Political Quotes

“the vitally important Export-Import Bank expires at the end of June. It will be gone. If this program expires-- it is not like anything else--we will have to start all over again. We will have to have hearings. We will have to have markups in both Houses. If we can extend the authorization of this, it will solve so many problems for us. The Export-Import Bank creates jobs in our country--in the United States--by providing loans and loan guarantees so customers in foreign countries can buy our exports. An example is airplanes. I have spoken to Mr. McNerney, the head of Boeing, and one of the vital parts of their business is being able to have other countries have businesses within those countries come and want to buy their airplanes or countries that want to buy their airplanes. They have difficulty doing that without the ability of the Export-Import Bank to help raise the financing. I greatly appreciate Senator Cantwell now bringing the attention of this body to this important program that is going to expire soon. I appreciate Senator Heitkamp for working on legislation dealing with this important issue. The Export-Import Bank just this year sustained 165,000 jobs. It will be a lot more if there is a long-term extension of this bill. So one might think, of course, that a program such as this which supports 165,000 jobs in just 1 year would cost taxpayers an arm and a leg, a fortune, but in this case, they would be wrong. It is just the opposite.…”