Export-Import Bank

Floor Speech

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Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise to congratulate my colleague, cochair of the Joint Economic Committee, for her report on the importance of the contribution of exports to our economy and for the Export-Import Bank.

The report she is issuing today has a picture of cargo container ships leaving the Port of Miami. I could say that this picture could be any number of ports around the United States of America, certainly in my State, where one in three jobs is related to trade.

I very much appreciate the Joint Economic Committee highlighting at this point in time how important the export economy is to the U.S. economy. My colleague comes from a similar State where we like to say we make a lot of great manufactured products--and we are very proud they are sold in the international marketplace--but now is no time to basically curtail credit agencies' ability to help make those sales a reality when we have had fabulous U.S.-made products.

So I very much appreciate the Joint Economic Committee's release of this report. It is showing that our economy--even though we faced this very disastrous financial collapse 6 years ago--that report basically shows that last week the trade deficit continued to decline. A headline just recently said: ``Trade deficit at 6-month low as exports climb.''

So it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that a growing middle class around the globe is an excellent opportunity for us to sell U.S. manufactured products. In fact, the middle class is going to double over the next 15 years. So that is a great opportunity for us to take American-made products and get them into this marketplace.

In fact, last year American companies exported more goods and services--totaling $2.3 trillion in value, 13.5 percent of our gross domestic product. So that is a step in the right direction. But that is being threatened if Congress does not reauthorize this important credit agency to make sure these deals get closed. That is why today we are here to make sure that a long-term reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank is implemented.

Now, I know we already have about 240 Members of the House of Representatives who are on record saying they support a long-term extension of the Export-Import Bank. I know there are many Senators here in the Senate who support that. So why is this taking so long? Some people are even suggesting that we can do just a 2-month extension or a 3-month extension. Well, I can tell you how ridiculous that idea is because it does not give any certainty and predictability to businesses that are trying to close deals.

In fact, one business exporter from Texas said:

The Export-Import Bank is absolutely essential to maintain and grow our businesses. ..... Recent reports on the uncertainty of the Bank's future may have already impacted our bottom line. Our customers need the certainty of export credit to continue many of their sales abroad.

So this individual Texas company is such a reflection of the fact that exports are U.S. jobs. In fact, it is $2.3 trillion in goods and services, and 11.3 million jobs in the United States are related to exports, many of those in manufactured products.

So why would we take and risk these kinds of numbers with the uncertainty of a credit agency that helps close these deals? With that many jobs and that much economic impact at stake, why would we suggest that we only want to reauthorize it for a couple of months? I think that is a very wrongheaded approach.

We have heard from many other companies. One from Georgia was able to increase its annual sales from roughly $500,000 to over $20 million in just a few years and was able to do so with the Export-Import Bank.

We have 21 days left to get this right and to help our economy continue to grow, but we have to do something here in the Senate; and that is, pass the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank.

While we were home in August, we heard many people talk about this issue. In fact, I would like to put up a few newspaper headlines that we saw around the country. One is from the Roanoke Times, which was an editorial that said: ``In our view, small businesses need this.'' They called for the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. Another newspaper, the Wichita Eagle, editorialized in support: ``Reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank.'' And the Columbus Dispatch editorialized: ``Ohioans benefit from Export-Import bank.''

So these are just three of the editorials heard all around the country that are asking us to reauthorize this important credit agency and make sure we are giving small businesses and manufacturers the tools it takes to export.

But my colleague, who is the Joint Economic Committee chair, brought up an even more specific point; that is, where are we going to be in competition as it relates to China when they are chasing economic opportunity all around the globe? In fact, an editorial that was in the Chicago Tribune on August 15 said: ``Sub-Saharan Africa's economy is growing about 5.4 percent a year--outpacing the global rate of 3.6 percent .....'' So here is Africa with lots of economic opportunity. It is home to many very fast-growing economies in Angola, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. They go on to say: ``The Ex-Im Bank plays a vital niche role in the U.S. economy as backstop because commercial banks and other financial firms often find ways to say `no' to deals involving selling goods in developing countries.'' That is from the Chicago Tribune.

So newspapers around America get it. This is a key tool for us to access new opportunities that are emerging in developing countries. The fact is, China is already there, they are selling products, they are using their credit agency to help close deals. Why? Because a lot of banks are uncomfortable, either with the size of the deal, the lack of financial players in those emerging markets, and the inability to get these deals closed without the export bank and its assistants.

Another editorial that was in the Boston Globe actually talked about a U.S. company that lost a deal because of our inability to make a decision here. A California company ``lost a $57 million contract this year because of ideological posturing in Washington.'' It is ``a self-inflicted economic wound.'' They are talking about a firm that ``lost its bid to sell technology'' that was going to be used in the Philippines only because the Korean competitor could guarantee that their export-import bank would be there.

That is another example that we are not even waiting right now to have the negative impact; we are already having the negative impact because we are not getting this done.

So it is very important we make sure we reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. As one company in my State said, the Norwest Ingredients company: ``Loss of the export insurance provided by EX-IM Bank would be devastating to my business .....,'' that a short-term extension of the Export-Import Bank does not provide the certainty that we need to finance these deals.

I think this is so much what we need to be focusing on. I appreciate my colleague's contribution from the Joint Economic Committee to this report. She

talked again about the specifics of what other countries are doing.

This chart shows you the percentage of credit agency resources against a country's GDP--how much they are investing in selling their products around the globe. So we can see what India, China, France, and Germany are doing to basically dwarf what we are doing as far as making sure our products are sold around the globe.

I wish the financial market was there to help close these transactions. But just as we have a small business administration that helps get financial backers to back small businesses, the Export-Import Bank helps U.S. manufacturers sell their products overseas.

We have too much of a supply chain in the United States of America, with manufacturing in aerospace, in agriculture, and in automobiles, to give it all away by simply not reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank in a timely fashion.

So I again appreciate the cochair of the Joint Economic Committee in the release of a report focusing on why exports are so important to our economy.

I yield the floor.

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