Export-Import Bank Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join with me in
defeating the previous question so that this body can immediately take
up reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank and, in fact, immediately
take up legislation offered by Mr. Fincher, a Republican who, like many
Republicans in this House and every Democrat, supports the
reauthorization of an institution that has been reauthorized by this
body for eight decades, routinely, that is essential to supporting
small American manufacturers that I represent back home in Michigan.

During the recess, I spent some time with my local manufacturers. I
did a couple manufacturing roundtables; one in Flint, my hometown, and
one up in the Tri-Cities. These are small manufacturers. They are not
big companies. No one would recognize their names. They are small
manufacturers that have found that they have products that the world
wants, but they didn't feel comfortable entering into that kind of
global trade without some help, without some support, without their own
government standing behind them where they can. That was what the
Export-Import Bank provided for them. They told me, without exception,
that the failure of this Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank
puts that kind of trade in jeopardy, puts the company itself in
jeopardy, and puts the workers who build great American products that
we can sell to the world in a position of some jeopardy as well.

We don't agree on a lot of things in this body, and that is the way
it is supposed to be; but when we do agree, the American people expect
us to do something about it. We agree in this body on the Export-Import
Bank, Democrats and Republicans. Why can't we see a bill come to the
floor to simply reauthorize something that is essential to supporting
American manufacturers, supporting American exports, supporting
American workers?

Sadly, almost ironically, there are more Republicans in this Congress
that support the Export-Import Bank than supported keeping the
government open itself. You would think--you would think--that somehow
we would figure out a way.

There is all this talk of bipartisanship. It is just a word unless we
do something about it. It doesn't mean anything unless it translates to
something that helps the American worker. Here is a chance to do that.
We should bring up the Export-Import Bank reauthorization, a Republican
bill, which I will vote for, and we should do it today.

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