To: Members of the United States Congress

Re: Why we Oppose the IMF Quota Increase

The undersigned labor unions, environmental, human rights, and other organizations and individuals from around the world are opposed to any increase in the size, power, or funding of the International Monetary Fund [IMF], and in particular are opposed to any increase in the quota of member countries. The disastrous impact of IMF-imposed policies on workers rights, environmental protection, and economic growth and development; the crushing debt repayment burden of poor countries as a result of IMF policies; and the continuing secrecy of IMF operations provide ample justification for denying increased funding to the IMF.

Economic Growth and Development: The IMF s overwhelming preference for high interest rates and fiscal austerity, even in the absence of any economic justification, has caused unnecessary recessions, reduced growth, hindered economic development, and increased poverty throughout the world. There is now a consensus among economists that the IMF s recent intervention in the Asian financial crisis actually worsened its impact. Many believe that the Fund bears the primary responsibility for turning the financial crisis into a major regional depression, with tens of millions of people being thrown into poverty and no end in sight.

Labor: IMF policies undermine the livelihood of working families. IMF policies have mandated mass layoffs and changes in labor law to facilitate or encourage mass layoffs, as happened recently in South Korea. IMF policies regularly force countries to lower wages, or often undermine efforts by governments to raise wages-- as, for example, in Haiti in recent years.

Environment: IMF policies encourage and frequently require the lowering of environmental standards and the reckless exploitation of natural resources in debtor countries. The export of natural resources to earn hard currency to pay foreign debts under IMF mandates damages the environment while providing no benefit to poor and working people in debtor countries.

Debt: IMF and World Bank policies have forced poor countries to make foreign debt service a higher priority than basic human needs. The World Bank claims that it is "sustainable" for countries like Mozambique to pay a quarter of their export earnings on debt service. Yet after World War II, Germany was not required to pay more than 3.5% of its export earnings on debt service. Poor countries today need a ceiling on debt service similar to the one Germany had. According to UN statistics, if Mozambique were allowed to spend half of the money on health care and education which it is now spending on debt service, it would save the lives of 100,000 children per year.

Openness of IMF operations: IMF policies which affect the lives of a billion people are negotiated in secret, with key conditions not released to the public. The people who bear the burden of these policies often do not even have access to the agreements which have been negotiated.

The policies of the IMF have undermined the ability of developing countries to provide for the needs of their own peoples. Such an institution should not be expanded.

Thank you for your consideration of our concerns.

Sincerely,

Initiators:

Walden Bello, Co-director, Focus on the Global South, Bangkok; Professor of Sociology and Public Administration, University of the Philippines

Carlos Heredia, Congressman, Mexico

Dennis Brutus, Jubilee 2000 Africa

Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Organizations-International - 61

Third World Network, Africa Regional Secretariat

Red Chile de Accion por una Iniciativa de los Pueblos, RECHIP, Chile

Movimiento Agroecolsgico Chileno, Santiago de Chile

RMALC -- Red Mexicana de Accion Frente al Libre Comercio (Mexican Action Network on Free Trade), Mexico

FAT -- Frente Autentico del Trabajo (Authentic Workers Front), Mexico

Desarrollo, Ambiente y Sociedad, Mexico

Fronteras Comunes, Mexico

Grupo Dinamico de Consultoria Integral, Mexico

Frente por el Derecho a la Alimentacion, Mexico

Movimiento Ciudadano por la Democracia, Mexico

Equipo Pueblo, Mexico

CILAS (Centro de Investigacion Laboral y Asesoria Sindical, A.C.), Mexico

CODIM (Centro de Desarrollo Integral para la Mujer), Mexico

ABETEX (Sindicato Belisario Dominguez, Seccion Asterisco), Mexico

Convergencia de Organismos Civiles por la Democracia, Mexico

Union de Cooperativas Independientes, Mexico

Union de Ejidos de Jimenez, Mexico

Union Provisa, Mexico

Federacion de Sindicatos Autenticos de Guanajuato (FESAG), Mexico

Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria del Hierro y el Acero (SNTIHA), Mexico

Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria Metalica, Acero, Hierro, Conexos y Similares (STIMAHCS), Mexico

Sindicato de la Industria Textil Belisario Dominguez, Mexico

Public Interest Research Group, India

Consumer Unity & Trust Society,(CUTS), India

Roots For Equity, Karachi, Pakistan

Center for Orang Asli Concerns, Malaysia

Asian Migrant Centre, Hong Kong

Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC) , Tokyo, Japan

LATIN - Lembaga Alam Tropika Indonesia, (The Indonesia Tropical Institute), Bogor, Indonesia

