United States Export Finance Agency Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Chairman, we hear the President is for the extension, the Senate is for the extension. The problem is, they are not for this piece of legislation.

I think it is important to be able to note that the ranking member, once again, on the Committee on Financial Services had a deal in principle with the chair to be able to reauthorize the Bank, to be able to add strong protections against China's global interest. Unfortunately, that deal was pulled, and we are left with the bill that does not address these issues head-on.

In the committee's process, I offered an amendment to be able to combat China's Belt and Road Initiative that would prohibit Ex-Im's assistance to the Government of China unless otherwise authorized by the President of the United States.

China's envisioned the Belt and Road as an economic tool to be able to expand their influence and, in some cases, force countries to become overly reliant on financing from China.

The Belt and Road projects also raise a specter of infrastructure that could be used by China's military, even as China promotes international reach with the yuan and the potential displacement of the dollar.

With more than 60 countries potentially hosting Belt and Road projects and estimated total financing exceeding $1 trillion, the Chinese Government's ambitions are massive and serious--and should be taken so.

The Obama administration actively attempted to be able to keep foreign countries from joining China in their Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank over concerns that the resources would support Beijing's geopolitical ambitions.

The bill on the floor today does nothing to be able to address these issues. If anything, the Belt and Road Initiative is even more worrying, and we ought to take a strong stance against it.

Further, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, China's Belt and Road Initiative is one of the main planks of China's statecraft under the current regime, and it is a key component of the Made in China 2025 economic development strategy.

And yet, my amendment, in process, was rejected in committee, and there is no trace of proactive restraint against the Belt and Road investments in the bill on the floor today.

It is completely nonsensical to have the Export-Import Bank offer U.S. taxpayer-backed subsidies to companies implementing projects that further Beijing's geopolitical ambitions.

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