Mr. BEREUTER. I yield to the gentleman
from Texas.
2001 Ron Paul 63:2
Mr. PAUL. I thank the gentleman for
yielding, Mr. Chairman.
The gentleman makes the point that
we fund in our Export-Import Bank
less compared to other nations. That
possibly is true.
Mr. BEREUTER. In absolute terms.
2001 Ron Paul 63:3
Mr. PAUL. The gentleman argues for
an increase. But is it not true that the
United States has had a healthier economy
in the last 10 years than most of
our competitors, indicating that it
probably has not done us that much
harm by not doing the same things
that other countries do by penalizing
their people with high taxation and
making these subsidies?
Mr. BEREUTER. Reclaiming my
time, our economic health relies on a
lot of things, but we cannot confuse
cause and effect. If we lost our export
sector, we would be in deep trouble.
Take my own home State, for example,
agriculture being one of the two
major largest exporters. One-third,
maybe even more, of everything we
grow, like the rest of this country, is
export. If we lose that base, if we would
write off 95 percent of the world’s people,
we are in a hopeless condition.
I would say to the gentleman, I understand
his ideological reasons for offering
this. I happen to dramatically
disagree. I think American citizens do
not support the unilateral disarmament.
2001 Ron Paul 63:4
Mr. PAUL. If the gentleman will continue
to yield, Mr. Chairman, why is it
assumed that there would be no export
funds available to export goods if we
did not subsidize the exports?
