Argentina's Debt

Floor Speech

Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the treatment of American creditors by the Republic of Argentina. Almost 10 years ago, the Argentine government defaulted on over $81 billion in sovereign debt. Nearly $9 billion of this debt was held by the U.S. Government and American citizens. Following its default, Argentina made take-it-or-leave-it settlement offers well below international norms for settling sovereign debt defaults.

I am glad to report that recently Argentina has shown a willingness to negotiate in settling some of this debt. Argentina recently informed the Paris Club, a group of sovereign governments that includes the United States and represents 19 creditor countries, that it will pay its outstanding sovereign debt, including $360 million owed to the United States. Argentina's willingness to pay its debts to the Paris Club demonstrates its capacity to go further and compensate private American creditors, who have been trying to collect outstanding debt from Argentina for years. The fact that Argentina has agreed to pay its public debts to other sovereign nations is a welcomed first step. However, private U.S. creditors are still owed billions of dollars.

As I mentioned before in this Chamber, these private creditors have won over 100 U.S. Federal court judgments against Argentina. Now that Argentina has shown that it can and will pay its debts through the Paris Club negotiations, the administration should work to get this issue resolved for the remaining American bondholders and taxpayers.

I hope my colleagues will join me in urging the administration to protect the well-being of the American citizens impacted by Argentina's failure to pay its debts.

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