LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – With a little over a week since the Senate Appropriations Committee removed voting on funding for the Gotion EV Battery Plant project in Big Rapids, the committee reconvened for a vote on Thursday.
The members voted to fund the project by 10 yes votes to 9 no votes to transfer $175 million for the project. Three of the no votes were from Democrat Senators after national security concerns raised earlier in the committee and earlier in the week regarding possible involvement between the Gotion company and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“A part of at least what Senate Democrats have vowed to make sure we are watching out for all Michiganders and making sure that they have good paying jobs,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chair and Senator Sarah Anthony said, “If you have actually been in this area, it’s one of the poorest in the state. So I think that it is a point of privilege for individuals to say that good paying jobs, again for a very rural, a very low income area should not be considered with due diligence, but the reality is that if we’re not also interested in rural jobs and revitalization of this economy, then I don’t know what else to say about that.”
When asked about why three Democrat Senators voted against the transfer, including Senators Rosemary Bayer (D-Keego Harbor), Jim Irwin (D-Ann Arbor), and Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit), Senator Anthony refused to comment. The three Senators did not respond with comments in time for this article.
“You have to ask those individuals, I think all of us have done our due diligence, had conversations, received information from the department, but I never like to speak on behalf of other members of the committee either on the Democratic side or the Republican side,” she said.
Senator John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs) explained that he is not opposed to economic development, particularly with manufacturing which has been leaving the state and country for decades, but had concerns about this project.
“Giving the benefit to those who voted for it, we do need to do things to rebuild our economy here in Michigan and rebuild manufacturing,” Sen. Damoose said, “Someone called those who voted yes, traitors, I don’t believe they’re traitors, but I do believe that they are misguided and this isn’t the project that we should be supporting.”
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“My biggest concern is the Chinese ownership of the company, and the bottom line is I’m not the type of guy that says no to everything, I am not always playing partisan politics, I voted yes for the Ford plant for instance,” he continued.
During the public hearing part of the meeting, one of the few advocates of the funding package, VP of North American Operations for Gotion, Chuck Thelen, spoke in support of the project.
“The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) determined that our proposed transaction was not subject to further review, and we may proceed with the proposed transaction,” Thelen read from a statement.
Senator Lana Theis (R-Brighton) shared that while she is concerned with the relationship of Gotion to China, the biggest concern is the potential environmental impact.
“The Gotion plant is set to be built near the Muskegon River — the plan has yet to receive the environmental impact study and/or approval necessary for such a project,” Senator Theis said in a statement, “Neither Gotion nor economic development officials have addressed any questions or concerns about its plans for this plant or track record on existing plants in terms of environmental impact. We don’t know how much water it will use, whether it would be recycled before being dumped back into state waterways, how much energy would be consumed, or how it could mitigate, contain and expunge a fire.”
Another speaker during the committee hearing, Barton Township Supervisor Kyle Luce opposed the idea that the only way to provide good paying jobs was through industrializing the area.
“Our board members are actually quite concerned, it’s a farm town,” Luce said, “It’s 95% Agricultural (AG) Land, it’s beautiful and pristine and that’s the way it needs to stay. I heard the Chair say today that we need to bring economic development to all these rural areas, but some of these rural areas are rural because they want to be rural; I lived there, my great-great-grandfather came out there to get away from the industry, get away from the populace, to kind of do their own thing in the corner.”
On Tuesday, Republicans from the House and Senate held a conference which included former U.S. Ambassadors Pete Hoekstra and Joseph Cella who raised the concerns about possible security threats from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the new intel regarding a possible tie with Gotion to a deal with the Taliban.
“If we pursue economic development projects here in Michigan, there should be a rigorous vetting process, it should not only consider national security concerns, but things like the environmental concerns,” Senator Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater) said, “It should of course begin with the question, is this a good deal for the people of Michigan?”
Former U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands, Pete Hoekstra, pointed out that elsewhere the relationship between business and government is very different from the way it is in America paraphrasing the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.
“When you look at the business community in China, don’t look at it through the American lens where there is a difference and a distinction between the private sector and the government sector, in China there is no distance between the two,” Mr. Hoekstra said.
Yesterday, Thelen denied claims of a possible link between a Chinese company, “Gochin” and the Gotion project involving a contract with the Taliban to mine lithium in Afghanistan.
“Two totally different companies. We are not affiliated whatsoever. We don’t need their lithium, frankly, we have plenty,” Thelen responded to Michigan News Source.
He added, “I had confirmation from my boss who is head of manufacturing globally and I had confirmation from my chief technical officer [about] that company, we don’t do any business with them, we don’t know them, they’re not part of our organization.”
On Tuesday, Senator Lana Theis (R-Brighton) published a letter to Michigan’s United States Senators and Representatives regarding the Gotion High-tech Co., Ltd battery manufacturer’s plans to build a facility in Big Rapids.
“We are writing to urge you to use all legal federal resources available to mediately investigate whether Gotion High-tech Co., Ltd as registered on the Swiss Stock Exchange has ties or contracts with foreign countries that have an adversarial relationship with the United States of America,” the letter said.
Former Ambassador, Joseph Cella, spoke at the press conference and afterwards with Michigan News Source expressing his support for Senator Theis’ letter.
“This is necessary and good leadership that has not ever been exercised by parties to the project and those that have voted for it,” Cella said, “It’s been secretive in its operations and further concealed by the speed at which its operated, and that is a pity for Michigan taxpayers and our national security.”
The Senate Appropriations vote was also the closest margin that Senator Theis has seen during her time on the committee, which usually votes down party lines when in disagreement.
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