Mike Levin: “My own preference would have been, instead of a direct loan from us, that there be a loan from a third party, guaranteed…”

“My own preference would have been, instead of a direct loan from us, that there be a loan from a third party, guaranteed by us. That is my preference because that would have taken away any possibility of misconstruing what we are doing, any propaganda value that might be gained by anybody else by saying somehow or other the United States is going to be a creditor, therefore, we have designs on Iraq. That could have been avoided if there were a third party making the loan, with our guarantee. If this amendment were not adopted--and I hope it will be--I would offer such a loan guarantee amendment as a preferable way to go. But this amendment is preferable to the grant approach of the administration. I yield the floor.”