Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join with me in defeating the previous question so that this body can immediately take up reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank and, in fact, immediately take up legislation offered by Mr. Fincher, a Republican who, like many Republicans in this House and every Democrat, supports the reauthorization of an institution that has been reauthorized by this body for eight decades, routinely, that is essential to supporting small American manufacturers that I represent back home in Michigan. During the recess, I spent some time with my local manufacturers. I did a couple manufacturing roundtables; one in Flint, my hometown, and one up in the Tri-Cities. These are small manufacturers. They are not big companies. No one would recognize their names. They are small manufacturers that have found that they have products that the world wants, but they didn't feel comfortable entering into that kind of global trade without some help, without some support, without their own government standing behind them where they can. That was what the Export-Import Bank provided for them. They told me, without exception, that the failure of this Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank puts that kind of trade in jeopardy, puts the company itself in jeopardy, and puts the workers who build great American products that we can sell to the world in a position of some jeopardy as well.…”