Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2012

Floor Speech

Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2072, the ``Securing American Jobs Through Exports Act of 2011.'' This legislation reauthorizes for three years the charter and lending authority of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. In addition, the legislation contains several financial reforms that will help ensure the ``Ex-Im Bank'' remains fiscally sound so it may continue its outstanding record supporting American business increase export sales, which is perhaps the best way to preserve and increase high value manufacturing and service jobs.

As the representative of the congressional district that adjoins the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the largest port complex in the nation, I know first-hand the important role the Ex-Im Bank plays for U.S. exporters, and the thousands of jobs created by increased international trade.

The Ex-Im Bank is the official export credit agency of the United States and provides financial assistance for the export of American goods and services to international markets. In Fiscal Year 2011 alone the Bank supported 290,000 export-related American jobs by providing more than $32 billion in financing to facilitate more than $40 billion in export sales by more than 3,600 American businesses.

Since 1934, the Ex-Im Bank has served as the principal government agency responsible for aiding the export of American goods and services, thereby creating and sustaining U.S. jobs. With its 75 year track-record, the Ex-Im Bank is projected to inject $900 million into the U.S. Treasury by facilitating the sale abroad of hundreds of billions of dollars of American made goods, which in turn will create or preserve hundreds of thousands of American jobs. In 2011 alone, the Ex-Im Bank facilitated sales supported 290,000 American jobs.

The United States must stay competitive in the emerging and competitive global market. The Ex-Im Bank assists U.S. manufacturers, small and large, in selling their products abroad. The Bank facilitates financing for foreign buyers who wish to purchase American manufactured goods, thus increasing sales, which translates into more good-paying American jobs.

Reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank's charter will have a positive impact on job preservation and creation in the United States, and in the 37th Congressional District in California which I represent. My district is home to more than a dozen companies that export millions of dollars of products annually.

Mr. Speaker, exporters in my congressional district include a diverse group of small and large businesses as well as businesses that are minority or women owned. In the aggregate they generate about $100 million dollars in export sales annually. I ask unanimous consent to include in the record a list of local businesses in California's 37th Congressional District that have directly benefited from financing by the Ex-Im Bank.

The Ex-Im Bank is self-sustaining and does not cost taxpayers a dime. Rather, the money it generates is returned to the U.S. Treasury, nearly $2 billion over the past five years, and helps reduce the deficit. Moreover, since its inception, less than 2 percent of the Bank's loans have ever defaulted, and even in those cases, loss is minimized because the borrower's manufactured goods are pledged as part of the collateral for the loan.

Mr. Speaker, exports are increasingly critical to the economic growth and job creation, economy and job recovery. The Ex-Im Bank is an indispensable tool in the national effort to increase export sales. That is why I am a proud and enthusiastic supporter of H.R. 2072, which enjoys broad support from business and labor and the Obama Administration.

I urge my colleagues to join me in voting to pass this important legislation.

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