Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2006

EXPORT-IMPORT BANK REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2006 -- (House of Representatives - December 06, 2006)

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Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, as the ranking member of the Financial Services Subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Export-Import Bank, I am delighted to speak once again in support of S. 3938, the Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2006.

This bipartisan legislation was overwhelmingly supported by this body when it came to the floor in April as H.R. 5068, and was also strongly supported in the Financial Services Committee and the Small Business Committee on a bipartisan basis. We have all worked together on this, and I would like to thank Chairman Oxley, Ranking Member Frank, Chairman Manzullo, Ranking Member Velázquez, Chairwoman PRYCE, Representative Waters and our staffs, especially Scott Morris and Joe Pinder of the Financial Services staff, Eleni Constantine from my staff, and many others for their very hard work on this bill.

The bill that we consider today, though it bears a Senate designation, includes substantially all of the key initiatives that we included in our House bill. Chief among these are new provisions on small business competition and transparency. Our small business initiative starts with a new small business division within the bank run by a senior VP who will advise the board directly.

Within the bank, the bill creates small business specialists with authority to approve smaller working capital loans and guarantees to speed up the process. The bill also creates a Small Business Committee to assist the bank in advancing its small business agenda. Within this division, the bill creates an office charged with expanding outreach to socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses and small businesses owned by women, and it also increases the amount of loans, guarantees and insurance provided by the bank to support exports by these small businesses.

The bill also empowers and directs the bank to deal more forcefully and directly with the looming threat to the U.S. export economy posed by China, which is effectively subsidizing its exports through its currency and otherwise. Since China is not a member of the Organization For Economic Cooperation and Development, Ex-Im's export credit activities are a particularly important vehicle to level the playing field. This is also true for subsidized exports from other non-OECD nations such as Brazil, which are taking a greater share of the markets and unfairly challenging our exports.

In this regard, the bill gives the bank greater authority to use the Tied Aid Fund, a fund established several years ago by Congress specifically to combat unfair export activities by other countries' export credit agencies. U.S. companies should not have to compete with one hand tied behind their backs and unfair subsidies to their competitors.

I am also pleased that the pro-customer provisions that I was personally responsible for are part of this bill. They include notification requirements so that applicants know what is happening to their application and a mandate to improve Ex-Im Online to make it more user friendly and attract small business applicants. My constituents and many others have complained that the Ex-Im process is needlessly unhelpful and opaque, and these are simple steps to fix that problem. People should not have to wait for months, possibly even a year, to find out that one small item was missing from their application that caused them not to receive their support.

We have also dealt with some regional issues that are of significance to broad constituencies. First, the bill asks the bank to consult with the African Development Bank and similar entities to increase the number of qualified African entities.

Second, the bill prohibits the bank from funding railroad projects in the South Caucasus region that deliberately exclude Armenia, as Turkey has proposed. As a proud member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues and the representative of a large and vibrant Armenian community of Americans, I particularly want to thank my colleagues Joe Crowley and Representative Royce for their hard work on this issue.

Allowing the exclusion of Armenia from important transportation routes would stymie the emergence of this region as an important East-West trade corridor. It is in our economic and security interests to ensure that we do not support the historic aggression between Turkey and Armenia.

As the independent U.S. Government agency that assists in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to markets around the world through export credit insurance, loan guarantees and direct loans, the Ex-Im Bank has long played a key role in the economy of many of the districts that each of us represent. Today, more than ever, the future of the bank is of a great interest and concern because it has significant potential to affect the national economy, job growth and our trade imbalance.

Our country now faces a record trade imbalance of over $800 billion, the largest trade imbalance in our history. This is one agency which can work on the trade imbalance issue as part of its mission.

This reauthorization bill provides fresh guidance to the bank, as well as enabling it to carry on its very important work. I urge my colleagues to support it.

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