ATFA Applauds Senate Action on Argentina's Outstanding Debts
Sen. Rubio (R-FL) Files Amendment to Halt Lending to Argentina
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Amidst growing Congressional concern over Argentina's unpaid debt to U.S. citizens and taxpayers, American Task Force Argentina (ATFA) today applauded Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) for filing an amendment to oppose new multilateral development bank loans. The amendment follows action taken by Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) to ensure the Obama Administration prioritizes private debt repayment as part of bilateral talks with the Argentine government.
Senator Rubio's amendment, filed as part of H.R. 2354, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2012, would require the Treasury Secretary "to direct the United States Executive Directors of the international financial institutions to oppose loans by those institutions to the Government of Argentina until that Government makes substantial progress toward repaying its debts."
"The Argentine government's refusal to repay its outstanding debts has gone on for far too long. Argentina cannot continue to shirk its financial responsibilities and expect that international financial institutions – of which the U.S. is a major contributor – will continue to lend," said Robert Raben, executive director of American Task Force Argentina. "The U.S. Senate has sent an important signal to President Kirchner that she must repay private creditors in order to have the U.S. support loans to the country from multilateral development banks."
Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, submitted three questions regarding Argentina's outstanding debt obligations during the confirmation hearing of Assistant Secretary-Designate Roberta S. Jacobson. The questions, which focused on Argentina's refusal to repay its judgments in the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the Administration's recent announcement that it would oppose new loans to Argentina, show the ever-strengthening support in both chambers of the U.S. Congress for Argentina to satisfy its outstanding debt to all creditors.
"Following Assistant Treasury Secretary Marisa Lago's announcement that the Administration will oppose all loans from multilateral development banks to Argentina, Senators Rubio and Lugar have sent a significant message to Argentina that U.S. taxpayer dollars cannot continue to fund loans to a fiscally irresponsible country," said Raben. "ATFA looks forward to continued progress in the U.S. Congress to encourage repayment of Argentina's outstanding debts."
ATFA – an alliance of diverse organizations advocating a fair and final resolution to Argentina's financial and legal obligations to U.S. citizens – is led by Executive Director Robert Raben, a former Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and co-chaired by The Honorable Robert J. Shapiro, former Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs in the Clinton Administration, and Ambassador Nancy Soderberg, Ambassador at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York from 1997 to 2001.
For additional information on ATFA's activities, please visit www.atfa.org, or contact [email protected], or +1-888-662-2382.
SOURCE American Task Force Argentina
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