Exports Promotion

Floor Speech

Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Madam Speaker, trade creates jobs. In my home State of Washington, one in three jobs is dependent on foreign trade. So as Congress continues to focus on ways to create jobs, we must help American businesses export their products and services.

This weekend I will travel to my own district to visit companies who have partnered with Federal programs to increase exports and create jobs. Western Chemical, for instance, a small business in Ferndale, is a leader in fish health products and biosecurity supplies. It recently received $500,000 in financing from the Export-Import Bank. By utilizing the Ex-Im Bank, Western Chemical is able to maintain cash flow, export their products, and protect the jobs at their Ferndale location.

Exports drive Washington State's economy, accounting for over 30 percent of economic growth over the past

decade in our State, and contributing to almost half of the new jobs created over the past 30 years in our State. So the recent establishment of the National Export Initiative, setting a goal to double U.S. exports in the next 5 years, is a step in the right direction. By finally utilizing the resources from the Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Trade Rep's office, the Department of Commerce, the Ex-Im Bank, and the Department of Energy, the administration has made it a priority to help farmers and small businesses increase their exports and create 2 million new jobs here at home.

Now, we in Congress must provide the resources to help them do just that. First, we should support the effort to hire trade experts to serve as advocates for U.S. companies and assist the more than 23,000 American companies who are trading to begin or grow their export sales in 2011.

However, we must not forget that the engine that drives our economy is small business, and that over the last two decades small- and medium-sized businesses have accounted for almost 65 percent of new jobs created here in the U.S. Last year I introduced legislation that directs the Department of Commerce to assist these SMEs in exporting their products, particularly to developing economies like China. From 2000 to 2007, Washington State exports to China grew by 406 percent. This created jobs in sectors likes transportation equipment, crop production, and even processed foods. I know that the U.S. Trade Rep's office has launched an initiative specifically aimed at increasing exports by small- and medium-sized firms here in the U.S. I stand ready to help.

Lastly, our farmers will benefit as well. For every $1 billion in ag exports, 9,000 jobs are created, and $1.4 billion in economic activity is generated. Our farmers, our small business owners want to export their products and services. They want to create jobs here in the United States. I am urging my colleagues to help them do this by supporting the National Export Initiative, which will in turn create jobs and launch us on a path towards long-term economic growth.

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