Business Groups Push
Congress to Revive Export-Import Bank
by Alex Swoyer 23 Oct 2015Washington, DC
Whether or not to reauthorize the Export-Import (Ex-Im)
Bank is an issue that has divided Republicans in Congress, with many
conservatives – including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) 94%–
saying it is a form of corporate welfare.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs conducted a subcommittee hearing on
Friday over whether or not Congress should reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank, which
expired this summer, with many businesses encouraging Congress to vote to
reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank next week.
Chairman Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) 76%
released the following statement prior to the hearing:
It has been over three months since the authorization of the
Export-Import
Bank of the United States expired. The Senate voted to revive the
bank and the House is set to vote on reauthorization later this month. While
some see the Bank as essential for U.S. businesses to compete globally,
opponents of the Bank see it as corporate welfare at odds with the free
market. The hearing will provide members the opportunity to hear from
experts on the issue and gain a better understanding of the ramifications of
the Export-Import Bank ahead of the important vote on October 26.
Three out of the four officials who prepared testimony for
the subcommittee on Friday morning encouraged members of Congress to vote to
reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank.
T.J. Raguso, the Executive Vice President of the
International Division at Amegy Bank National Association, argued
the expiration of the bank negatively impacts Amegy and its customers.
Amegy Bank’s customer is a manufacturer of oilfield service
tools. Although the company had both domestic and international sales, it did
not require financing for many years. After 2007-08 economic downturn, the
company saw a reduction in domestic sales and an increase in foreign sales,
generating a need for export financing. Ex-Im supported financing has allowed
the company to grow its international sales, making 2014 the best year ever in
the company’s 100 year history.
Like Raguso, Air Tractor Inc. Financial Analyst Tyler
Schroeder said
Air Tractor’s future growth “is undoubtedly through our ability to export
aircraft, and we believe this to be true for the U.S. economy. Lacking the
export services of Ex‐Im Bank will be disastrous on our company and the
employees and families we support. Air Tractor has demonstrated the ability to
create and sustain jobs in the smallest and most rural communities.”
Chief Operating Officer at the Lexington Institute Loren B.
Thompson, Ph.D. argued
that the arguments to kill the Ex-Im bank “are illogical and fact-free, whereas
the case for keeping it is empirically and analytically overwhelming.”
Disagreeing with the other three official’s testimony
pushing for the Ex-Im Bank reauthorization, Senior Research Fellow at the
Heritage Foundation Diane Katz argued
that Congress should oppose reviving the Ex-Im Bank.
A number of media outlets in recent weeks have reported that
thousands of U.S. jobs are being moved overseas because Congress rejected
reauthorization the Ex-Im charter. Such claims are unfounded. The real story is
that Boeing,
General
Electric and other top beneficiaries of the government bank are
trying to scare Americans into further subsidizing their hugely successful
multinational operations.”
“In fact, pending legislation is largely a regurgitation of
“reforms” previously mandated by Congress—without appreciable effect. The only
meaningful way to remedy Ex-Im’s multibillion-dollar risk to taxpayers—and the
rampant cronyism
the export subsidies perpetrate—is to reject reauthorization of the charter.
General Electric
General
Electric Company gets export financing support from the Export-Import Bank of the US.
Note: Susan Hockfield
is a director at the General Electric
Company, and a trustee at the Carnegie
Corporation of New York.
Newton
N. Minow is an honorary trustee at the Carnegie
Corporation of New York, a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Sidley Austin LLP
was the lobby firm for the General
Electric Company.
R.
Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin
LLP, and is Craig M. Robinson’s sister.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP, Madelyn Payne Dunham was
his maternal grandmother, and is the president for the Barack Obama administration.
2013
Barack Obama inauguration was the second inauguration for the Barack Obama administration.
Texas State
Society was the organizer of Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Ball for the 2013 Barack Obama inauguration.
Ted
Poe was a director at the Texas
State Society, and is a house member for the TX congressional delegation.
Madelyn Payne
Dunham was Barack Obama’s maternal
grandmother, and an aircraft inspector for the Boeing Company.
William
M. Daley was a director at the Boeing
Company, the chief of staff for the Barack
Obama administration, and is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
W. James
McNerney Jr. is the chairman & CEO for the Boeing Company, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was the president & CEO for the
GE Aircraft Engines.
GE Aviation
GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio, outside Cincinnati. GE Aviation
is among the top aircraft engine suppliers, and offers engines for the majority
of commercial aircraft. GE Aviation is part of the General Electric
conglomerate, which is one of the world's largest corporations. The division
operated under the name of General
Electric Aircraft Engines (GEAE) until
September 2005.
Boeing Company
received export financing support from the Export-Import
Bank of the US.
Penny S. Pritzker
is a director at the Export-Import Bank
of the US, a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, the secretary at the U.S.
Department of Commerce for the Barack Obama administration, was the national finance chair, fundraiser
for the 2008 Barack Obama presidential
campaign, a co-chair for the 2009
Barack Obama inaugural committee, a fundraiser, national co-chair for the 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaign,
a contributor for the 2013 Barack Obama
inaugural committee, the host for the Barack
Obama fund-raising dinner, 7/2/2008, and Craig M. Robinson’s basketball coach for the children's team.
Michelle
Obama is Craig M. Robinson’s sister,
and was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Sidley Austin LLP
was the lobby firm for the General
Electric Company.
General
Electric Company gets export financing support from the Export-Import Bank of the US.
Boeing Company
received export financing support from the Export-Import
Bank of the US.
Michael B.G.
Froman is a director at the Export-Import
Bank of the US, Barack Obama’s
law school friend, and was an assistant to the president for the Barack Obama administration.
Jackie Clegg Dodd
was the vice chairman & first VP for the Export-Import Bank of the US, and married to Christopher J. Dodd.
Christopher J.
Dodd is married to Jackie Clegg Dodd,
and was the candidate for the 2008
Christopher Dodd presidential campaign.
James
D. Jordan was the senior adviser for the 2008 Christopher Dodd presidential campaign, is a house member for
the OH congressional delegation, and
a member of the House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform.
House
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is a committee for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Nell
Minow testified before the House
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and is Newton N. Minow's daughter.
Newton
N. Minow is Nell Minow’s father,
an honorary trustee at the Carnegie
Corporation of New York, a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Susan Hockfield
is a trustee at the Carnegie Corporation
of New York, and a director at the General
Electric Company.
Sidley Austin LLP
was the lobby firm for the General
Electric Company.
General
Electric Company gets export financing support from the Export-Import Bank of the US.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin
LLP, and is Craig M. Robinson’s sister.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP, Madelyn Payne Dunham was
his maternal grandmother, and is the president for the Barack Obama administration.
2013
Barack Obama inauguration was the second inauguration for the Barack Obama administration.
Texas State
Society was the organizer of Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Ball for the 2013 Barack Obama inauguration.
Ted
Poe was a director at the Texas
State Society, and is a house member for the TX congressional delegation.
Madelyn Payne
Dunham was Barack Obama’s maternal
grandmother, and an aircraft inspector for the Boeing Company.
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