Hoyer: Today the House Will Work Its Will on the Export-Import Bank

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) spoke on the House Floor today in support of legislation to reopen the Export-Import Bank. Below is a transcript of his remarks and a link to the video:

Click here to watch the video. 

“I listen to this welfare state rhetoric. The American public ought to know that 147 Republicans voted to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank just a few years ago under the leadership of [former Majority Leader] Mr. Cantor and myself. It was not until the ideological – how do I say what has happened in the House of Representatives? [House Republicans] retreated from bipartisan working together. [They] retreated from pragmatism, and [they] repaired to ideological hideboundness – those are pretty tough words, I understand that. But when you have 147 Republicans and every Democrat – 330 Members of the House of Representatives voting to re-authorize this bill, just a few years ago, this rhetoric that I hear now that somehow this is selling out to the welfare state is a little difficult for me to believe.

“I know it's become an issue for some hardline groups, [but] this is not just for big business or medium business or small business, this is for American jobs... Should we therefore be competitive with the rest of the world, who offers subsidies so their corporations, so their medium-sized businesses, so their small businesses can create jobs for people? Three-hundred and thirty of us voted to re-authorize this [Bank] just three years ago…  

“Let us come together as practical people, common sense, who want to be competitive with the rest of the world. Let's pass this bill. The House is for it. The majority is for it, and it has been bottled up, which has not allowed the majority to work its will. Today through the courage of Mr. Lucas, Mr. Fincher and others, the majority will work its will. Isn't that wonderful? I urge my colleagues to support this bill.”