WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and John McCain (R-Ariz.), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following joint statement as the annual Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, otherwise known as the Bretton Woods Institutions, began Friday:

“Out of the ashes of the Second World War, the United States led the international community in creating rules-based institutions and relationships to promote peace, stability, economic development, and growth. Chief among them were the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which over the course of the last 70 years have continued to evolve to meet ever-changing global economic and political conditions.  

“From the IMF’s capacity building and crisis lending in key countries such as Ukraine, to the World Bank’s marshalling of resources to fight Ebola and promote post-conflict reconstruction in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, to its crucial role in development assistance, much of the world we know today is based on these indispensable institutions.

“On the occasion of their annual spring meetings, at a time when U.S. global leadership and our commitment to multilateral institutions is under question, we reiterate the strategic importance of the IMF and World Bank to U.S. economic, security, diplomatic, and humanitarian goals and values. We encourage the Trump Administration to sustain and strengthen our role in these forums, and ask our international partners to maintain and grow their capacities, missions, and functions at the Bretton Woods institutions for the betterment of the global economy and of humanity.”

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