166. Editorial Note

From March 3 to 6, a subcommittee of the House Banking and Currency Committee held hearings on President Eisenhower’s request to increase U.S. contributions to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund. Secretary of the Treasury Anderson testified on behalf of the administration’s proposal on March 3, while Under Secretary of State Dillon appeared before the subcommittee on March 4. For text of Anderson’s statement, see Department of State Bulletin, March 30, 1959, pages 445–454. For text of Dillon’s statement, see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1959, pages 210–216.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held its hearings on the proposal on March 9, 12, and 17. Dillon testified March 12; for text of his statement, see Department of State Bulletin, March 30, 1959, pages 457–461. The Committee reported a bill on the proposal, S. 1094, on March 18. It recommended the Congress adopt the bill, noting:

“For many years the Committee on Foreign Relations has urged the administration to do its utmost to utilize private capital for promoting economic development abroad. It has also urged that independent nations endeavor to stabilize their currencies so that world trade may thereby be encouraged.

“The International Bank and Monetary Fund are international institutions which have encouraged the flow of private capital into developmental projects and promoted monetary stability. As international institutions they not only have served the financial needs of the international community, but have acted as educational institutions, often capable of promoting sound financial practices with vigor, forthrightness, and objectivity.”

The Committee proposed, however, charging the increase to fiscal year 1960, rather than fiscal year 1959, as the President had requested. (S. Rept. 109, Eighty-sixth Congress, First Session) The House Banking and Currency Committee also reported its verson of the bill, H.R. 4452, March 18. (H. Rept. 225, Eighty-sixth Congress, First Session)

The Senate adopted S. 1094, including the amendment making the funds available in fiscal year 1960, on March 19. The House adopted H.R. 4452 on March 25, but subsequently decided to adopt S. 1094 instead, substituting the House text for the provisions adopted by the Senate. Action on the bill then passed into conference.