U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine introduced bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, which is set to expire on September 30, 2014. The five-year reauthorization package would incrementally increase the Bank’s spending authority to $160 billion from $140 billion over a four-year period, require the Bank to submit reports to Congress detailing its business plan and risk exposure, and ensure the Bank’s loan loss ratio is less than two percent for any quarter in that fiscal year. The bill would also require a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study to be completed within one year to identify the risk to taxpayers of the Bank’s Medium-Term Program. To review the bill’s text, please click here.
“Since 2007, the Export-Import Bank has helped finance $1 billion of exports from nearly 100 Virginia companies, more than half of them small businesses, as well as supported more than 11,000 Virginia jobs,” said Warner. “Ex-Im has done this all at no cost to the taxpayer: in fact, it generated $1 billion towards deficit reduction in the last fiscal year. In an increasingly globalized and competitive economy, it makes no sense to eliminate this vital tool for Virginia manufacturers and exporters.”
“The Export-Import Bank is one of the best tools we have to help move the economy forward,” said Kaine. “Everyone in Virginia – from Governor McAuliffe, to the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, to the Virginia Association of Manufacturers, is telling me, ‘whatever you do, find an agreement to authorize the continuation of this very important bank.’ All we have to do is vote to reauthorize it before September 30. It is my hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle – and in both houses – will join in this very important and completely logical mission.”
In remarks on the Senate floor last week, Kaine called for reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank, highlighting how Ex-Im provides critical financing assistance to Virginia businesses that helps them increase their exports and create jobs across the Commonwealth. Kaine shared stories of four Virginia companies who have benefited from Ex-Im’s assistance: Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles, turkey Knob Orchards in Timberville, Bristol Compressors in Bristol and Eagle Paper International in Virginia Beach. For a full transcript of Kaine’s remarks, click here.
The reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank is supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, Business Roundtable, the U.S. Council for International Business, as well as more than 325 organizations nationwide.
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Chris Graham
