U.S. Congressman French Hill: Treasury Skirting Congress on SDR Allocation Consultation

Little Rock, AR – U.S. Congressman French Hill (AR-02) today issued the following statement in response to a letter he and Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Patrick McHenry (NC-10) received from the U.S. Department of Treasury yesterday regarding the Biden-Harris Administration’s intent to consider a Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation.

“Despite what Treasury may think, sending a letter is not only insufficient to meet the requirement of consultation with Congress, but is insulting and not in-line with Treasury’s statutory obligation. I continue to be disappointed by the Biden-Harris Administration’s approach to skirting Congress on the allocation of SDRs. It’s bad policy to send no-strings-attached dollars to genocidal and terrorist regimes under the guise of ‘COVID’ relief,” said Rep. Hill. “My door is always open, and I welcome a meeting with Secretary Yellen if she seeks actual and meaningful consultation on an SDR allocation vote.”  

In response to Treasury’s letter, Ranking Member McHenry and Rep. Hill sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Yellen encouraging her to meet for an official consultation.

Further Background:

• In September 2020, Rep. Hill initially outlined his concerns with SDRs in an op-ed in The Hill.
• In February 2021, Rep. Hill reiterated his views an in op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.
• On March 4, 2021, Rep. Hill introduced H.R. 1568, the Special Drawing Rights Oversight Act to limit the executive branch’s ability to bypass Congress to authorize SDRs.
• On March 4, 2021, Rep. Hill also joined Kristin Myers on Yahoo Finance to discuss SDRs.
• On March 18, 2021, Rep. Hill outlined his concerns with SDR allocations in a letter to G7 leaders.
• On March 23, 2021, during questioning from Rep. Hill, Treasury Secretary Yellen confirmed the Biden-Harris Administration was considering sending no-strings-attached money to countries such as China and Russia.  
• On March 25, 2021, Rep. Hill participated in a radio interview with 89.1 KUAR in Arkansas.