U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) was among a bipartisan coalition of House members who recently signed a discharge petition to bring the reauthorization of the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank of the United States to the floor of the chamber.
The use of a discharge petition is known as a “last resort” among legislators. It is used to rush an urgent bill to the floor for immediate consideration without having it first go through the committee review process.
The Export-Import Bank offers loans and guarantees to foreign purchasers of goods manufactured within the U.S., provided they meet strict lending qualifications, when private-sector lenders cannot provide financing. By law, the bank may not compete with commercial lenders. Its mission is solely to fill gaps created in commercial financing.
Authorization for the bank expired on June 30, meaning that businesses across the nation have been without the useful financing tool that helps keep them competitive. Over the past eight years, the Export-Import Bank has authorized and insured up to $180 million in export value in Amodei’s home state of Nevada, most of that coming from the northern part of the state.
“Ex-Im creates American jobs,” Amodei said. “It creates Nevada jobs. And it does so while generating billions of dollars for the U.S. Treasury. Since 1990, Ex-Im returned $7 billion more than its appropriations. Across Northern Nevada and the nation, Ex-Im supports approximately 164,000 jobs and 90 percent of its transactions are for small businesses. That’s not corporate welfare. That’s a success story. And every day we don’t reauthorize it means Nevada jobs are on the line.”
With the petition having attained the required number of votes, the House is expected to pass the reauthorization request later this month. The request then moves to the Senate for consideration.