06.11.15

Cantwell Joins Colleagues to Call for Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization Before June 30th

Cantwell: “Yesterday’s vote demonstrated that there are at least 67 votes, two-thirds of the Senate support the Ex-Im Bank.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-W) joined Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) to call for the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank before the export credit agency expires on June 30th -- and a critical tool for American small businesses expires along with it.  

Yesterday in a procedural vote in the Senate, a large majority of Senators showed overwhelming support for the Export-Import Bank. The 31-65 vote illustrated a bipartisan understanding of the American jobs, future business deals and the engine of economic growth that is the Export-Import Bank, all of which is at stake if the bank lapses.

“We have 19 days left before this bank authority expires and it’s critically important because we have demonstrated in both the House and the Senate, the majority of both the House and the Senate support the Ex-Im Bank, that we get a vote on the bank before it expires,” said Cantwell.

The Senators urged Majority Leader McConnell to listen to the strong message sent by yesterday’s Senate vote on Ex-Im bank and allow for a real vote on reauthorization of the bank.  Less than one month remains to extend the self-supported export credit agency that U.S. exporters across the country depend on to access the 95% of customers that are outside the United States. The Ex-Im Bank is not only a vital export tool for small businesses, but an important tool for deficit reduction that returned $675 million to the U.S. Treasury last year. 

“What we are trying to do is make sure small businesses have all available tools to help them export at a critical time when foreign markets are opening up for economic opportunity for U.S. products. We have a lot of work to do in these last few days to make sure we are successful,” said Cantwell. “But we should make sure that American small businesses don’t have to be held hostage, or our workers let go just because Mitch McConnell can’t cut a deal.”

Cantwell has led the fight for a long-term reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank in order to save the American jobs and small businesses that depend on it. In 2014, the Ex-Im Bank supported 3,340 small-business transactions, $27 billion in total U.S. export sales and 164,000 jobs. Congress has until June 30th to extend the agency charter to avoid its expiration.

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