. representatives to the IMF from supporting the world’s tyrannical regimes and benefiting from the economic strength of America and our partners and allies.”

U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, said he “fully supports the IMF Accountability Act, a critical measure to ensure U.S. resources are not aiding adversaries.”

“This bill rightly returns oversight to Congress, safeguarding our nation’s investments from supporting regimes that oppose our values and threaten global stability,” Gooden, who is co-sponsoring Franklin’s bill in the House, added.

Franklin’s fellow Florida GOP Rep. Gus Billirakis is also on board and is one of the bill’s co-sponsors.

“The Biden Administration’s appeasement approach when dealing with our adversaries on the international stage has been a complete and utter failure that has only emboldened these rogue regimes,” he told Fox News Digital. “We must regain our position of strength by embracing an America-first approach that draws a line in the sand and clearly prohibits the Biden Administration from further rewarding these bad actors who seek to do us harm and cause global instability.”

On its website, the IMF says it “works to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity for all of its 190 member countries” and “is governed by and accountable to its member countries.”

“The IMF has three critical missions: furthering international monetary cooperation, encouraging the expansion of trade and economic growth, and discouraging policies that would harm prosperity,” the site explains. “To fulfill these missions, IMF member countries work collaboratively with each other and with other international bodies.”

 

Frieda Powers

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