Sanders Passes Amendment to Stop Corporate Welfare for the Construction of Nuclear Power Plants in China
WASHINGTON – Tuesday, Congressman Sanders led a tri-partisan coalition in successfully prohibiting the U.S. Export-Import Bank from using taxpayer dollars to fund the construction of nuclear power plants in China. Sander’s amendment, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, was offered as part of the FY2006 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. Sanders’ amendment passed 313-114.
Sanders said, “The passage of this amendment is an important victory for the American taxpayer, our national security, and the American worker. American taxpayers should not be subsidizing the construction of nuclear power plants to China.”
In February 2005, the U.S. Export-Import Bank approved a preliminary commitment for $5 billion in loan and loan guarantees to Westinghouse Electric Corporation to build four nuclear power reactors in the People’s Republic of China. Westinghouse is engaged in a bidding process with corporations from other nations and hopes that the guaranteed backing of U.S. taxpayers will allow it to win the bid. According the New York Times, the loans are three times bigger than any other loan package the Export-Import Bank has provided. The loan and loan guarantees go well beyond the Export-Import Bank’s mandated mission to “assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets,” as the nuclear division of Westinghouse is owned by a British company.
And, while a portion of this nuclear technology would initially be made in the U.S., the Chinese government has indicated that eventually all of this sensitive technology will be made in China. Sanders’ successfully passed amendment will prohibit this loan.
Sanders concluded, “This loan would have put U.S. taxpayer dollars on the line to subsidize a British-owned company for the transfer of U.S. nuclear technology to China that will end up destroying U.S. jobs. This is absurd public policy.”