[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 32 (Thursday, March 13, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1002-H1003]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             EXPORT PROMOTION PROGRAMS KEEP JOBS IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Manzullo] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MANZULLO. Mr. Speaker, we are engaged in a massive war, not with 
communist enemies or terrorist states, but with our friends and allies. 
This is not a military conflict, but a global economic war, competing 
for billions and billions' worth of export opportunities.
  The battlefields are the towns and the factories spread throughout 
this great land of ours, and the foot soldiers in this war are the 
hard-working individuals whose efforts receive little recognition, but 
who drive the economy. They get up every morning, pack their lunch, get 
their kids off to school, go to their jobs and put a meaningful day's 
work in, and return home to their families, often unaware that a global 
economic war swirls around them.
  This year Congress will reexamine several export promotion programs, 
including the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Overseas 
Private Investment Corporation, the Trade and Development Agency, the 
International Trade Administration, and the Commerce Department.
  All of these programs are vital strategic arms, helping these 
forgotten

[[Page H1003]]

Americans keep their jobs in this global battle for market share. Yet 
some in Congress would ignore this reality and abolish some or all of 
these programs. They think these programs are unnecessary or corporate 
welfare. But just as unilateral disarmament did not work against the 
Soviet Union during the cold war, efforts to cut or eliminate U.S. 
government export promotion programs will not stop foreign government 
subsidies of exports.
  Who do you think would win if the U.S. withdraws support for the 
Export-Import Bank or OPIC? Only our vigorous competitors in Europe, 
Japan, and Canada would be the winners.
  Japan supports more than 32 percent of its exports with some form of 
export credit. France finances 18.6 percent. Yet the U.S. supports only 
2 percent of its own exports, and some in Congress would do away even 
with this.
  No one particularly likes Government support for exports. I wish I 
could waive a magic wand and everyone, completely based solely on 
quality and price, would be able to compete. But, unfortunately, that 
is not reality in the global arena.
  Let me give you one specific example that impacted the district I am 
privileged to represent. Beloit Corp., with operations in Beloit, WI 
and Rockton, IL is a manufacturer of paper-making machines. There are 
only two other companies in the world that make similar equipment, one 
located in Finland, the other in Germany. Beloit wished to sell two 
machines to Asia Pulp and Pacific worth $330 million. This sale 
represents 40 percent of total sales for Beloit, translating into 2 
years of steady work for 2,000 high wage, highly skilled union 
employees.
  Obviously a sale of this magnitude takes several months and lots of 
hard work to compete. At every step of the way, Beloit's competitors 
from Finland and Germany were waiting outside the door of Asia Pulp and 
Pacific to take advantage of any opportunity. These foreign companies 
had already lined up support of their home government's export credit 
finance agency for their machines. Recently Ex-Im Bank came through 
with a $270 million loan that provided the winning edge for Beloit to 
finalize the contract.
  If Ex-Im was not there, Finland or Germany certainly would have 
filled the gap, and hundreds of forgotten Americans in Beloit, WI, and 
Rockton, IL would have been out of work. Ex-Im's actions were vital in 
solidifying America's position and in the global marketplace in the 
paper-making industry.
  It is because of examples like Beloit Corp. that inspire me to fight 
for these export promotion programs. They are vital strategic weapons, 
not frivolous. In 1995, Ex-Im helped generate $13.5 billion in exports 
for the U.S. economy, which directly supported about 200,000 high-wage 
U.S. jobs. Last year OPIC backed projects generated nearly $10 billion 
in U.S. exports. The Trade Development Agency has helped generate $9 
billion in exports since its creation in 1981.
  These are not faceless statistics; they are backed by hundreds of 
examples all across America, like Beloit, where a little help from 
these U.S. agencies and the Commerce Department proved to be the 
winning edge in securing a foreign contract.
  Until all countries do away with all government export subsidies in a 
multilateral framework, these programs deserve our full support.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Smith] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  [Mr. SMITH of Michigan addressed the House. His remarks will appear 
hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.]

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