With the successful House vote last week to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, the push for restoration of the bank has intensified. Suzanne Dale Estey, president and CEO of the Economic Development Council of Seattle and King County, has a compelling op-ed in the Seattle Times explaining the importance of the Ex-Im Bank to our state.
[Opponents] tried to make a political case — saying that closing the Ex-Im Bank would be a step in the right direction to shrinking government. But targeting a program that pays for itself, has fueled more than $300 billion in exports over the past few years (including more than $140 billion right here in Washington) and supported 1.3 million American jobs is most certainly a step in the wrong direction. After all, who thinks putting Americans out of work and shipping their jobs abroad is a good way to kick off a political campaign?
In just the few months since the bank’s charter was allowed to expire, the U.S. has lost global business and jobs nationwide…
Now that the House moved forward on this issue, and more than 70 percent of members voted in favor of the Ex-Im Bank, its reauthorization has been sent back to the U.S. Senate for final passage.
Please read the whole thing. Also this good editorial in the Wenatchee World.
And for a reminder of how long this tortuous journey has been, here’s what we wrote last March. It’s time for the Senate to assure that this vital support for our trade-dependent economy is reauthorized.
