Cantwell Applauds Senate Passage of Export-Import Bank Reauthorization

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) applauded the Senate reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank by a vote of 78 to 20. For months, Cantwell has fought for Congress to reauthorize the bank, which supports 83,000 jobs in Washington state, including sponsoring an amendment to extend it in March. The legislation (HR 2072) passed the House last Wednesday by a 330 to 93 vote.

"We're very excited that the President has a new tool in his toolbox for America's economy and for jobs," said Cantwell, at a press conference held after the vote. "The Bank has supported $41 billion in U.S. exports from over 3,600 U.S. companies, and that was just in 2011. And it supported nearly 290,000 jobs in export related areas. So the Export-Import Bank will continue to operate and will have an increase in its threshold, which will help us carry out an important tool in creating more exports of U.S. products to foreign markets."
The legislation, now headed to the president's desk, extends the bank's charter until 2014. The legislation also increases the bank's lending authority to $140 billion but only if the bank's default rate stays below 2 percent, among other requirements. The bank's historic default rate is about 1.5 percent. The legislation also requires the bank to report its loan default rate to Congress each quarter, creates public comment periods for pending transactions greater than $100 million and commissions a General Accountability Office study to examine the bank's safeguards against risky loans.

The Export-Import Bank supports 83,000 jobs in Washington state and $66 billion in sales from 172 companies. Of these 172 exporters, 121 were small businesses. Across the nation, the bank's financing for smaller exporters has risen more than 70 percent the last three years. More than 85 percent of its transactions are with small businesses.

Cantwell has led the charge on the bank's reauthorization and been among its most vocal supporters.

In early April, she joined local businesses in Spokane, Yakima, Moses Lake and Everett to call for Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. In March, Cantwell introduced a bipartisan amendment to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. In February, Cantwell joined Senate Small Business Committee members in urging Senate leadership to move forward on reauthorizing the bank.

If private banks are unwilling, the Export-Import Bank finances or insures the purchase of U.S. goods by foreign customers. The bank's activities come at no cost to the U.S. taxpayer, because the bank supports itself. The U.S. Treasury has made more than $3 billion off the bank's activities since 2005.

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