Export-Import Bank

Floor Speech

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Mr. President, I would like to thank my colleagues for coming to the Senate floor this morning to give an important message to our colleagues--that it is now time to take up the Export-Import Bank issue and pass that legislation today.

I thank my colleague from North Dakota, who has had this legislation in the Senate and has worked hard on the banking committee to make sure this legislation is moving forward and has been there at every step in the process. Being from a State that knows exports matter, she knows that having a finance regime that allows banks to take advantage of the fact that they need credit insurance has been a good thing for the American economy. It has helped us grow jobs in the United States, as we are selling exports to overseas markets. So she has been a stalwart.

My colleague from New Hampshire who just left the floor, Senator Shaheen--I have visited her State and facilities and manufacturers involved in aerospace and other types of manufacturing that are trying to win in the international marketplace with their products by selling them overseas.

When we cancel a program that actually helps us pay down the deficit--those individuals who get financing through a bank and a credit agency like the Export-Import Bank actually have to pay a fee. That has actually helped us reduce the deficit. It is money paid every year, and it helps us reduce the deficit. My colleague Senator Shaheen has been a great advocate for reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank.

As my colleagues have talked about, the dirty little secret is out in Washington; that is, you cannot pass the Ex-Im Bank reauthorization because there is not enough support in the Congress to do so. Well, the answer is, that was a bunch of hooey promulgated by some very conservative think tanks that wanted to hold conservative Republicans hostage, and then they tried to hold all of us hostage. That is right--they tried to hold all of us hostage, saying that we cannot pass this.

We know the House of Representatives, with 313 votes--a majority of the Republicans in the House--voted for the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. They now join 67 people here who want to go to and move that legislation in the Senate. So the majority of people in both the House and Senate have supported the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank and have done so for more than a year, but we let it expire. What happened? We let down the American economy because the end result has been a loss of jobs.

I will give one example of 850 jobs that went from U.S. companies over to these countries instead because without the Export-Import Bank, they lost deals that went to other places because other countries also have credit agencies that help small and regional banks finance the sale of U.S.-made products. As they are being sold to say South Africa or an Asian country or someplace else, the companies cannot find the financing--a lot of agricultural products--and so they come to a bank in their community and say: Help finance my sales overseas.

In fact, Senator Murray and I met with a great--my colleague from North Dakota will like this--microbrew manufacturer in Ballard, WA, and they said: You know, we are trying to sell into the Scandinavian market. They like our products, but we are not big enough as a distributor to finance the sale of our products into those markets. So we either have to take that on our books ourselves or find a way to take our company and leverage it with some capital to increase our market exports.

So what did they do? They tried to minimize that. Otherwise, do you know what that company would have to do? They would have to take all their capital and put it aside to leverage that money to expand the market. Instead, they said: Well, let's go to a bank and get them to loan us the money so we can expand our products into Scandinavia, where people love drinking this Ballard beer.

The bank says: Well, we like that idea. We like you. You are doing well. But we are a little afraid of your selling into that distribution market in Scandinavia. We want you to have some credit insurance.

That is what the Export-Import Bank does. It says to that banker in Ballard: We will provide you a little credit insurance.

Do you have to pay a fee for that? Yes, you have to pay a fee for that. What does that fee do? It helps the Federal Government pay down the deficit. Who wins? We all win because that Ballard company now gets to grow. I would say that over in Scandinavia, they get to drink great beer that is made in Washington State. As one of the largest hops producers in the United States, my colleague from an agricultural State understands this. So everybody wins. Then the Ballard company gets to expand jobs. So that is what this is all about.

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