[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 4923]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           ATVM LOAN PROGRAM

  Mr. TOOMEY. Mr. President, I rise to address an amendment that has 
been filed, and on which I hope we are going to have a vote. That is 
amendment No. 3814. It is called End Crony Capitalist Advanced 
Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program.
  Let me describe what this is about. We are all watching this 
Presidential election campaign unfold, and a big theme on both sides of 
the aisle is about how the Obama economy is not working for so many 
millions of ordinary Americans--middle-income, middle-class, working-
class Americans who are working as hard as ever and falling behind. It 
is true. It has absolutely been a fact that this economy is not 
anywhere near where it should be. Part of that and part of the theme is 
how Washington works for the well-connected--for the few who get to 
figure out how to get special benefits from taxpayers. But that doesn't 
apply if you are an ordinary man or woman who is just working hard to 
feed their family and take care of their family and who doesn't have 
the lobbyists and the connections to get special treatment. It is 
infuriating for people, and they are right.
  One of the most egregious examples is the Advanced Technology Vehicle 
Manufacturing Loan Program. This is a program that forces taxpayers to 
lend money to especially preferred--very affluent, generally--and well-
connected businesses. It was created in 2007, and it requires the 
Department of Energy to lend this money--up to $25 billion of taxpayer 
money--to private corporations that ought to be funding their activity 
privately.
  Why should my constituents in Pennsylvania be made to take the risk 
for some company that has an idea they want to float? Why in the world 
should it be that my constituents and your constituents, Mr. President, 
have to subsidize a particular business because some politicians decide 
they like it? This is completely outrageous, and this program is 
particularly egregious.
  So far this program has made five loans worth $8.4 billion. Of the 
five, two of them have already defaulted. Two have already gone under. 
Why should our taxpayers have to make these loans to companies that 
then fail, and the taxpayers end up holding the bag?
  Fisker Automotive is one of them. They got a $529 million loan in 
2010. It took less than 1 year for them to default. The Department of 
Energy--which is to say, our constituents, taxpayers--then took a $139 
million loss, just on that one transaction.
  The Vehicle Production Group got a $50 million loan in 2011. Two 
years later, they defaulted. Taxpayers lost almost all of it--$42 
million.
  But it gets even more absurd. In 2011, the Department of Energy, 
under this program, tried to make a $730 million loan to a company 
owned by a Russian oligarch so he could build a steel plant to compete 
with American steel companies and steelworkers that are already making 
this product. Why in the world should my constituents be forced to 
subsidize a Russian oligarch? This is ridiculous. And by the way, the 
plant had already been built. It was retroactively funding facilities 
that he already had the resources to build. This is just crazy. This is 
what drives people crazy.
  The GAO has recommended three times that this program be terminated. 
They have estimated that if the program continues, they are going to 
lose another $400 million. So here we have Washington picking a handful 
of preferred companies to get huge taxpayer subsidies. It has proven it 
is a losing program. Why are we doing this in the first place?
  So we have an amendment that would end this program. Senator Coats, 
Senator Fischer and myself want to end this. We don't want taxpayers to 
continue to subsidize these companies. We don't think crony capitalism 
is the way our system should work. We think our economy should work for 
everybody who shows up and punches a clock and works hard, not the 
well-connected who can get a big subsidy from Washington. So we have an 
amendment that would end it.
  Now, there is some controversy about whether we are even going to 
have a vote on this, which is really disturbing. I hope we can resolve 
this and have this vote. I will live with the consequences of this 
vote, as we all have to. But if there are people who like this program 
and think that our taxpayers should continue being forced to give away 
money and subsidize preferred special interests, OK, come on down to 
the floor and make the case. Argue for why we should continue this 
crony capitalism, and why it is that politicians ought to put their 
thumbs on the scale of our economy and divert taxpayer dollars to 
preferred interests. Come on down and make the case. At least have the 
courage of your convictions, and let's have a vote. That is all I am 
asking for.
  So I am hoping we will get this. I am hoping we will have a vote and, 
of course, I am hoping we will end a terrible program that undermines 
the confidence the American people have in our government. We could 
take a step in the right direction of restoring some confidence that 
this town can figure out what to do and can take steps to help our 
economy be fairer, more open, and more successful for all Americans.
  I thank the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.

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