Political Quotes

“I rise today to urge my colleagues in the Senate to pass the Export-Import Bank legislation now before us. This debate this morning is about jobs, it is about manufacturing jobs, and it is about U.S. manufacturing jobs. That is because this bank is one of the most powerful tools we have for manufacturing jobs in America. This is a debate about whether the Members in this Chamber believe access to financing is a key tool for U.S. companies to compete on an international basis when they are trying to get U.S. manufactured products sold overseas. In fiscal year 2011 alone, the bank supported nearly 290,000 export-created jobs in America. Those are the jobs that are going to be threatened if the Senate does not act. This authority expires on May 31. That is right, 16 days from now. And between now and then, the House is in session for only 5 days, so we can't afford to take this to the brink one more time with amendments passed by the Senate that are gutting amendments. These five amendments that will be considered would basically lapse the bank's authority and this would put into the debate more uncertainty about our economy. We need to act now to renew the bank's charter, and businesses can't wait. They need the planning and certainty to hire more people. Failing to act will stifle U.S. economic opportunity.…”