Congressman Payne, Jr. Votes to Create and Maintain Jobs in America

Press Release

Today, Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. voted for a bill today to improve international trade for small businesses throughout New Jersey. The bill reauthorized the Import-Export Bank, the official U.S. export credit agency, and increased the bank's lending authority by $40 billion to provide more funds for American small business exporters.

Congressman Payne, Jr. said the bill would be good for the country and great for New Jersey.

"This agency is crucial to our ability to compete in the increasingly global marketplace," said Congressman Payne, Jr. "It provides capital to exporters to expand their operations and create more jobs. It has helped 141 New Jersey companies, including 106 small businesses, export $3 billion in goods and services in the last five years alone and it is a great example of how government can benefit people. I hope the Senate passes it quickly, so we can create more jobs and more economic opportunities throughout New Jersey."

The bill, the United States Finance Agency Act of 2019 (H.R. 4863), reauthorized the bank for ten years and renamed it the U.S. Export Finance Agency. It increased the amount the agency is authorized to lend from $135 billion to $175 billion and the percentage of those funds available to small businesses from 25 percent to 30 percent.

The agency, originally called the Export-Import Bank of Washington, was founded in 1934 by President Franklin Roosevelt to promote foreign trade. Today, it provides needed loans and capital to small business exporters who are unable to secure those loans through private banks and financial institutions.

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