May 7, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 75 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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Export-Import Nominations (Executive Session); Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 75
(Senate - May 07, 2019)
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[Pages S2667-S2668] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] Export-Import Nominations Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of several of the nominations to the Export-Import Bank: Ms. Kimberly Reed, to be President of the Export-Import Bank; the Honorable Spencer Bachus, to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank; and Ms. Judith Pryor, to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank. These three highly qualified nominees, if confirmed, will be in a position to ensure that the Export-Import Bank has the ability to provide finance in response to governments, like China, that provide aggressive subsidies and place U.S. exporters at a disadvantage. The President and his team have recently reinforced their commitment to restoring the ability of the Bank to support American economic interests in global marketplaces. The Director of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, recently noted that the Ex-Im Bank is needed in the current trade environment, particularly with respect to China, in order for the United States to compete and succeed in international markets, calling it a ``financial tool and a national security weapon.'' U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has called the lack of a functioning Ex-Im Bank a serious blow to the economy. Peter Navarro, Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, has said: ``The costs of keeping the Ex-Im Bank on the sidelines can be measured in the tens of billions of dollars of products we fail to export--and in the thousands of jobs we fail to create when this country does not have a fully functioning export credit agency to compete with its counterparts around the world.'' It is clear that in our current trade environment, a fully functioning bank could help the United States better succeed in international markets. President Trump's recent budget submission to Congress notes that the President ``supports a fully functioning Ex-Im Bank to implement reforms and help American exporters compete in an increasingly unfair global marketplace.'' As President of the Export-Import Bank, Kimberly Reed will be able to draw from an already distinguished career in public service, having previously served as a senior adviser to former Treasury Secretaries Paulson and Snow, as well as on several congressional committees. During her nomination hearing, she committed to focusing on strong standards of conduct, increased transparency, sound risk management practices, and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. I can testify that she has gone out of her way to make herself available to all Senators on both sides of the aisle to introduce herself and to answer any questions the Senators have and to discuss any reforms and improvements [[Page S2668]] she may be able to make to the Bank when she is confirmed. Former Representative Bachus and I were elected to the House of Representatives in the same term and worked closely together in the House for a number of years. He served the Sixth District of Alabama from 1993 to 2015. During that time, he served as both chairman and ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee. He is a pragmatic conservative and has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to promoting economic opportunity. Finally, a native of Cleveland, OH, Ms. Pryor has spent the majority of her career in the private sector, working with international businesses, many in the high-tech industry. More recently, she has served as the Vice President of External Affairs at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation under President Obama. During her confirmation hearing, Ms. Pryor expressed a commitment to particularly help raise awareness of the Export-Import Bank's financing products for small businesses and community banks. While it is not really being included in the coverage of these nomination votes as being one of the consequences of there being a lack of a quorum on the Board, it is important to understand another important reason to confirm not one but all three of these nominees. When the Export-Import Bank was last reauthorized in 2015, Congress implemented a number of reforms to the Bank. However, by not confirming a quorum of at least three Board members for the last several years, Congress has actually impeded implementation of a number of its own reforms, which require a vote of a quorum of the Board for approval. These reforms include appointing a chief ethics officer, appointing a chief risk officer, forming a risk management committee, implementing new guidelines to expedite small business loans under $25 million, and developing an expanded medium-term program to finance and ensure transactions up to $25 million. We have many colleagues who have said there need to be reforms implemented in order for them to further support operation of the Bank, and they would like to work with us on the Banking Committee to pursue those reforms. I support reforms, too, and look forward to working with interested colleagues, but we need to understand that we will need a quorum on the Ex-Im Bank to finalize them. For any previous or future congressionally directed reforms to be implemented, Senators need to support all three nominations before the Senate this week in order to restore the quorum necessary to implement those reforms. The Banking Committee approved each of these nominees with broad bipartisan support earlier this year. Each will be an asset to the Bank's Board, and I urge my colleagues to support these nominations. ____________________
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