Political Quotes

“This amendment would prohibit funds from being used for the loan guarantee program created by the America COMPETES Act of 2010, a program which is essentially an $84 billion science experiment in stimulus spending. The America COMPETES Act directed the Commerce Department to establish loan guarantees within the Innovative Technologies in Manufacturing program of the Economic Development Administration, or EDA. These government-backed loans are meant to provide small or medium- sized manufacturers with new opportunities to use, manufacture, or commercialize any innovative technology. However, authorization for America COMPETES ran out in 2013 with little passing interest from industry. In fact, not one loan has been issued under this program to date--not one, not the first one. In July of 2013, the Government Accountability Office found that the EDA had done nothing with its appropriated funds outside of establishing a staffing budget and a timeline for executing the program. At the same time, GAO noted that EDA officials had reached out to the Small Business Administration for technical assistance on how to run a loan guarantee program. Mr. Chairman, think about this for a moment. If one government agency needs to consult another government agency about how to run a program which is similar to a program that is already established elsewhere, is the new program really necessary?…”