James Traficant: “I would like to engage Chairman Callahan in a colloquy on Bucheit International, a company in my district that has…”

“I would like to engage Chairman Callahan in a colloquy on Bucheit International, a company in my district that has investments in Gaza. In 1994, Bucheit International, with the support of the Office of the Vice President, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Builders for Peace, was granted political risk insurance from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation [OPIC] to build a concrete molding plant in Gaza. In 1995, Bucheit received a $1.1 million loan from OPIC for the purchase of additional equipment and working capital. After investing $4.4 million in the area, however, Bucheit has experienced transportation and standards barriers, a mismanaged system of regulations, and unethical, if not illegal, activity, which has resulted in Bucheit's default on the OPIC loan. In addition, Bucheit has never been reimbursed for any value-added- taxes [VAT] collected by Israel on goods headed for Gaza. Bucheit has had difficulty obtaining proper invoices from Gaza suppliers, so simply day-to-day accounting has become an impossible task.”