Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2012

Floor Speech

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Mr. DOLD. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I certainly think this is an important topic because we talk about jobs and the economy as the number one issue that we face in this country.

Today I'm pleased to come down and rise in support of the Ex-Im Bank, as it is something that I think is vital, something that we worked on in a bipartisan fashion through the committee, and something that I think all of our colleagues should be supporting.

When we look at what the Ex-Im Bank does, most of us think oftentimes about large businesses, whether it be Boeing or others. The fact still remains that certainly across the country--and I know in my district, the 10th District of Illinois--83 percent of all the loans actually go to small business, but it does help big businesses.

Back in my district, we have one of the largest manufacturing districts in the country. Over 93,000 employees are in manufacturing, and well over 50,000 of those employees rely upon exports. The world today is flatter than it's ever been, and we need to make sure that our companies are competitive in the global marketplace. Again, I want to emphasize, 83 percent of those loans go to small businesses. But we can take a look at the big businesses, and we can take a look at Boeing. When a Boeing Jetliner 777 lands anywhere in the world, it lands with the help of 22,000 small businesses. Most of them are right here at home.

So when the minority whip talks about making it here in America, we do want to make it here in America. We want to make sure that American workers have a level playing field, and we want to sell American all over the globe. We want to make sure that we are giving them the opportunity. The Ex-Im Bank is going to be done at no cost to the taxpayer. We're going to bring dollars actually into the Federal Treasury. We want to make sure that we're giving our businesses an opportunity to compete, because what this is about is making sure we can sell American all over the globe. So I want to urge my colleagues to support this bill.

In 2011 alone, the bank supported over 288,000 American jobs and helped finance over 3,600 American companies. This is an important piece of legislation, and one that we should all be able to get behind. With every $1 billion of exports, they say 7,200 jobs are created. This is a jobs bill. When we talk about jobs and the economy, this is the time. I urge my colleagues to support it.

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