News & Insights

Washington, DC – The Coalition for Employment through Exports (CEE) and the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) applaud today’s passage of H.R. 2072, the Securing American Jobs Through Exports Act of 2011, reauthorizing the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank of the United States. This critical piece of legislation ensures Ex-Im’s continued support of U.S. export sales and manufacturing jobs.

CEE and NFTC welcomed the hard work of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) for their bipartisan effort to provide the Bank with a reauthorization of extended duration and which recognizes the important role Ex-Im Bank plays in leveling the playing field for U.S. exporters at a time when exports are increasingly critical to the U.S. economic recovery and job creation.

John Hardy, President of CEE, said, “We are grateful to Majority Leader Cantor and Minority Whip Hoyer for their bipartisan work providing the Bank with the authority needed for it to continue its critical role supporting small and large exporters. With the extension of the Charter expiring at the end of May, we are very hopeful that both Chambers will quickly pass the bill to be sent to the President for his signature. H.R. 2072, with its three-year extension and healthy increase in lending level, sends the right message to our foreign competitors – American companies that export have the support of their government to level the playing field and help make those sales.”

The legislation also contains language that ensures support for the textile industry, tightens auditing rules, looks to broaden content requirements to support even more U.S. industries, and provides a more transparency regarding transactions the Bank is considering.

CEE and the NFTC yesterday sent a letter to all Members of the House, urging them to support the bill.
 

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About CEE
CEE is a not for profit association that operates as an educational and advocacy organization on behalf of our members on legislative and regulatory matters affecting U.S. government export finance and assistance programs: the Export Import Bank, OPIC, the Trade and Development Agency and the Commerce Department export promotion programs. We address any legislative or regulatory issue that may affect the ability of U.S. exporters to utilize these programs, thus we are active on: appropriations for these agencies, trade sanctions that may limit these agencies, and multilateral policies that may limit these agencies. Learn more at http://www.usaexport.org.