WASHINGTON – The controversial Export-Import Bank will get yet another chance Monday, when an amendment U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (IL) is being credited for adding to the highway bill is expected to be voted upon in the U.S. Senate.
The Kirk-Heitkamp bill - Amendment #2327 - will keep the Ex-Im Bank open, Kirk's statement said, "and we are one step closer to keeping American jobs here in America and not lost to countries like China."
Fiscal conservative Republicans nationwide oppose the effort to restart the bank, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers support the legislation. All Democrats - including Illinois' U.S. Senator Dick Durbin - voted "yes" on the measure and among the 26 Republicans that opposed Kirk's amendment were senators Marco Rubio (FL), Ted Cruz (TX), Mike Lee (UT) and Rand Paul (KY).
Senator Kirk and Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) introduced the Export-Import Bank Reform and Reauthorization Act (S. 819) earlier this year. In a test vote on the bill in the form a Kirk amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, 65 Senators supported reauthorizing Ex-Im, and Senator Kirk worked to get the vote in order to reauthorize the Bank, whose charter expired June 30th.
Nearly 90 percent of Ex-Im's transactions each year directly benefit small businesses, and nationwide the bank supports more than 205,000 American jobs, including 47,000 in Illinois, Kirk's press release says.
The top Illinois companies supported by Ex-Im are The Boeing Company, CNH Industrial America and Caterpillar. The Export-Import Bank supports 244 Illinois businesses, such as Boeing, and operates with no cost to the taxpayer. In the past three years, the bank has returned nearly $3 billion to the U.S. Treasury.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the Kirk-Heitkamp bill would save taxpayers $2.3 billion.
