James A. Leach: “let me stress the issue of airplane sales has been raised. That professionals tell us that if this policy had been in…”

“let me stress the issue of airplane sales has been raised. That professionals tell us that if this policy had been in effect over the last decade, it would have cost about $8.7 billion in U.S. aircraft sales and in the immediate future about $11 billion in aircraft sales. Yes, it is true that some of our aircraft manufacturers have made certain agreements with countries around the world to produce parts of crafts there. On the other hand, so has Airbus. So the question becomes whether the United States wants to become a part of these markets or not. If we support this amendment, the United States will be blocked out of these markets, and once we are blocked out of certain markets, that ends up having a literally cyclonic effect for other markets. It is not as if one market stands alone. Madam Chairman, in terms of what it means for jobs, it has been estimated that in just eight key emerging markets the approach contained in this amendment would lose about $16 billion of U.S. export sales. That is 227,000 jobs, or about 521 jobs per congressional district. I think that is a pretty difficult thing to suggest that we ought to be eliminating. Finally, the issue is not whether Exim as an institution is forced to be closed down. The issue is whether we cede markets to other countries, whether we embargo United States exports, whether we give up United States jobs. Madam Chairman, this is a case of unilateral economic disarmament.”