Pesticide Action Network (PAN), Indonesia

DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era) Secretariat, Fiji

PACS - Institute of Alternative Policies for the Southern Cone of Latin America, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Asociacisn Ecologista Costarricense-Friends of the Earth, Costa Rica

Accion Ecologica, Quito - Ecuador

Revista Cuadernos para la Emancipacion, Buenos Aires, Argentina

El Servicio a la Accisn Popular, Csrdoba, Argentina

Gente Universitaria de la Universidad de Costa Rica

Indigenous Peoples4 Biodiversity Network, Peru

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Geneva, Switzerland

Western Australian Stop MAI Coalition

Economic Reform Australia

Australian GeneEthics Network, Fitzroy, Australia

Corso, New Zealand

Council of Canadians, Canada

Council of Canadians, Vancouver East Chapter, British Columbia

Council of Canadians, Mid-Island Chapter, British Columbia

The Borrowers' Advovate, British Columbia, Canada

Sierra Youth Coalition / Coalition Jeunesse Sierra - Canada

Pacific Policy Institute, Canada

Calancan Bay Villagers Support Coalition, Ontario, Canada

Golden Horseshoe Social Action Committee, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, British Columbia Branch, Canada

Global Compliance Research Project, Canada

Clean Clothes Campaign, Amsterdam

Berliner Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft Umwelt und Entwicklung (Berlin Working Group on Environment and Development), Berlin, Germany

Working Group on Africa, Stiftung Umverteilen! (Foundation Redistribution!), Berlin, Germany

Coordination gegen BAYER-Gefahren (Coalition Against BAYER-Dangers), Duesseldorf, Germany

Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionaerinnen und Aktionaere e.V.Cologne,(Association of Concerned Shareholders) Germany

Rettet den Regenwald e. V., (Rainforest Rescue) Hamburg, Germany

Both ENDS, Amsterdam,The Netherlands

Dutch Documentation Center on Biotechnology, NoGen, Wageningen, The Netherlands

Autonoom Politiek Infocentrum Wageningen(Documentation Center on Indigenous Peoples), Wageningen, The Netherlands

Transnational Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Organizations - U.S. - 83

Friends of the Earth

50 Years Is Enough Network

Institute for Food and Development Policy -- Food First

FoodFirst Information and Action Network -- USA

Development Group for Alternative Policies

International Labor Rights Fund

Campaign for Labor Rights

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Essential Action

Preamble Center for Public Policy

Alliance for Democracy

Defenders of Wildlife

Africa Faith and Justice Network

Global Exchange

The People-Centered Development Forum

Association of Concerned Africa Scholars

Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa

National Reform Party

Reform Party of Texas

Public Citizen

Citizens Trade Campaign

California Fair Trade Campaign

Fair Trade Coalition of Colorado

Front Range Fair Trade Coalition, Colorado

Florida Fair Trade Coalition

Greater Kansas City Fair Trade Coalition

Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition

Ohio Fair Trade Campaign

Wisconsin Fair Trade Campaign

Vermont Public Interest Research Group

Florida Consumer Action Network

Green Party of Rhode Island

Georgia Greens Movement/Friends of the Earth of Georgia

Indiana Alliance for Democracy

Economic Justice Now (formerly Bay Area 50 Years Is Enough Campaign), Oakland, California

Transnational Resource and Action Center, San Francisco, California

Asia Pacific Center for Justice and Peace

Interhemispheric Resource Center

Resource Center of The Americas

Overseas Development Network

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)Local 535, Oakland, California

Midwest Witness for Peace

NETWORK, A Catholic Social Justice Lobby

United Church of Christ Network for Environmental and Economic Responsibility

Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community - (UUJEC), Pittsburgh, PA

Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, IN

Alliance for Justice Network, Medical Mission Sisters, USA

Consolata Society for Foreign Missions, Somerset, New Jersey

Carolina Interfaith Task Force on Central America

8th Day Center for Justice, Chicago, Iliinois

Nicaragua Network

Latin America Emergency Response Network

Colombian Labor Monitor

Interconnect newsletter, Rochester, NY

Howard County Friends of Central America & the Caribbean, Columbia, MD

Seattle Women Act for Peace, Seattle, Washington

Rainforest Action Network

Amazon Watch

Campaign for Food Safety (formerly the Pure Food Campaign)

American Lands Alliance (formerly Western Ancient Forests Campaign)

