Joe Lieberman: “I do believe the response confirms my concern that one of the effects of passage of this amendment will be to apply what…”

“I do believe the response confirms my concern that one of the effects of passage of this amendment will be to apply what I consider to be an arbitrary cap--which is to say a 25 percent cap--on all American expenditures related to the assistance provided to these NATO countries. Here is why I am concerned about that and why it does bother me. There are two different categories of expense. One is the direct amount we are contributing--common expenses, if you will--the $400 million that the Senator from Iowa refers to, to enlarge NATO to these countries. I do not consider the credits given to facilitate the sale of American military equipment to these countries in that same category. These are not giveaways. These are, in a long-established program, quite similar to what we do through the Export-Import Bank in other areas, or OPIC in other areas, to facilitate American companies' ability to sell their products abroad, creating or sustaining more jobs for American workers here at home. So, my initial concerns are confirmed. I think the effect of this amendment, if adopted, would be to limit the ability of American companies to compete equally with foreign manufacturers of comparable weapons systems to sell them to these three countries, and the losers in that would be the workers in defense companies all around America. So these export credits are not giveaways.”