Owners to Discuss Ex-Im Reauthorization, Reform

Press Release

U.S. Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) today met with small business owners from Illinois and West Virginia to discuss the reauthorization and reform of the Export-Import Bank, and the losses the businesses would incur if the Bank's charter was not reauthorized by the June 30, 2015 deadline. More than 700 business owners and employees have flown in from 41 states across the country to demonstrate how manufacturing of their American-made product will be outsourced to other countries without the support of the Bank. NOW Health and Leeco Steel, two Illinois-based companies, joined Senators Kirk and Manchin today to discuss the impact of Ex-Im on their businesses.

"Without the Export-Import Bank, jobs throughout Illinois are in jeopardy and American manufacturing of airplanes, like the 747, will go to the Chinese," Senator Kirk said. "Reauthorizing and reforming the Bank is an obvious next step in order to keep jobs in America and our small businesses strong."

Leeco Steel, a company that is headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, employs nearly 500 people throughout the state. Through Export-Import Bank related transactions, Leeco Steel brings in upwards of $10 million annually. NOW is a family-owned health supplement company that won an Exporter of the Year Award in 2009. They are based in Bloomingdale, Illinois, and have been in business for 45 years. Along with nearly 300 businesses that Ex-Im supports throughout Illinois, companies like Boeing and Caterpillar, Inc. work with Ex-Im to keep manufacturing in the United States and their export margins high.

The Export-Import Bank Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 would extend the Bank's charter for five years, reduce taxpayer exposure, place a greater focus on small and emerging businesses and includes improved risk management policies of the Bank.

The bill:

Reduces risk to taxpayers by requiring higher loan loss reserves.
Puts greater focus on small businesses by increasing the required lending to small businesses from 20% to 25
Increases Oversight of Bank Practices:
The bill creates a Chief Risk Officer and a Risk Management Committee to oversee the Bank's operations, requires the Inspector General to audit the Bank's risk management procedures regularly, and creates a non-political Chief Ethics Officer to oversee ethics practices of Bank employees.

Source