The United States will be allowed to print other countries' currencies, but it won't make any money on it, under a bill approved by a House panel Wednesday.
The House Banking and Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy approved the measure (H.R. 4096) on a voice vote after defeating an amendment aimed at making the printing service profitable.
The Clinton administration supported the bill but not the amendment.
The U.S. government has been approached by a number of interested foreign governments but has always had to refuse, said Thomas Ferguson, Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
About 120 countries, mostly small developing countries, have secure documents, such as postage stamps, bonds and currency, printed in other countries, Ferguson said in an interview after the vote. Most of the work is done by private companies in Germany and England.
Under the new measure the Bureau will broaden its expertise with new printing technologies and techniques, and would improve its anti-counterfeit measures, said Subcommittee Chairman Spencer Bachus, R-Ala.
The panel defeated 11-8 an amendment by Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., that would have required the government to make between 10 percent to 20 percent profit on the venture.
Sherman criticized the bill, saying it would only benefit the rich oil-state of Kuwait, which could afford to pay a little extra for the service.
The Bureau would not try to make a profit, but its costs would include labor, capital and security costs. Ferguson said that Kuwait, which is interested in having revenue bonds printed, is not the only interested party. South Africa has expressed interest in having postage stamps printed here.
Sherman, joined by fellow Democrat Rep. Mel Watt of North Carolina, wondered whether the government's unwillingness to make a profit would undercut private companies in America seeking to enter the same market. But Ferguson said that American companies, save a small company in Philadelphia, were no longer seriously competitive in that market.
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