Warner, Kaine Sound the Alarm on Failure to Reauthorize the Export-Import Bank

Statement

Today U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) issued a warning to their congressional colleagues ahead of the scheduled expiration of the Export-Import Bank -- an export credit agency that guarantees loans to help foreign companies buy U.S. exports -- at midnight tonight.

"At a time when U.S. exporters and manufacturers are already suffering from substantial economic uncertainty in Europe, they should not be subjected to additional uncertainty manufactured by Washington. The Export-Import Bank supports hundreds of thousands of American jobs tied to exports and helps businesses across Virginia export hundreds of millions of dollars in goods and services each year," said Sens. Warner and Kaine. "The Export-Import Bank levels the playing field for U.S. exporters -- many of them small businesses -- by matching the financing that other governments provide to their exporters, and it does so at no cost to the taxpayer. In fact, over the last two decades, the Ex-Im Bank has actually helped reduce the deficit by generating nearly $7 billion more than it costs to operate."

The Senators noted, "The Bank has operated for more than 80 years and has been reauthorized 16 times with bipartisan support under 13 different Presidents, Republican and Democrat. Congressional leadership should be ashamed for allowing this important job-creating tool to expire for the first time in its history."

Source