Pesticide Action Network North America

Arizona Toxics Information, Bisbee, Arizona

Border Ecology Project, Bisbee, Arizona

Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project, North Carolina

Green Highlands Project, North Carolina

International Rivers Network

Friends of the Clearwater, Moscow, ID

Native Forest Network, Missoula, Montana

Native Forest Council

National Forest Trust

Rainforest Relief, Brooklyn, New York

Sierra Club, Central New Mexico Group

Kalmiopsis Audubon Society, Port Orford, Oregon

Northwoods Wilderness Recovery, Marquette, Michigan

University of Wisconsin-Madison Greens

Federal Land Action Group, New York, New York

Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA, Pittsboro, NC

Alternatives In Action!, Atlanta, Georgia

Democratic Socialists of America

Heartwood, Bloomington, Indiana

WorldWise

The Edmonds Institute

Montague Firehouse Television & Media Arts Center, Great Falls, Massachusetts

International Society for Gandhian Studies

Lynx Global Systems

Epicenter, Boulder, Colorado

Individuals-International (organizations listed for identification purposes only, unless they appear above)

Nicola Bullard, Senior Associate, Focus on the Global South, Bangkok

Maxine Gay, President, New Zealand Trade Union Federation, New Zealand

Boris Kagarlitsky, Sociologist, Labor Activist; Author, Farewell Perestroika : A Soviet Chronicle, Square Wheels : How Russian Democracy Got Derailed, Moscow, Russia

Lot Miranda, Country Director, Cambodia Programme, Swiss Interchurch Aid, Cambodia

Tony Clarke, Polaris Institute, Ottawa, Canada

Patrick Bond, Senior Lecturer in Economic Policy, University of the Witwatersrand Graduate School of Public and Development Management, Johannesburg, South Africa

Francisco Martmnez, Instituto De Promocion Para El Desarrollo Rural, A.C., (Institute for the Promotion of Rural Development) Mixico

Humberto Campodonico, Economist, DESCO, Lima, Peru

Mauro Koury, Professor, Post Graduate Program of Sociology, Federal University of Paramba, Brazil

David Barkin, Professor of Economics, University Autonoma Metropolitana Unidad Xochimilco,

Xochimilco, DF Mexico

Luis Rubilar Solis, Psicologo, Vice-presidente de la Asociacion de Acadimicos de la Universidad

Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educacion, Santiago de Chile, Chile

Herbert Mujica Rojas, journalist, Peru

Dr. Atilio A. Boron, Secretario Ejecutivo, Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales - CLACSO, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Zulema Palma, midica, Argentina

Nicolas Kowal, midico, Argentina

Marma Elena Kowal, docente, Argentina

C. Douglas Lummis, Professor, Tsuda College, Tokyo, Japan

Dr. Maxwell Mwase, School of Veterinary Medicine, Lusaka, Zambia

Robert Reid, Coordinator, Asia Pacific Workers Solidarity Links, New Zealand

Susi Newborn, Vice Chair, Greenpeace New Zealand

Paul Phillips, Professor of Economics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Edward H. Shaffer, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Alberta, Canada

Yves Bajard, D.Sc, Secretary, National Centre for Sustainability. Victoria, BC, Canada

Mitchell Bernard, Department of Political Science, York University, Toronto, Canada

Kathleen Ruff, Reseach Associate, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, British Columbia, Canada

Robert L. Rosen, Past President, Surrey Teachers' Association, British Columbia, Canada

Lyle Fenton, Municipal Councilor, Squamish, British Columbia, Canada

Marianne Brun, President, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom,

German section, Berlin, FRG

Ute Sprenger, Publicist/Consultant, Berlin, Germany

Peter R Wills, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

George J. Aditjondro, Lecturer in Sociology of Corruption, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Newcastle, Australia

Bob Holderness-Roddam, The Action Station, Tasmania, Australia

Anita Idel , Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kritische Tiermedizin (Association of Concerned Veterinarians), Barsbek, Germany

Stephen Morey, Department of Linguistics, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Mike Zmolek, Dept. of Political Science, York University, Toronto

Gregory Schwartz, Dept. of Political Science, York University, Toronto, Canada

Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant, FLORA Community WEB, Ottawa, Canada

Eleanor Allen, President, Educated Generalists Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Joyce Lydiard, Educator, Vancouver, Canada

Carolyn Lacey Kline, Therapeutic Developmental Language Tutor, Vancouver, B.C.

