Providing for Consideration of H.R. 1994, VA Accountability Act of 2015, and Providing for Consideration of H.R. 3236, Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise to ask the Chamber to reject the rule so that we might, indeed, offer an amendment to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank for three reasons.

One, it is the will of the United States Congress; two, it does good; three, if we don't do it, great harm will be visited upon the American economy.

It has already been, I think, very clearly demonstrated it is the will of this body, both in the Senate and here.

I do want to remind you that, for 81 years, 16 times, Democrats and Republicans, no matter how conservative or how liberal, the United States has reauthorized the Export-Import Bank. It does good. That is why they do it.

In fact, I would respectfully suggest that the votes were there in Rules Committee yesterday to allow this amendment. The good gentleman from Texas who chairs--and he is a gentleman; he is a good gentleman--opened up his comments by saying 9,000 jobs in and around his district in the State of Texas, attributable to the Export-Import Bank, they hang in the balance.

It does good--last year, 164,000 jobs supported by the Export-Import Bank, $675 million transferred to the Treasury. It reduces the deficit. It creates jobs. Why don't we want more of this? Call me crazy, I guess.

If we don't do it, harm will come to us. Read this morning's Wall Street Journal. Small businesses already--not prospectively--are already suffering job loss in States throughout this great country.

The fact of the matter is not reauthorizing does constitute unilateral disarmament. About 3 weeks ago, two academics, one from Canada, one from New York, concluded the big winner if we fail to reauthorize. It is China. They are rubbing their hands. They are rubbing their hands.

Listen, this isn't about software or apples or film.

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Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I said earlier that the first, most immediate damage as a result of our failure to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank will be visited upon small businesses.

It occurs to me that a little bit of color in that regard would serve us well, giving the benefit of the doubt to those who are opposing our opposition to the rule so that we can reauthorize the Export-Import Bank.

Let me give you the data. The Export-Import Bank has approximately 90 percent of its transactions going to small businesses, about 90 percent.

Most of us tend to think about those as all direct loans, but they aren't. The fact of the matter is the bulk of them are what we would call accounts receivable insurance.

But there are also revolving lines of credit. There are also loan guarantees, not actual direct loans. And these, again, are small businesses.

These are businesses like Manhasset Specialty Company in Yakima, Washington, which makes music stands and has a global market. Thirty-five percent of its sales are exports, and a good portion of them are assisted by the Export-Import Bank.

In my district, Pexco in Fife, Washington, makes traffic control equipment. They are growing their export business with the assistance of the Export-Import Bank. So it is the small businesses that first will feel the damage.

But for those of you who say, yes, but the biggest share of the dollars go to big businesses, let's go back to Economics 101.

A lot of people point to Boeing. Ladies and gentlemen, Boeing does not manufacture airplanes. If that surprises you, please pay attention to what I am about to say.

Boeing does not manufacture airplanes. They design them. They assemble them with the assistance of 15,000 businesses in their supply chain, about half of whom are small businesses.

In the tiny town of Puyallup, relatively speaking, in my district, there are 17 businesses within the city limits whose principal customer is Boeing.

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