Ed Royce: “I do want to thank Ranking Member Eliot Engel of New York, as well as Chairman Chris Smith and Ranking Member Karen Bass…”

“I do want to thank Ranking Member Eliot Engel of New York, as well as Chairman Chris Smith and Ranking Member Karen Bass of the Africa Subcommittee, for working closely with me to craft the Electrify Africa Act. I will remind the Members that where the United States has left a void for economic investment in the world--and Africa is one of them-- China has stepped in. In this case, we are speaking at a time when the Premier of China is on the ground right now in Sub-Saharan Africa. China has stepped in to direct $2 billion to African energy projects. This bill will counter China's growing commercial and strategic influence. But what else will the bill do? Unlocking the constraint on African economic growth means a continent less reliant on aid. The bill promotes an all-of-the-above approach to electricity that includes natural gas and clean coal and hydro. The CBO estimates that this bill will save the U.S. Treasury $86 million. Electrify Africa imposes permanent reform, as I mentioned, on the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. The bill focuses OPIC on promoting electricity in Africa. It forces oversight. It demands transparency on the institution, lays that out, and makes the OPIC board bipartisan. There is every reason to support efforts that encourage economic independence, that strengthen trading partners and that compete with Chinese influence in a vital region, as someone once said.…”