Reauthorize the Export-Import Bank

Floor Speech

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Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, the House faces yet another deadline at the end of this month to reauthorize an agency that levels the playing field for American manufacturers, reduces the deficit, and has supported 1.3 million jobs since 2009. That agency is the Export-Import Bank.

In my district alone, Ex-Im has supported a total export of more than $2.4 billion, and more than half of the companies that work with them are local small businesses. From New York Apple Sales to Imperial Pools, businesses in New York's capital region and across the Nation have benefited greatly from the work of the Export-Import Bank, and there is absolutely no reason it should fall victim to the same culture of politics and brinksmanship that has cloaked this body for the past few years.

There are 1,053 business organizations, including the United States Chamber of Commerce and the Capital Region Chambers of Commerce, that have urged Republican House leadership to renew Ex-Im.

A majority of this House, including 180 of my Democratic colleagues who have signed the discharge petition to reauthorize the Bank, have expressed support to renew Ex-Im.

All we need now is a vote. Our small businesses, our workers, and our taxpayers deserve it. Let's make it happen.

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