Floyd Rudmin, Professor of Social Psychology, University of Tromso, Norway

Dr. Barbara Bradby, Department of Sociology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Clare Averill, Dept. of Land and Environemental Management, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

Jean-Pierre Avermaete , Financial Editor, Trends-Tendances, Brussels, Belgium

Laurent Jesover, Professeur, Paris, France

Stefan Brun, Berlin, FRG

Mireille Backeljau, Teacher in Physics and Mathematics, Antwerp, Belgium

Kabir Md. Ashraf Alam, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands.

Andy Hill, GreenLine, Cornwall, UK

Brian J. Pedersen, Student of Geography and Psychology, Roskilde University, Denmark.

Individuals-US (organizations listed for identification purposes only, unless they appear above)

Ellen Reich, Department of Economic Research and Public Policy, IUE, AFL-CIO

Susan Hunt, Vice President, TOES-USA (The OTHER Economic Summit)

John Cavanagh, Director, Institute for Policy Studies

David C. Korten, President, The People-Centered Development Forum

Nora Gerber, Chair, Reform Party of Wisconsin

Anne H. Merkl, State Chair, Reform Party of Gerogia

Gene Kerkman, State Chairman, Reform Party of Arizona

Romesh Diwan, Professor of Economics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Michael Perelman, Professor of Economics, California State University, Chico, California

Mark Greer, Professor of Economics, Dowling College, Oakdale, NY

Charles W. McMillion, Chief Economist, MBG Information Services, Washington, DC

David Ranney, Professor of Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois, Chicago

Rev. Robert and Margaret Hannum, former Liasons, United Methodist Church in Jerusalem, Lancaster Pennsylvania

Rev. Kevin Bunger, Department of Sociology, SUNY-Binghamton

William G. Martin, Professor of Sociology and African Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana

Silvia Federici, Associate Professor of Political Philosophy and International Studies, New College, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY

George Caffentzis, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine

Timothy R. Quigley, Core Faculty/BA Program, New School for Social Research, New York

Rosalyn Baxandall, Professor of American Studies, State University of New York, College at Old Westbury

Dr. Kimberly Grimes, Director, Made By Hand International Cooperative; Anthropologist, University of Delaware

David V. Carruthers, Department of Political Science, San Diego State University

Ellen R. Shaffer, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University

Arline Prigoff, Professor, Division of Social Work, California State University, Sacramento

Henry Clark, Alliance for Democracy; Professor of Social Ethics, University of Southern California

Michael Brun, Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana

Raj Patel, Dept of Development Sociology, Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Betsy Welch, Field of Development Sociology, Cornell University

Paul Burke, Sociology Instructor, UC Davis

James M. Barrett, Professor of Biology Emeritus, Marquette University

Dorothy Kidd, Dept. of Communication, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California

Charles Laskonis, IBEW Local 364, Rockford, Illinois

Carol D. Canterbury, National Association of Letter Carriers, Seattle, Washington

Jean Buskin, Co-Chair, Seattle Women Act for Peace, Seattle, Washington

Rosemary Brodie, Secretary, Seattle Women act for Peace, Seattle, Washington

Jose T. Bravo, Yeuani / Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, Border Justice Campaign

David Morris, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Laura Huth, Urbana City Council, Ward 5 Representative, Urbana, Illinois

Greg Gerritt, Co-chair, Green Party of Rhode Island

Joel Kovel, Green Party Candidate for US Senate, New York

Bob Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force, United Church of Christ, Rocky

Mountain Conference

Cecilia Zarate-Laun, Co-Founder Colombia Support Network, Madison, WI

Richard Barish, Sierra Club, Central New Mexico Group

Dawn M. Arnold, Conference coordinator, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Dan Geary, Citizens against "NAFTA for Africa" in Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada

Joe Nix , USTaxpayers Party, Missouri

Merritt BussiFre, Caspian Worldwide, Kewaunee, Wisconsin

Libby J. Goldstein, Food & Agriculture Task Force (Philadelphia, PA)

Neil Tangri, EcoNet Coordinator, Institute for Global Communications, San Francisco

Jeffrey T. Wilson, President of Wilson Computing, Eldon, Missouri

Steve Orel, Birmingham Reconstruction, Rank & File Project, Birmingham, Alabama

Maria Cain, Policy Analyst, King County, Washington

Christopher Lowe, Historian of Africa, Portland, Oregon

Marya Ryan, Illinois Center for Citizen Involvement, Urbana, Illinois

Jeremy McKissack, Department of Political Science, Northern Illinois University

Kevin Hoover, Medical Scientist Training Program, University of California, Irvine

Bart Myers, Consultant, IBM Global Services