Political Quotes

“Over time the majority of the loans have gone to small business, but at issue for me is not small business, large business, it is whether or not we are going to be able to help American companies penetrate difficult markets around the world. I have had an example in my own community. We have a company, a freight liner, that is the largest manufacturer of heavy trucks in the country. It employs all union employees, primarily machinists. They are paid family wages in order to do their work. But they are undergoing tough times in Oregon. They have been involved with significant layoffs. They have benefitted from a loan from the Ex-Im Bank to be able to transact a shipment of 10 trucks to Chile, it would not have happened without that loan. It would have gone to somebody else. It kept people in my community working and it helped us penetrate the market. There are lots of subsidies that we know around the world. In fact, that is one of the problems that American companies face as they attempt to compete internationally, that other countries have subtle ways of subsidizing activities for other companies. This is a way for us to be able to give access to capital for American companies going into tough markets to be able to secure their place in the market place.”