Reauthorize the Export-Import Bank

In 1934, with the U.S. economy still mired in the depths of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Export-Import Bank in order to make it easier for American companies to sell their goods in foreign markets and create new jobs at home.

And over the eight decades that followed, the Export-Import Bank has been one of the most successful federal government initiatives. Last year, it supported 164,000 American jobs and $27.5 billion in exported goods, while at the same time generating $675 million for taxpayers with nearly 90 percent of its transactions directly benefitting our small-business community. The default rate on its loans stands at an astounding 0.175 percent.

We see the impact of the Export-Import Bank every day in Rhode Island – over the last eight years it has provided more than $20 million in insured shipments, guaranteed credit or disbursed loans to Rhode Island companies, enabling exports valued at nearly $50 million.

But unless Congress acts by June 30, this critical resource for Rhode Island manufacturers and exporters will shut down. Republican leaders have so far refused to consider legislation that would reauthorize the Export-Import Bank.

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Even House Speaker John Boehner has acknowledged that allowing the Export-Import Bank to expire at the end of this month would cost the American economy thousands of jobs. But the extreme Tea Party faction that seems to control today’s Republican Party is doing all it can to put the Export-Import Bank out of business. And if they succeed, the consequences could be disastrous for Rhode Island’s small businesses.

I’ve met with Rhode Island entrepreneurs such as Dan Dwight, who serves as CEO of the Cooley Group in Pawtucket. Since 2009, the Cooley Group has used assistance from the Export-Import Bank to increase its international revenue fourfold.

Rhode Island’s manufacturers and small-business owners know the importance of reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank by June 30th.

It is critical lawmakers set aside political differences and reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. •

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