[Pages S5123-S5124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

SA 3379. Mr. McCORMICK (for himself and Ms. Rosen) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2296, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2026 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of title XII, add the following:

Subtitle F--Treatment of Taiwan at International Financial Institutions

SEC. 1271. SHORT TITLE.

This subtitle may be cited as the ``Taiwan Non-
Discrimination Act of 2025''.

SEC. 1272. FINDINGS.

Congress finds as follows:
(1) As enshrined in its Articles of Agreement, the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) is devoted to promoting
international monetary cooperation, facilitating the
expansion and balanced growth of international trade,
encouraging exchange stability, and avoiding competitive
exchange depreciation.
(2) Taiwan is the 21st largest economy in the world and the
10th largest goods trading partner of the United States.

[[Page S5124]]

(3) Although Taiwan is not an IMF member, it is a member of
the World Trade Organization, the Asian Development Bank, and
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
(4) According to the January 2020 Report on Macroeconomic
and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of
the United States, published by the Department of the
Treasury, Taiwan held $471,900,000,000 in foreign exchange
reserves, more than major economies such as India, South
Korea, and Brazil.
(5) According to section 4(d) of the Taiwan Relations Act
(Public Law 96-8), enacted on April 10, 1979, ``Nothing in
this Act may be construed as a basis for supporting the
exclusion or expulsion of Taiwan from continued membership in
any international financial institution or any other
international organization.''.
(6) Taiwan held membership in the IMF for 9 years following
the recognition of the People's Republic of China (PRC) by
the United Nations, and 16 Taiwan staff members at the Fund
were allowed to continue their employment after the PRC was
seated at the IMF in 1980. As James M. Boughton has noted in
his Silent Revolution: The International Monetary Fund 1979-
1989, even as the PRC was seated, the United States Executive
Director to the IMF, Sam Y. Cross, expressed support on
behalf of the United States Government for ``some kind of
association between Taiwan and the Fund''.
(7) On September 27, 1994, in testimony before the Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations regarding the 1994 Taiwan
Policy Review, then-Assistant Secretary of State for East
Asian and Pacific Affairs Winston Lord stated: ``Recognizing
Taiwan's important role in transnational issues, we will
support its membership in organizations where statehood is
not a prerequisite, and we will support opportunities for
Taiwan's voice to be heard in organizations where its
membership is not possible.''.
(8) The Congress has repeatedly reaffirmed support for this
policy, including in Public Laws 107-10, 107-158, 108-28,
108-235, 113-17, and 114-139, and the unanimous House and
Senate passage of the Taiwan Allies International Protection
and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 2019.
(9) In its fact sheet, entitled ``U.S. Relations with
Taiwan'', published on August 31, 2018, the Department of
State asserts: ``The United States supports Taiwan's
membership in international organizations that do not require
statehood as a condition of membership and encourages
Taiwan's meaningful participation in international
organizations where its membership is not possible.''.
(10) According to the Articles of Agreement of the IMF,
``membership shall be open to other countries'', subject to
conditions prescribed by the Board of Governors of the IMF.
(11) In the IMF publication ``Membership and Nonmembership
in the International Monetary Fund: A Study in International
Law and Organization'', Joseph Gold, the then-General Counsel
and Director of the Legal Department of the IMF, elaborated
on the differences between the terms ``countries'' and
``states'', noting that ``the word `country' may have been
adopted because of the absence of agreement on the definition
of a `state' '' and, with respect to the use of ``countries''
and applications for IMF membership, ``the absence of any
adjective in the Articles emphasizes the breadth of the
discretion that the Fund may exercise in admitting countries
to membership''. According to Mr. Gold, ``the desire to give
the Fund flexibility in dealing with applications may explain
not only the absence of any adjective that qualifies
`countries' but also the choice of that word itself''.
(12) In his IMF study, Mr. Gold further observes, ``in the
practice of the Fund the concepts of independence and
sovereignty have been avoided on the whole as a mode of
expressing a criterion for membership in the Fund''. He
continues, ``Although the Fund usually takes into account the
recognition or nonrecognition of an entity as a state, there
are no rules or even informal understandings on the extent to
which an applicant must have been recognized by members or
other international organizations before the Fund will regard
it as eligible for membership.''. In fact, when considering
an application for membership where the status of an
applicant may not be resolved, Mr. Gold writes ``there have
been occasions on which the Fund has made a finding before
decisions had been taken by the United Nations or by most
members or by members with a majority of the total voting
power.'' Mr. Gold concludes, ``the Fund makes its own
findings on whether an applicant is a `country', and makes
them solely for its own purposes.''.
(13) Although not a member state of the United Nations, the
Republic of Kosovo is a member of both the IMF and the World
Bank, having joined both organizations on June 29, 2009.
(14) On October 26, 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken
issued a statement in support of Taiwan's ``robust,
meaningful participation'' in the United Nations system,
which includes the IMF, the World Bank, and other specialized
United Nations agencies. Secretary of State Blinken noted,
``As the international community faces an unprecedented
number of complex and global issues, it is critical for all
stakeholders to help address these problems. This includes
the 24 million people who live in Taiwan. Taiwan's meaningful
participation in the UN system is not a political issue, but
a pragmatic one.''. He continued, ``Taiwan's exclusion
undermines the important work of the UN and its related
bodies, all of which stand to benefit greatly from its
contributions.''.
(15) In October 2024, Taiwan announced it would seek IMF
membership, with the Taipei Economic and Cultural
Representative Office in the United States stating,
``Taiwan's membership at the IMF would help boost financial
resilience.''.

