WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) yesterday voted against the $281 billion, five-year highway bill that reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank, a quintessential example of what he calls cronyism and corporate welfare. Using various budget gimmicks and one-time revenue raisers, this bill guarantees an even larger shortfall in 2020 when the next highway bill comes up. Sen. Cruz issued the following statement upon the bill’s passage in the Senate:
“The Export-Import Bank is an egregious example of corporate welfare and has no business being reauthorized — period, much less snuck through as part of an alleged must-pass bill. The Ex-Im Bank board of directors still lacks enough members to approve big loans that put taxpayers on the hook for millions of dollars of loan guarantees for big business, so at least for now, the Bank is still prevented from making big loans to giant corporations favored by the Washington Cartel.
“The underlying highway bill itself is fiscally irresponsible, doing nothing to put our highway programs on a firm financial footing, nor does it do anything to move more funding and decision-making to the state level, as envisioned by Sen. Lee’s Transportation Empowerment Act. The American people expect the Republican-led Congress to do better than this.”
