Providing for the Expenses of Certain Committees of the House of Representatives in the 144th Congress, and Providing for Consideration of S.J. Res. 8, Providing for Congressional Disapproval of a Rule Submitted by the National Labor Relations Board
Floor Speech
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Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the previous question because I believe that it is imperative that we have an opportunity to present a piece of legislation that will have a tremendous impact on our economy.
I believe that H.R. 1031, Promoting U.S. Jobs through Exports Act, is an important piece of legislation, and I am in complete agreement with my colleagues who have indicated that this piece of legislation has not received a fair hearing. It has not received a markup in the Financial Services Committee, and it has not been afforded an opportunity to come to the floor.
One of the ways that we can eliminate things here in Congress is by not acting on them at all. It appears that this piece of legislation is destined not to be acted upon; thereby, the elimination of the Export-Import Bank will take place. This is unfortunate.
I believe that, when there are things that you would like to say that are being said better by others, it is better to let them say them. I would like to just quote a few things from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with reference to the Ex-Im Bank.
The Chamber indicates: ``Failure to reauthorize Ex-Im would put at risk more than 150,000 American jobs at 3,000 companies.'' That is significant.
The Chamber goes on to talk about the spinoffs--the other jobs--that will be impacted by virtue of the 150,000 jobs that will be put at risk: ``Tens of thousands of smaller companies that supply goods and services to large exporters also benefit from Ex-Im's activities,'' meaning that these companies too will suffer, and these are additional workers who will suffer.
The Chamber indicates: ``Other countries are providing approximately 18 times more export credit assistance to their exporters than Ex-Im did to U.S. exporters last year.''
It goes on to read: ``If Congress fails to reauthorize Ex-Im, the United States would become the only major trading nation without such a bank, putting American exporters at a unique disadvantage in tough global markets.''
Now, that is the United States Chamber of Commerce. I think this is a source that many of my colleagues on the other side would rely upon.
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Mr. Speaker, I am also here to say that the State of Texas, which is the largest State that deals in exports--the top exporting State, accounting for approximately 18 percent of the national exports--would be hurt. In Texas, we have approximately 1,630 exporters that utilize the Export-Import Bank. In my district, 46 small businesses are using the Export-Import Bank, and 14 of these are minority-owned while five are owned by women. The bank is making a difference.
In Texas, we have a saying: ``If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'' It ain't broke. We are trying to fix it, and we are doing it by eliminating an entity that is making a difference for our economy.
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