Bipartisan Vote Reopens Export-Import Bank
WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement, Oct. 28, 2015, after the House passed H.R. 597 a bill to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank:
“This evening, 313 Members of the House – virtually every Democrat and a majority of Republicans – joined together in a vote to reopen the Export-Import Bank and help American exporters create good jobs here in our country. For months, some in the House Republican leadership held up this bill because of politics and pressure from outside ideological organizations, and in the interim hundreds of American workers lost their jobs. Had the House failed to act today, more jobs would have been lost and business and their workers would have been denied a critical tool to help them compete on a level playing field in overseas markets.
“This vote shows what is possible when Democrats and Republicans work together in the common interest of making our economy more competitive, restoring certainty, and helping to create jobs that grow our middle class. Now it is up to the Senate to act and send this legislation to the President’s desk without further delay. I thank Reps. Stephen Fincher and Frank Lucas for their courage in working with us to achieve this victory as well as Ranking Member Maxine Waters, Ranking Member Gwen Moore, and Rep. Denny Heck on the Democratic side of the aisle for their steadfast leadership to reopen the Export-Import Bank and secure a multi-year reauthorization.”
Mr. Hoyer has worked tirelessly throughout the session to shepherd the re-authorization he has always said had the votes, but was being kept out of the full House for a vote by a small number of Republicans. Captured on video, Mr. Hoyer makes his pitch and thanks for efforts in the House to force the Export-Import Bank authorization into the open for a full vote.
“I thank the gentleman from Tennessee [Rep. Fincher] for yielding,” he says, “and I thank him for his courage and Mr. Lucas’ courage for working within the rules to bring this matter to the Floor. It’s an important matter.
“Since July, businesses and workers across the country have been asking Congress to reopen the Export-Import Bank so that they could compete on a level playing field in overseas markets. This is about jobs and a competitive America. Reopening the Export-Import Bank, Mr. Speaker, is about creating and keeping jobs here in America.
“The motion on the Floor tonight will demonstrate that a majority of this House supports taking action to pass a multi-year extension of the Bank’s charter authority. We’ll have a chance to show the American people that Congress can work together – Democrats and Republicans – to get something done that helps businesses and workers compete and create jobs,” he said.
“That is democracy,” he concluded.
