government agency dealings with Enron Corp.


Last week, Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, received an accounting of all actions that the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency have taken since 1985 in support of the Enron Corp.'s business transactions. Today, Grassley received an accounting of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation's actions since 1985 in support of the Enron Corp.

Grassley made the following comment on the accountings he received.

"The Overseas Private Investment Corporation gave hundreds of millions of dollars in loans and other support to Enron-related projects during the Clinton administration. From Fiscal Year 1993 to Fiscal Year 2000, the agency gave $544 million in loans to projects with an Enron financial interest. The current outstanding balance on those loans is $453.7 million. The agency approved all Enron-related loan requests. Another $204 million is the total current exposure by the agency to political risk insurance projects with Enron equity involvement from Fiscal Year 1992 to Fiscal Year 1999. As with the Export-Import Bank and the Trade and Development Agency, these projects obviously were a tremendous benefit to Enron's operation. The disclosure of this information sheds light on the government's actions in support of Enron over the years."

Note: The Export-Import Bank is a government agency that supports the export of goods and services originating in the United States. It appears the agency made no loans to Enron-related businesses from 1985 to 1992. From 1993 to 2000, the Clinton administration gave more than $650 million in Export-Import Bank loans to Enron-related companies overseas. Whether there's taxpayer liability remains to be seen. Similarly, the Trade and Development Agency gave more than $1 million from 1992 to 2001 to projects involving Enron or its subsidiaries and also sponsored 11 trade missions involving Enron (no cost provided).