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Congressman Paul Tonko (D-NY) released the following statement after General Electric announced planned job cuts to their American plants – including hundreds in their Schenectady, New York location. GE referred to the recent expiration of the Export-Import Bank, the official export credit agency of the United States, and the need for contracts to be backed by a government creditor as the reason work on a new contract would be completed by French workers instead of Americans.

“Let me be clear: the sole reason this work cannot be performed in Schenectady is that House Republicans have failed to renew the Export-Import Bank. Speaker Boehner and his leadership team have been held hostage by an extreme Tea Party element in the House of Representatives, and have ignored warnings from their colleagues, leading economists, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and countless other organizations and individuals as they allowed the Export-Import Bank’s charter – and the immeasurable good it does for the American worker and our economy – to expire more than two months ago on June 30.

“I am disgusted by this loss, which is a wound Republican House Leadership has inflicted on hundreds of families in the Capital Region. Unfortunately, we will not be able to re-compete for this contract. American companies will, however, be able to compete for – and win – deals that are currently being negotiated with other developing nations. But only if House Republicans wake up and listen to what we’ve been saying for months – that the Export-Import Bank levels the playing field for the American worker and the American small business owner.

“The blame game is played all too often in Washington and at the desks of cable news pundits. This, however, is a fact: These jobs are gone because Republican House Leadership decided it was more important to appease the extreme conservative flank of their own party than to abandon politics-as-usual and renew an agency that supported 164,000 jobs nationwide – all at a $675 million surplus to the taxpayer – last year alone. This, again, is an indisputable fact. One only needs to point to the Republican-controlled Senate and their overwhelming vote on July 27^th to renew the agency to demonstrate that there is bipartisan support for the bank. All these families in Schenectady needed was for Speaker Boehner to give us a vote. That never happened.

“This is the biggest blow to our community, which has enjoyed the success and prosperity of an apolitical partnership between the private and public sectors for decades, in a very long time. I invite anyone in Washington, including House Republican Leadership, to visit Schenectady and look the families that lost their jobs in the face to show them what inaction in Washington means for hard working Americans across the country. Enough is enough. 

“We have two choices: reauthorize an agency that returns money to the taxpayers and supports Capital Region, Made-In-America jobs, or lose more work to the French. I know which one I’d choose.

“And it’s not a hard decision.”

PAUL TONKO’S RECORD ON THE EXPORT-IMPORT BANK:

·        Cosponsor of Promoting U.S. Jobs Through Exports Act of 2015, legislation that reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank through 2022, since February 25, 2015 (2/25/15)

·        Mechanicville Express Op-Ed: Why an Export-Import Bank? by Rep. Paul Tonko (8/26/15)

·        Release: Tonko Urges Speaker to Cancel Recess, Cites Large To-Do List for House (7/30/15)

·        TU Op-Ed: Don’t hold jobs and U.S. exports hostage by Rep. Paul Tonko (7/25/15)

·        Roll Call: White House Keeps Up Export-Import Bank Push (7/22/15)

·        TU: GE warns that end of Ex-Im Bank could lead to job cuts in Schenectady (7/10/15)

·        Video: Tonko House Floor Speech: Renew Ex-Im Bank for Small Business (7/16/15)

·        Release: Tonko Signs Discharge Petition to Reauthorize Export-Import Bank (4/30/15)

·        Release: Tonko Votes to Reauthorize Export-Import Bank (5/09/12)

BACKGROUND:

·        Organizations that support Export-Import Bank

·        The Export-Import Bank (EXIM) supported $2.4 billion in exports in New York’s Capital Region last year alone.

·        More than half of the Capital Region companies with which EXIM works are small businesses like Imperial Pools and AWS True Power.

·        By financing the export of American goods and services, the Export-Import Bank has supported 1.3 million private-sector, American jobs since 2009 – supporting 164,000 jobs in FY 2014 alone.

·        Nearly 90% of EXIM transactions directly supported American small businesses in FY 2014.

·        EXIM generated a $675 million surplus for American taxpayers in FY 2014.

·        Over the last 20 years, EXIM has generated nearly $7 billion more than the cost of its operations, which helped to reduce the federal deficit.

·        With nearly 60 other export credit agencies around the world trying to win jobs for their own countries, EXIM helps level the playing field for American businesses.

·        EXIM’s active default rate was 0.18% – less than 1/5 of one percent – as of the end of FY 2014.

·        The agency does not compete with the private sector. EXIM fills export financing gaps through its loan, guarantee, and insurance programs when the private sector is unable or unwilling to do so.

·        In FY 2015, EXIM financing supported $27.5 billion worth of American exports -- $10.7 billion of which came from American small businesses.

TIMELINE:

·        February 25, 2015: Congressman Tonko becomes an original cosponsor of legislation to renew the Export-Import Bank through 2022, the Promoting U.S. Jobs through Exports Act of 2015 (H.R. 1031).

·        June 30, 2015: After 82 years of reauthorization without controversy, House Republican Leadership fails to bring H.R. 1031 to the floor for a vote and renew the Export-Import Bank, despite the legislation being cosponsored by almost 200 Members of Congress.

·        July 10, 2015: General Electric joins several large employers across the nation in warning that failure to revive the Export-Import Bank could lead to large job cuts.

·        July 27, 2015: The United States Senate votes 64-29 in favor of an amendment to a highway funding bill that would renew the agency.

·        July 30, 2015: House Speaker John Boehner fails to cancel a 39-day recess with several major issues left unaddressed, including the renewal of the Export-Import Bank.

·        September 15, 2015: General Electric announces hundreds of jobs cuts are on the horizon, due to the House’s inability to revive the Export-Import Bank.

BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR EXIM FOR DECADES:

·        President Dwight D. Eisenhower, February 12, 1959: "[EXIM Bank's] record of repaid loans and repayable loans, your infinitesimal portion of written-off loans is one that I can do nothing except to say congratulations to your Directors, the President, and to all of you."

·        President John F. Kennedy, July 18, 1963: "...the Export-Import Bank has created a wholly new program of export financing which now provides U.S. business with credit facilities equal to any in the world."

·        President Gerald Ford, November 18, 1974: "In order for the United States to maintain its strong position in foreign markets, it is important that the Congress pass the Export-Import Bank bill and avoid attaching unnecessary encumbrances."

·        President Ronald Reagan, January 30, 1984: "Exports create and sustain jobs for millions of American workers and contribute to the growth and strength of the United States economy. The Export-Import Bank contributes in a significant way to our nation's export sales."

·        President William J. Clinton, May 6, 1993: "Export expansion obviously encourages our most advanced industries. I am committed to promoting these exports, and what's where the EXIM Bank plays an important role."

·        President George W. Bush, June 14, 2002: "I have today signed into law S. 1372, the Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2002. This legislation will ensure the continued effective operation of the Export-Import Bank, which helps advance U.S. trade policy, facilitate the sale of U.S. goods and services abroad, and create jobs here at home."

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