United States Export Finance Agency Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Chairman, I am offering my bill, the Increasing American Jobs and Exports Act, as an amendment to H.R. 4863.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment is simple. It will allow the Export-Import Bank to use up to 3 percent of its surplus profits per year for 5 years to open new regional offices. These additional offices will grow small businesses by assisting with their capital needs to increase their exporting capacity and job growth ability.

This bill will grow American jobs, increase exports of American goods, and strengthen our local and regional economies around the country.

The Export-Import Bank is important for our Nation. Over the last 10 years, it has supported more than 1.5 million jobs at absolutely no cost to the American taxpayer. The Bank has helped grow American jobs at no cost. It has even returned more than $3.4 billion to the United States Treasury. The Export-Import Bank helps grow American jobs, grow small businesses, and grow our economy.

Trade and exports are important to my district and, specifically, to the Coachella Valley in the Inland Empire. The Inland Empire is one of the fastest growing economic regions in the United States and is a hub for international trade. The Riverside-San Bernardino region is 38th nationally in total export value and sixth in California in total export value. Let me remind everybody, California has the fifth-largest economy in the world.

The Riverside-San Bernardino Counties region is home to 6,200 exporters, as well as $10 billion worth of exported products.

More specifically, exports are important to my district; and within Coachella Valley agriculture, there are $500 million worth of fruits, nuts, vegetables, and melons, and all are top California exports. They are exported to more than 50 countries.

I want this success repeated across my district and the entire Nation. The problem, however, is that the closest Export-Import regional finance office is more than a 2-hour drive away, in San Diego. That office serves businesses in four California counties and even three States: Montana, Wyoming, and Arizona.

Small business owners who have the product, the vision, and the ability to expand their businesses deserve to have local and regional access to export financing services.

The potential for more American jobs and more American exports is there. We just have to unlock it. Regional finance offices help small businesses and small farms succeed where private capital cannot.

Most of the farm businesses in my district are small. Seventy-five percent are fewer than 50 acres in size. Last year, the Export-Import Bank financed $1.1 billion worth of agricultural products, and 81 percent of those were small businesses.

With more regional offices, we can continue to grow American exports and jobs and help small businesses compete. I urge support of my amendment and the Increasing American Jobs and Exports Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Chairman, I just want to clarify something, that the $3.4 billion surplus goes to the U.S. Treasury. My bill will not take one-third of that, only up to the 3 percent that would be available for regions that would like to have a regional finance office near them.

For example, in North Carolina, which my esteemed colleague is from, his constituents have to drive all the way to south Florida, to Miami, to get services from the Export-Import Bank. So it is in my constituents' interest, and it is the interest of my colleague's that a regional office is financed closer to his State so that his businesses can acquire the capital necessary to increase jobs and increase exports.

In fact, there is data to show that the cluster of businesses that benefit, by far, are those that are near the surrounding regional offices. So it is common sense to assume that, if you open an office near the region, more businesses will benefit and you will have created more jobs with more exports.

I want to thank Chairwoman Waters for her work on this important legislation and for her support for my amendment. The Export-Import Bank has been a success story and can continue to grow. Today's legislation will further that success.

The Bank supports American jobs, while also returning money to taxpayers year after year. My amendment would not cost the taxpayer a single dime. My amendment would grow jobs and businesses by exporting American goods.

I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, the Increasing American Jobs and Exports Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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