Memphis Commerical Appeal - Fighting for West Tennessee jobs

Op-Ed

By Congressman Stephen Fincher

Opportunity, wage growth and more well-paying jobs -- that is what folks in Tennessee and across our country are demanding, and it is why I'm working to reform the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

The Ex-Im Bank provides more than 1,000 jobs to my constituents in Tennessee's Eighth Congressional District and more than 8,300 jobs across our great state.

Nationwide, the Ex-Im Bank has supported more than 1 million jobs in the last six years alone. In addition, the bank actually returns money to the U.S. Treasury each year -- netting a profit for American taxpayers.

By filling acute financing gaps in the trade finance market, the Ex-Im Bank ensures that Tennessee businesses exporting their goods and services globally have a seat at the table and are able to compete on a level playing field with other nations.

With 95 percent of the world's consumers living overseas, exports are essential to helping our companies seize opportunities for growth and prosperity.

That, in turn, promotes job creation in Tennessee and across the country. In fact, exports have strengthened our economy since the recession, expanding our gross domestic product from 10.6 percent in 2009 to 13.5 percent in 2014.

Additionally, nearly 90 percent of Ex-Im Bank transactions in 2014 directly supported small businesses, the backbone of our nation's economy. When the Ex-Im Bank gives small businesses the resources they need to sell their products abroad, their employees, suppliers and communities win and prosper at home.

Unfortunately, while the future of the Ex-Im Bank remains in limbo, China and other export credit agencies are securing large export deals, putting U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage.

Between 2005 and 2013, China's export credit activity increased 867 percent, while South Korea and Canada have more than doubled their export credit assistance. The longer it takes for Congress to reform the Ex-Im Bank, the more jobs and business opportunities we willingly surrender to our global competitors.

For these reasons, earlier this year I introduced legislation to reform and reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank to increase transparency and accountability, reduce the burden on the taxpayer, make the bank more solvent and self-sufficient, and ensure it remains a job promotion machine that expands opportunities in West Tennessee and throughout the country.

Despite the bank's overwhelming and indisputable success, failure by Congress to take action since the bank's charter lapsed in June has now tied the hands of our nation's most productive job creators, who have lost the means to break into new and emerging markets.

Across the nation, companies supported by the bank have started laying off employees and shipping jobs overseas because they have lost access to critical Ex-Im financing. Each day Congress fails to reform the bank means more and more companies will be forced to make these same tough decisions -- and local economies will pay the price.

It has been four months since the Ex-Im Bank stopped providing important financial products to U.S. companies and Congress has still failed to hold a vote, even with tremendous support in the House and Senate.

Recently, I filed a Republican-led discharge petition to stand up to the broken Washington system that continues to hurt American workers. After trying for more than a year to negotiate a bill, refusal by the House Financial Services Committee to move my legislation by blocking an up-or-down vote has been heartbreaking. This Republican-led discharge petition follows regular order for a path forward when the House is in support of legislation and when a committee does not proceed.

On Oct. 9, the petition received 218 signatures, the number needed to bring my legislation to the House floor for an up-or-down vote. I am encouraged to know a majority of my colleagues are willing to stand with me to fight for American jobs.

With absolute support for the Ex-Im Bank in both chambers of Congress, I am confident that when my legislation comes to the House floor soon, it will pass by an overwhelming majority and be sent to the Senate for consideration.

As long as the future of the Ex-Im Bank remains uncertain, our global competitors -- financed by their own export credit agencies -- will continue to secure large export deals. And as long as that continues, Congress is unilaterally placing U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage against our foreign challengers.

If Congress does not get this done, the only thing our country will be exporting is jobs.

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