There is no mechanism for independent monitoring of the use of these guarantees to ensure they are used only in accord with U.S. law and policy. And it does not provide any means to address the thorny problem of Israels settlements activities. I strongly support a loan guarantee program to help Israel absorb an anticipated 1 million immigrants over the next several years. But I cannot support a proposal which simply hands over to Israel $10 billion In loan guarantees without any provisions to deal with these and other issues. In my view. for a number of reasons Congress should not appropriate the entire $10 billion in loan guarantees up front. as this proposal would do. Instead. we should provide just the first installment of $2 billion in loan guarantees. though I would include in the foreign aid bill a firm declaration by Congress that it intends to provide $10 billion in loan guarantees to Israel over 5 years. Israel needs this assurance in order to plan and make commitments for the immigrants. In addition. there should be a requirement for a major restructuring of Israels heavily centralized and inefficient economy. This will help Israels international credit rating. reduce interest rates on the loans. lower future subsidy costs. and lessen the risk that the American taxpayer might have to step in to cover a default.
Keywords matched
immigrants