SEC. 1273. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

It is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) the size, significance, and connectedness of the
Taiwanese economy highlight the importance of greater
participation by Taiwan in the International Monetary Fund,
given the purposes of the Fund articulated in its Articles of
Agreement; and
(2) the experience of Taiwan in developing a vibrant and
advanced economy under democratic governance and the rule of
law should inform the work of the international financial
institutions, including through increased participation by
Taiwan in the institutions.

SEC. 1274. SUPPORT FOR TAIWAN ADMISSION TO THE IMF.

(a) In General.--The United States Governor of the
International Monetary Fund (in this section referred to as
the ``Fund'') shall use the voice and vote of the United
States to vigorously support--
(1) the admission of Taiwan as a member of the Fund, to the
extent that admission is sought by Taiwan;
(2) participation by Taiwan in regular surveillance
activities of the Fund with respect to the economic and
financial policies of Taiwan, consistent with Article IV
consultation procedures of the Fund;
(3) employment opportunities for Taiwan nationals, without
regard to any consideration that, in the determination of the
United States Governor, does not generally restrict the
employment of nationals of member countries of the Fund; and
(4) the ability of Taiwan to receive appropriate technical
assistance and training by the Fund.
(b) United States Policy.--It is the policy of the United
States not to discourage or otherwise deter Taiwan from
seeking admission as a member of the Fund.
(c) Waiver.--The Secretary of the Treasury may waive any
requirement of subsection (a) for up to 1 year at a time on
reporting to Congress that providing the waiver will
substantially promote the objective of securing the
meaningful participation of Taiwan at each international
financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of
the International Financial Institutions Act).
(d) Sunset.--This section shall have no force or effect on
the earlier of--
(1) the date of approval by the Board of Governors of the
Fund for the admission of Taiwan as a member of the Fund; or
(2) the date that is 10 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 1275. TESTIMONY REQUIREMENT.

In each of the next 7 years in which the Secretary of the
Treasury is required by section 1705(b) of the International
Financial Institutions Act to present testimony, the
Secretary shall include in the testimony a description of the
efforts of the United States to support the greatest
participation practicable by Taiwan at each international
financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of
such Act).
______