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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Zoltan! who wrote (246045)	4/8/2002 11:22:29 AM
From: Tadsamillionaire	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Clinton agencies assisted Enron rise By Patrice Hill THE WASHINGTON TIMES Enron Corp. grew in the 1990s from a small Texas natural gas company to a $50 billion global energy-trading giant — with extensive help from the Clinton administration. Top Stories • 'Trying' to speed withdrawal • Arafat tells gunmen to refuse deal • Florida ponders surprise challenge • Israelis kill 14 Palestinians • Terrorists trained by Iran tracked from Uzbekistan • India clips wings of its pigeon police mail The company's international stature grew remarkably in the 1990s, to a point that Clinton officials sought its help in solving problems big and small, including drumming up support for the global-warming treaty, promoting economic development in the war-torn Middle East and Bosnia and drafting the details of an arcane bankruptcy reform measure. One key success for the company was getting the administration to propose a new round of world-trade negotiations on energy services, an industry Enron dominated at home and hoped to turn into a trillion-dollar enterprise abroad. Documents released by the Treasury Department show that President Clinton's trade representative, Charlene Barshefsky, seized upon the idea, offered to her by a coalition of energy companies headed by Enron, and presented it almost verbatim in World Trade Organization negotiations in May 2000. Other nations agreed in March 2001 to start discussions on energy services, with the aim of lowering regulations and other barriers to trade. With the help of more than $1 billion in subsidized loans and insurance from Clinton agencies, Enron also built dozens of international projects, from a natural gas pipeline in China to clean-burning power facilities in Brazil and the Gaza Strip, according to a top Clinton official. The projects are said to have dovetailed with Mr. Clinton's twin goals of promoting American business overseas and encouraging environmentally friendly energy development. "The whole world was just waking up and becoming export oriented" in the 1990s, and Enron was on the cutting edge of the globalization wave, said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "Clinton was a big supporter of companies doing business overseas. He was a huckster for corporate America, and that's how he got big contributions" from companies such as Enron that had global ambitions, the official said. Enron, its political action committee and its employees contributed more than $1.5 million to Democratic candidates and causes during the Clinton years. More at .. washtimes.com