Lee Terry: “I rise in support of the Andrews amendment. I am not debating whether or not it is corporate welfare, but I want to talk…”

“I rise in support of the Andrews amendment. I am not debating whether or not it is corporate welfare, but I want to talk about how OPIC must get its own house in order first as I lack confidence in this program. I am going to tell my colleagues a story about a company in my district, Mid-American Energy, who has been working with OPIC, had used OPIC to build a power plant in Indonesia. The government did a bait and switch. They put in a claim. Now they are pursuing to recover this lost investment. In May 1999, OPIC required an arbitration. Mid-American won in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, 3-0. What next? OPIC said, 'That's not good enough. We need you to do it again. We want you to go somewhere else for another arbitration.' When OPIC loses this time, will they change the rules again? Will they require this company to go three out of five arbitrations? Mr. Chairman, Mid-American has followed OPIC guidelines. Now it must fulfill its obligations. I urge the support of this amendment.”