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vol, 9, no. 57

Acknowledgment:

Articles provided through Catholic World News Service

      WASHINGTON, DC (CWN) - The Clinton administration asked the House of Representatives on Wednesday to pass the $18 billion bailout bill for the International Monetary Fund, and not jeopardize it by attaching pro-life provisions that scuttled previous measures.

      Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Defense Secretary William Cohen, and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin met with reporters during a visit to Capitol Hill to lobby for the current version of the bill. Pro-lifers in Congress have said they want to attach language to the bill that would ban US funding of overseas abortion and population control groups that perform abortions or lobby for its legalization. The three Cabinet members warned of national security problems if the IMF legislation was held up by the dispute.

      The administration has said it will veto any legislation with this language, and said any such provisions should be considered as a separate bill, not attached to unrelated legislation. The practice of attaching unrelated amendments to popular bills is a longstanding practice among both parties for many years in Congress.

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