The success of GE depends significantly on sound public policies in the U.S. at the national, state and local levels. Governments, through advancing their legitimate regulatory and political interests, affect the environment in which GE operates. Every day, issues vital to GE’s ability to recognize value for the Company’s stakeholders are debated and decided in the U.S. Congress, in state legislatures and in local forums across the country—issues such as trade, taxes, energy, healthcare, environment and legal liability, to name a few. That is why GE participates in the political process through contributions from the GE Political Action Committee (GEPAC) and through Company contributions, where legal and appropriate under state and local law.