Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate passed Rep. Hill’s H.R. 6899, the Russia and Belarus SDR Exchange Prohibition Act of 2022, yesterday by unanimous consent. This legislation will prohibit the Treasury Secretary from exchanging dollars for International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Drawing Right (SDR) assets held by Russia or Belarus. Further, the bill would require the Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen to push IMF member countries to deny these transactions as well.

 

Congressman French Hill said, “As Russia continues their warmongering against Ukraine, it is vital that we work to constrain the Russian and Belarus economies by preventing them from exchanging their IMF assets to fund their illegal invasion of Ukraine. I thank Senators Scott and Manchin for introducing this legislation in the Senate and look forward to President Biden signing this bill into law soon.”

 

Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) said, “As Russia wages war against Ukraine and threatens democracy in Europe, the United States cannot allow the IMF to be its piggy bank and finance these attacks. Without this legislation, IMF countries could provide Putin and his thugs in Belarus with relief from the devastating sanctions that America and our fellow democracies have levied and open channels to funding from Communist China to fuel Russia’s genocide and unjust war. This bill is an important step to again make clear that the United States stands firmly with the people of Ukraine and will continue to punish Russia, and its evil ally Belarus, until Ukraine wins this war and Russia retreats. I am proud to partner with Senator Manchin and Congressman Hill on this important legislation, and urge all of our colleagues to support this bill.”

 

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said, “Limiting the international financial support for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine must be a top priority for the United States and our allies. Our bipartisan, bicameral bill will prohibit the IMF from financing this unprovoked invasion by limiting Special Drawing Rights held by Russia and Belarus. I’m thrilled Congress passed our bipartisan legislation to limit Russia’s financing of this horrific war and look forward to the President signing our bill into law.”

 

SDRs from the IMF allow countries to lay claim to dollars, euros, and other major currencies to use with no strings attached. The amount an IMF country gets from an SDR allocation is largely based on a country’s position in the world economy, meaning most of the money goes to wealthy countries and rogue regimes, and not the countries that need it most.

 

 

 

On May 11, 2022, H.R. 6899 passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a bipartisan vote of 417-2.

 

On March 17, 2022, the House Financial Services Committee unanimously passed H.R. 6899 out of committee.

 

Rep. Hill introduced H.R. 6899 on March 2, 2022, as part of a package of bills House Financial Services Committee Republicans introduced to counter Russia.

 

On February 28, 2022, Rep. Hill sent a letter alongside 40 other members of the House and Senate to Treasury Secretary Yellen encouraging her to get other IMF member countries to not facilitate any exchange of Russia’s SDRs.

 

Rep. Hill also joined UK member of Parliament Rehman Chishti in an opinion piece featured in The Times Redbox urging the IMF to review its rules on allocations of SDRs.

 

Last year, Rep. Hill introduced H.R. 1568, the Special Drawing Rights Oversight Act. This bill limits the executive branch’s ability to bypass Congress to authorize SDR allocations by limiting the size and frequency of allocations unless Congress authorizes them by law. Under current law, The U.S. Treasury has broad authority to unilaterally approve an SDR allocation. Rep. Hill’s bill ensures a proper check on the executive branch and greater accountability.