On the recordMay 7, 2014
I share the gentleman's concern about corporate welfare. I have spent years pressing OPIC for greater transparency. Finally, in this measure we have a whole host of reforms. But I will remind this body that years back we exposed and helped kill OPIC's investment funds that were helping political cronies. I would also remind this body that we are only willing to give OPIC a short-term extension by redirecting it to focus on an area that lacks investment and will have a major impact on the long-term growth of a country, and that is electricity. I can assure the gentleman from California that this committee will continue its OPIC oversight, but I should note that OPIC is not a free service. OPIC charges fees that generate a financial return for the U.S. Treasury. To ensure that OPIC is not crowding out the private sector, they must demonstrate that no commercial bank is willing to provide the financing package requested directly from OPIC, and this is the case in doing business in Africa. The temporary authorization for OPIC, by the way, was included in the introduced version of the Electrify Africa Act and has remained in every following version. I would also point out that this bill includes the significant reforms, additional reforms, that I and others have been trying to get into OPIC.…
