Obama officials lobby lawmakers to approve IMF money

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior Obama administration officials are lobbying Congress hard to approve $108 billion for the International Monetary Fund ahead of a vote expected this week, according to documents that emerged on Monday.

The U.S. credit for the IMF is attached to a bill funding the Iraq and Afghan wars and is moving to the floor of the House of Representatives, prompting an uproar among Republicans and some Democrats who say they will not vote for IMF funding tagged onto an unrelated bill.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, along with National Security Adviser Jim Jones, wrote Congress saying the IMF needs the money to confront the global financial crisis, said the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research, which released a copy of the letter.

Their letter noted the IMF had been able to act swiftly to avoid crises in Pakistan and other countries and was supporting U.S. allies like Mexico, Poland and Colombia.

"With adequate funding, the IMF will strengthen our national security by mitigating the economic crisis and inhibiting the growth of terrorist networks," the June 10 letter to congressional leaders of both parties said.

The Treasury Department sent U.S. lawmakers fact sheets to demonstrate why it considers the IMF funding critical, according to the Center.

Failure to pass the IMF legislation would be a major setback for President Obama, who pledged the IMF funds at a meeting of G20 leaders in early April. At that gathering, the G20 committed to tripling IMF resources with a $500 billion boost as more countries hit by the global financial crisis turn to it for emergency loans.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said last week that the IMF had collected nearly all the money pledged to it by the G20 member nations, but he was assuming the U.S. portion would pass.