Political Quotes

“I join my colleagues this morning on the Senate floor in an effort to wake up the Senate to the fact that, without action by this body and specifically the Senate Banking Committee, Members are literally supporting shipping jobs overseas. I believe in a manufacturing economy. I believe in a manufacturing economy because so many people in the State of Washington work in manufacturing and because aerospace is an industry in which the United States is still a world leader. Yet, by not filling the board of the Export-Import Bank we are putting the Bank out of business when we should be making sure that it can issue credit for manufactured U.S. products to be sold in overseas markets. Why is manufacturing so important? Manufacturing is important because it pays a decent wage. It allows American workers to go from working class to middle class. It helps secure jobs in our economy that are stable for families who are sending their kids to school, and because it helps people move up to a better quality of life. I am competitive in general. I don't want to lose a manufacturing base. But I also don't want to lose a middle class. What has happened is that the conservative views of the Heritage Foundation have thwarted the Export-Import Bank, and U.S. manufacturers have decided to put their manufacturing overseas. Think about it. How long is a company or a business going to put up with the fact that they don't have an export credit agency here in the United States?…”