Strauss-Kahn Scandal Brings Renewed Attention to Another IMF Scandal: $100 Billion of US Tax Dollars Quietly Committed to European Bailouts

Will be on Fox News at 4:20 PM EST Today to Discuss Her Resolution

Washington, DC – Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference, introduced a Congressional resolution today to stop U.S. tax dollars from being used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for bailouts of European countries. Last year, Rep. McMorris Rodgers was the first Member of Congress to oppose these bailouts which have spread from Greece to Ireland to Portugal and may end up costing U.S. taxpayers $100 billion or more. The recent scandal involving former IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn has drawn renewed scrutiny to the powerful organization.

“At a time when the federal government is borrowing $5 billion every day on top of a $14 trillion national debt, I am gravely concerned by America’s growing involvement in the ‘gathering storm’ of European bailouts,” said Rep. McMorris Rodgers. “The European debt crisis was caused by too much spending and borrowing and that crisis will not be solved by more spending and borrowing. A ‘Euro-TARP’ is the wrong approach because it's creating a ‘moral hazard’ that will lead to larger counties – particularly Spain and Italy – standing in line for U.S. tax dollars tomorrow. America should have no part in it.”

The IMF has already committed $353 billion to bailouts of European governments, although most of that money hasn’t been dispensed yet. The U.S. is the leading funder of the IMF.

On March 24, 2010, Rep. McMorris Rodgers was the first Member of Congress to publicly oppose U.S. involvement in a European bailout. Greece became the first country to receive an IMF bailout seven weeks later.

In May 2010, she introduced a House resolution to stop US participation in the EU bailouts. With the House under then-Speaker Pelosi’s control, that resolution never made it to the floor.

The Congresswoman’s work on this issue was recently featured in two articles inHuman Events (click here and here). A full compilation of her work can be found here.