[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 7, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2667-S2668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Export-Import Nominations

  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of several of 
the nominations to the Export-Import Bank: Ms. Kimberly Reed, to be 
President of the Export-Import Bank; the Honorable Spencer Bachus, to 
be a member of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank; and 
Ms. Judith Pryor, to be a member of the Board of Directors of the 
Export-Import Bank.
  These three highly qualified nominees, if confirmed, will be in a 
position to ensure that the Export-Import Bank has the ability to 
provide finance in response to governments, like China, that provide 
aggressive subsidies and place U.S. exporters at a disadvantage.
  The President and his team have recently reinforced their commitment 
to restoring the ability of the Bank to support American economic 
interests in global marketplaces.
  The Director of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, recently 
noted that the Ex-Im Bank is needed in the current trade environment, 
particularly with respect to China, in order for the United States to 
compete and succeed in international markets, calling it a ``financial 
tool and a national security weapon.''
  U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has called the lack of a 
functioning Ex-Im Bank a serious blow to the economy.
  Peter Navarro, Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing 
Policy, has said: ``The costs of keeping the Ex-Im Bank on the 
sidelines can be measured in the tens of billions of dollars of 
products we fail to export--and in the thousands of jobs we fail to 
create when this country does not have a fully functioning export 
credit agency to compete with its counterparts around the world.''
  It is clear that in our current trade environment, a fully 
functioning bank could help the United States better succeed in 
international markets.
  President Trump's recent budget submission to Congress notes that the 
President ``supports a fully functioning Ex-Im Bank to implement 
reforms and help American exporters compete in an increasingly unfair 
global marketplace.''
  As President of the Export-Import Bank, Kimberly Reed will be able to 
draw from an already distinguished career in public service, having 
previously served as a senior adviser to former Treasury Secretaries 
Paulson and Snow, as well as on several congressional committees.
  During her nomination hearing, she committed to focusing on strong 
standards of conduct, increased transparency, sound risk management 
practices, and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.
  I can testify that she has gone out of her way to make herself 
available to all Senators on both sides of the aisle to introduce 
herself and to answer any questions the Senators have and to discuss 
any reforms and improvements

[[Page S2668]]

she may be able to make to the Bank when she is confirmed.
  Former Representative Bachus and I were elected to the House of 
Representatives in the same term and worked closely together in the 
House for a number of years. He served the Sixth District of Alabama 
from 1993 to 2015. During that time, he served as both chairman and 
ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee. He is a 
pragmatic conservative and has demonstrated a longstanding commitment 
to promoting economic opportunity.
  Finally, a native of Cleveland, OH, Ms. Pryor has spent the majority 
of her career in the private sector, working with international 
businesses, many in the high-tech industry. More recently, she has 
served as the Vice President of External Affairs at the Overseas 
Private Investment Corporation under President Obama. During her 
confirmation hearing, Ms. Pryor expressed a commitment to particularly 
help raise awareness of the Export-Import Bank's financing products for 
small businesses and community banks.
  While it is not really being included in the coverage of these 
nomination votes as being one of the consequences of there being a lack 
of a quorum on the Board, it is important to understand another 
important reason to confirm not one but all three of these nominees.
  When the Export-Import Bank was last reauthorized in 2015, Congress 
implemented a number of reforms to the Bank. However, by not confirming 
a quorum of at least three Board members for the last several years, 
Congress has actually impeded implementation of a number of its own 
reforms, which require a vote of a quorum of the Board for approval.
  These reforms include appointing a chief ethics officer, appointing a 
chief risk officer, forming a risk management committee, implementing 
new guidelines to expedite small business loans under $25 million, and 
developing an expanded medium-term program to finance and ensure 
transactions up to $25 million.
  We have many colleagues who have said there need to be reforms 
implemented in order for them to further support operation of the Bank, 
and they would like to work with us on the Banking Committee to pursue 
those reforms. I support reforms, too, and look forward to working with 
interested colleagues, but we need to understand that we will need a 
quorum on the Ex-Im Bank to finalize them.
  For any previous or future congressionally directed reforms to be 
implemented, Senators need to support all three nominations before the 
Senate this week in order to restore the quorum necessary to implement 
those reforms.
  The Banking Committee approved each of these nominees with broad 
bipartisan support earlier this year. Each will be an asset to the 
Bank's Board, and I urge my colleagues to support these nominations.

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