Committee Hosts Congressional Seminars
The Bretton Woods Committee organized Congressional education seminars in February and March to provide an overview and introduction to the international financial institutions (IFIs) for Senate and House of Representative staffers. Guest speakers from different international financial institutions, included Kalpana Kochhar, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Deputy Director for the Strategy, Policy and Review Department; David Theis, Chief of Media at the World Bank; and Craig Steffensen, the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) representative for North America. Their remarks outlined the roles and impact that IFIs are having in meeting global finance and development needs. The seminars provided an opportunity to discuss the IMF’s quota reform initiative and the World Bank’s efforts in reducing world poverty, as well as the ADB’s work in Afghanistan and Asia, which included on-the-ground examples of local and regional development successes. In addition, the seminar featured several Bretton Woods Committee members and leadership, who discussed the importance of maintaining the United States’ leadership role in the IFIs. Committee members involved included former U.S. Representative Bill Frenzel (R-MN); former U.S. Representative Jim Kolbe (R-AZ); Bill Frymoyer, former Senior Policy Advisor for House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt; Randal Quarles, former Under Secretary in the U.S. Department of the Treasury; and Clay Lowery, former Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Treasury Department.