As a business owner for 35 years, I know what it takes to create good-paying jobs. I’m proud to bring that badly needed experience to Congress.
That’s why I’m battling Washington bureaucrats to reduce red tape while supporting environmentally sound regulations for our Sappi paper mill in Skowhegan. This will help preserve 800 good-paying jobs with benefits. I’m also pushing the Federal Drug Administration to continue to allow paper instructions for medications to help our seniors and retain 600 good-paying jobs at the Twin Rivers paper mill in Madawaska.
Government should work for our struggling families and the businesses that employ them, not against them. While doing so, our government should operate with efficiency and integrity.
Recently, the editorial board of this newspaper falsely insinuated that I, as one of 435 members of Congress, risked the entire future of the federal government’s Export-Import Bank. This is untrue and outrageous.
The debate over the Ex-Im Bank has been ongoing for many years. I’ve been in Congress for 10 months. I have used the full weight of my office to help end the fraud, corruption and inside dealings at the bank, and to reduce taxpayer risk for a possible bailout. I have never stated that I would oppose the bank’s reauthorization to function.
During the 1930s, the federal government created Ex-Im primarily to lend money to foreign companies to help them buy products manufactured by U.S. corporations. American taxpayers are on the hook for bailouts if those foreign corporations do not repay the loans. This taxpayer guarantee allows the bank to lend money to foreign companies at lower interest rates than our own commercial banks. About 75 percent of the bank’s $112 billion of outstanding loans have been extended to only 10 large U.S. corporations.
During the past five years, there have been 49 convictions for fraud by bank employees and others associated with its loans. Seventy-five years of jail time and $224 million in fines have been dished out by the courts. Today, there are 31 ongoing investigations for fraud and corruption at the bank.
Several years ago, the FBI caught Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson with $90,000 cash stuffed in his freezer from an Ex-Im bribe!
These serious violations of the public trust do not fix themselves.
As Maine state treasurer, I strongly spoke out against the corruption at the Maine Turnpike Authority. The executive director, a former state legislator, had been stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Maine families and was thrown in jail. I helped to clean up the mess at the Maine State Housing Authority, where nearly $300,000 of taxpayer dollars were being spent on one-bedroom apartments while 6,000 families were on waiting lists for safe, warm places to call home.
In Congress, I have stepped up to hold bureaucrats and their departments and agencies accountable. That includes calling out and helping end the long-time fraud, corruption and inside dealings at the Export-Import Bank. Government can create the environment for a stronger economy and more jobs here in Maine and across America without tolerating corruption at taxpayer expense.
That’s why I successfully pushed for new reforms at the bank, and then voted to reauthorize it. Going forward, the bank will be stronger and operate with more integrity and less risk to taxpayers.
Despite what political opponents have inferred, during the reform process, every job was retained at the General Electric turbine manufacturing plant in Bangor.
I serve 650,000 honest and hard-working fellow 2nd District Mainers. They expect me to stand up against Washington special interests and to do what’s right. If a government entity refuses to clean up its act, it’s the job of Congress to help make it happen.
While being honored to represent you in Congress, rest assured that I’ll continue to do my homework, ask tough questions, and do what’s right to help create good-paying jobs in Maine. That includes helping to fix the serious problems at the Export-Import Bank so it can continue to support its job creation function.
Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a Republican, represents Maine’s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives.