Warner, Kaine introduce bill to reauthorize Export-Import Bank
Virginia's senators want Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank.
Democrats Mark R. Warner and Timothy M. Kaine said in a press release that they were introducing legislation to reauthorize the bank, which finances the sale of American products to overseas markets.
The bank's authorization expires Sept. 30. The Senate bill backed by Kaine and Warner would reauthorize the bank for five years and increase its spending authority to $160 billion from $140 billion over that period.
In a speech last week on the Senate floor, Kaine said the Export-Import Bank helps both big and small companies in the state.
"The bank assumes country and credit risks that other private-sector lenders are unable or unwilling to do at a reasonable cost, and it helps level the playing field for U.S. businesses because so many of our global competitors have banks just like this that loan even more or support even more loans than we do," Kaine said.
Warner noted that the bank turned a profit last year, and that the profit helped reduce the federal budget deficit. The bank has lost money in some years, and the bill requires that the loss ratio for the bank not exceed 2 percent in any quarter. He said the bank has financed $1 billion in exports from almost 100 Virginia companies since 2007.
"We live in the real world, not the theoretical world. And when China, Brazil, France, Canada all use these tools to the advantage of their companies, and somehow America, which has been using this Export-Import Bank for decades, would suddenly say, `Alright, we're going to take away this support.' This would cost us thousands of American jobs. That makes absolutely no sense," Warner said earlier this week during a speech in Norfolk.
Warner made his comments at a campaign event with about a dozen unionized port workers standing behind him at a riverfront park in view of two port terminals. He said the bank helps ensure cargo moves through the Port of Virginia, supporting 10,000 port-related jobs. The Port of Virginia is the third busiest on the East Coast.
Re-authorization is backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and their Virginia branches.
Opponents of the bank say it gives government support to big businesses like Boeing Co. or General Electric Co. that don't need the help. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc. and the party's 2012 vice presidential nominee, has called the bank an example of "crony capitalism."
The bill was filed by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., on behalf of several senators from both parties, including Warner and Kaine. Among the Republican co-sponsors are Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri and Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois.
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