[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 8704]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXPORT-IMPORT BANK

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, we have had a number of our colleagues come 
to the floor to talk about the importance of the Export-Import Bank, 
and I want to see if I can put in context the exceptionally important 
work done by our colleagues Senator Cantwell and Senator Heitkamp on 
this issue.
  We have been talking in this body for weeks now about the importance 
of trade and particularly tapping global markets, given the fact that 
there are going to be 1 billion middle-class people in the developing 
world in 2025. This is an exceptional opportunity for us to be able to 
sell the products we make here, whether they are computers or wine or 
helicopters or planes, you name it.
  We had a big debate about trade promotion authority. What I want to 
spend just a few minutes talking about is whether a Senator was for 
trade promotion authority or not, they ought to support the Export-
Import Bank because the Export-Import Bank provides key financing tools 
to promote products that are made in my home State, in the States of 
our colleagues, and all across the land. It has supported tens of 
thousands of American jobs--even hundreds of thousands--for decades. It 
doesn't cost American taxpayers a single dime. In fact, the Export-
Import Bank covers its own costs and then some. It actually generates 
revenue for taxpayers--$7 billion over the last two decades and $675 
million in fiscal year 2014 alone.
  So what I would submit is the Export-Import Bank is a way to ensure 
that in this country we get trade done right. I happen to believe it 
makes sense to support the trade promotion act because that is going to 
ensure that we are going to have a chance to drive down some of those 
tariffs that are barriers to American products. Whether you are for it 
or not, you ought to support the Export-Import Bank because it provides 
key tools so we can reduce barriers to our exports, take on modern 
challenges that threaten American workers, and fight to create more 
high-wage jobs in the United States because it provides the financing 
you need in order to actually secure one of these deals. The Export-
Import Bank is a core part of getting trade done right.
  Countries, including Germany, Japan, Mexico, and Canada, all have 
agencies that are up and running and do it in a fashion that make their 
exports more competitive. How are they doing it? They are using 
financing tools, including supporting their manufacturers and pushing 
their products into the global marketplace.
  As Senators Cantwell and Heitkamp have said, we need this tool to 
make sure our country doesn't fall behind. We shouldn't let the Export-
Import Bank become some kind of ideological pinata that you keep 
bashing on, not recognizing it will hurt our competitiveness. I think 
it would be legislative malpractice to let the Bank expire because it 
would needlessly endanger the thousands of businesses and tens of 
thousands of jobs supported by Ex-Im, including many in my home State.
  In particular, in Oregon, one can see that Ex-Im is a very 
substantial help to small- and medium-sized companies. In fact, 86 
percent of the funds disbursed in fiscal year 2014 went to small 
businesses. Thanks to the Export-Import Bank, companies in Albany could 
find markets abroad and hire new workers. They manufacture important 
things such as titanium casting.
  Selmet is a perfect example, a company that got its start in my home 
State years ago. Today, it employs hundreds of people in Oregon and 
across the United States, and 40 percent of its revenue comes from 
overseas. They got off the ground with help from Ex-Im Bank, and it has 
customers in France, Germany, and Asia, and it is looking to expand 
further.
  These kinds of success stories are ones you see in every single State 
because these startups got help when it was essential to have that 
added boost to be able to seize the opportunities around the world and 
create high-skilled, high-wage jobs.
  To me, when we debate the future of the Export-Import Bank, 
colleagues, this is about red, white, and blue jobs. Keeping the 
Export-Import Bank up and running with the important financing tools it 
offers is part of getting trade done right.
  I commend our colleagues Senators Cantwell, Heitkamp, Murray, and 
Graham, who have come together in a bipartisan way to work to extend 
the Bank as quickly as possible, and they have my support.

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