Europe should pay for Europe's debt crisis, says GOP House member

By Peter Schroeder - 09/26/11 02:22 PM ET

A leading House Republican wants Europeans to be solely responsible for climbing out of the European debt crisis and is calling on the U.S. to limit its contribution to that relief effort.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said Monday that the United States should be focusing on its own fiscal priorities and not sending billions abroad to prop up European nations via its contributions to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"At a time when the federal government is borrowing $5 billion every day on top of a $14 trillion national debt, we should not be funneling billions of dollars through the IMF to bail out Greece, Portugal, Ireland, and other wealthy European countries. The European Union was set up to be an economic competitor to the United States, and therefore, any bailout funds should come from the E.U., not the U.S," she said in a statement. "We cannot take the ‘too big to fail’ philosophy to a global level."

Her response came following media reports that the head of the IMF was eyeing further funding as its relief efforts in several European nations grew.

Christine Lagarde, the managing director of IMF, reportedly warned that the institution may need its own cash infusion after doling out billions to struggling European nations.

Lagarde told top IMF officials said the fund's ability to lend out $385 billion may seem sufficient now, but "pales in comparison" with the potential needs of several European nations struggling to contain a growing debt crisis.

The IMF has already committed $336 billion to various European governments in an effort to keep them afloat. And the U.S. is the leading contributor to the IMF, providing more than 17 percent of the organization's funding.

McMorris Rodgers, the vice chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, has long opposed U.S. involvement in the IMF's foreign rescue efforts. She was the first member to publicly oppose the nation's involvement in the European debt crisis via the IMF and has repeatedly called for the U.S. to withdraw its contributions from any efforts to bail out ailing European nations such as Ireland and Greece.

She also pushed legislation, alongside Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), to block the IMF from spending U.S. dollars contributed to the fund for European relief efforts.