[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 8, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Nomination of Reta Jo Lewis

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting American manufacturing and support the nomination of Reta Jo 
Lewis to be President of the Export-Import Bank. As President of Ex-Im 
and chair of the Bank's Board of Directors, Ms. Lewis will lead our 
Nation's official export credit Agency as it supports U.S. workers and 
manufacturers, especially in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and throughout our 
country. Ex-Im's job is to support American businesses in the face of 
competition--so often, unfair competition from countries like China.
  Ms. Lewis is the leader we need in the fight to help U.S. 
manufacturers compete globally. She has 25 years of distinguished 
leadership experience in international affairs, law, and public policy. 
She is a historic nominee as the first Black woman to lead Ex-Im.
  She serves as a senior fellow and director of congressional affairs 
at the German Marshall Fund, where she leads bipartisan efforts to 
strengthen transatlantic cooperation. Before joining the German 
Marshall Fund, Ms. Lewis served in the Obama administration as the 
State Department's first-ever Special Representative for Global 
Intergovernmental Affairs.
  She will put American workers and exporters first. That has been the 
hallmark of this administration--putting workers at the center of our 
government; putting workers at the center of our economic policy.
  Ms. Lewis understands that Ex-Im is vital to these manufacturing jobs 
and our Nation's economic competitiveness.
  There are some 100 export credit agencies and credit programs around 
the world that support foreign manufacturers. China's export finance 
activity is larger--China's is larger--than all the export credit 
provided by the G7 countries combined. That alone is reason to move 
forward on Ex-Im. We know that the Chinese Government used export 
credit as a weapon to win manufacturing business in critical sectors 
and to undermine American companies and American workers. We must be in 
a better position to compete.
  We have had so much good job news in Ohio over the last few weeks. It 
is not a coincidence that for the first time in my lifetime, we have a 
President who leads by talking about workers, who leads by talking 
about unions. As a result of his leadership, we are seeing more job 
creation in Ohio. We have seen more jobs created in 2021 than in any 
number of years in the past. We are seeing now tens of thousands of 
manufacturing jobs--Intel, Hyperion, GE Aviation--coming to my State. 
It is all made possible because we are putting workers at the center of 
our economy.
  Look at the results we are getting. Last year--this is worth saying 
like five times--last year, for the first time in 20 years, our economy 
actually grew faster than China's. Our GDP grew faster than China's 
GDP. Again, that is because we have a President of the United States 
who puts workers at the center of our economic policy, who understands 
that carrying a union card means better wages, better benefits, and 
more control over your work schedule.
  But we know that China and our other competitors aren't giving up. 
They are constantly finding new ways to cheat, new ways to undermine 
American jobs. That is why we need every tool possible to compete, 
including a fully functioning Export-Import Bank with an experienced, 
tenacious leader at the helm. Jobs in Ohio and jobs around the country 
depend on Ms. Lewis's success.
  I urge my colleagues--as we voted overwhelmingly on cloture--I urge 
my colleagues to support the nomination of Reta Jo Lewis for the Ex-Im 
Bank.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWN. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call 
be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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