(WICHITA, Kan.)—
Democrat Raj Goyle is running for U.S. House of Representatives District 4 which includes the Wichita metro area. In one of his latest ads he accuses Republican opponent Mike Pompeo of outsourcing American jobs.Claim: “It's troubling enough knowing Mike Pompeo outsourced manufacturing jobs to Mexico instead of creating them here at home…”
As FactFinder 12 told you before the primary, no Kansas jobs were lost, but Pompeo outsourced a couple dozen jobs to Mexico when he was president of Thayer Aerospace. He admits that and says it helped save jobs here Kansas.
Claim: “…but it also turns out Mike Pompeo is president of a company that used to make oil field equipment here in Kansas and now does its manufacturing in places like China.”
The company the ad refers to is Sentry International. As its name says, it's an international company that sells oil field equipment around the world.
FactFinder 12 found no evidence Sentry International directly outsourced manufacturing work, only that it partners with companies in China and many other countries to purchase foreign made products.
Pompeo is president, but Sentry International is a different company than what the ad refers to. The old Sentry stopped producing oil pumping units in the early 1990's. A new company, that bought the rights to the name, formed in 2003.
Pompeo’s response (unedited):
“The Fact is, the company that Mike Pompeo has been running, Sentry International, was founded in Kansas in 2003 with zero employees. Mike was hired as the company’s President in 2006, at that time the company had less than 10 employees. Today, the company employs approximately 100 hard working Americans in the United States – including approximately 25 employees in Kansas – and provides products and services to the oil and gas industries with customers all over the world. It is, indeed, a global company.
Not one single job was moved from Hesston, Kansas – or anywhere else in America – to China. Mike has more than doubled the number of jobs in Kansas. A summary timeline of Mike’s role in at Sentry International is attached to this statement.
Mike Pompeo has created over 500 jobs as the leader of two successful companies (Thayer Aerospace and Sentry International). He will bring unique leadership and understanding of job creation to his role as a Congressman if he’s elected to represent the 4th District of Kansas.”
Goyle’s response (unedited):
1. "Mike Pompeo is President of a company that used to make oilfield equipment here in Kansas and now does its manufacturing in places like China."
"The same Sentry website that lists Mike Pompeo as president states that its product line was originally manufactured in Hesston, Kansas and now states ‘Serving you locally with quality products produced globally.’ Products that once said ‘Made in America’ now say ‘Made in China’. Mike Pompeo must answer two questions: how many Chinese workers manufacture products that Sentry sells and how much are those workers paid?"
2. "I’m Raj Goyle and I approve this message because if outsourcing jobs to Mexico and China is how Mike Pompeo wants to do business that’s his choice, but in Congress protecting your Kansas jobs will be mine."
“After Mike Pompeo joined the company in 2006, Sentry International has had rapid growth in China. Sentry has a Shanghai office which employs at least ten people. This office is responsible for contracting and partnering with manufacturers across China to get Sentry's products produced. We know that Sentry has received 351 shipments of products from 23 manufacturers in China since July 2007. Sentry's China office also oversees operations at a gearbox factory which employs around 80 workers."
"China continues to engage in unfair trade practices, by having cheap goods, cheap labor, and devaluing their currency. This allows outsourcing CEOs like Mike Pompeo to extort cheap labor and raw materials at the cost of American jobs. Mike Pompeo chose to manufacture in China, known for unfair trade practices, while Raj Goyle will fight to end the tax breaks for companies that outsource American jobs to places like Mexico and China."
