Michaud Applauds Passage of Export-Import Bank Reauthorization
Press Release
Today, Representative Mike Michaud (D-ME), Chairman of the House Trade Working Group applauded passage of H.R. 2072, a bill to reauthorize the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank and to increase its lending cap. Rep. Michaud led a bipartisan letter last month signed by 39 of his colleagues urging House leadership to bring this legislation to the floor. It passed the House by a vote of 330 to 93.
"Reauthorizing the Ex-Im Bank and increasing the amount of loans it can make will enhance U.S. global competitiveness," said Michaud. "Our competitors, including China and Germany, use export financing to boost their manufacturing sectors, and we should do the same here at home."
H.R. 2072, Securing American Jobs Through Exports, reauthorizes the Ex-Im Bank through September 30, 2014. In addition, it phases in temporarily higher lending caps that will allow it to finance more American exports. The bill also requires the Bank to maintain a default rate of less than 2%, which it has historically done.
"The Ex-Im Bank supports U.S. manufacturers at no expense to the taxpayer, and I'm grateful House leadership was able to forge a compromise before the Bank's authorization expired. We need more of that bipartisanship in Congress."
The Ex-Im Bank provides export assistance to U.S. manufacturers. Through pre-export and export financing, export credit insurance, loan guarantees, and direct loans, the Ex-Im Bank enables firms to sell additional products abroad and create jobs here at home. Since it was founded in 1934, the Bank has provided assistance to more than $474 billion of U.S. exports. In FY 2011 it supported 290,000 export-related American jobs by providing more than $32 billion in financing to more than $40 billion of exports at more than 3,600 U.S. companies nationwide.
Information on Maine export-import recipients can be found here. From 2007-2012, the Export-Import Bank supported approximately $255,452,287 in export sales from Maine businesses.
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