Bernie Sanders Joined Republicans In Opposition to the Export-Import Bank, Which Supports American Jobs and Wisconsin Businesses
Washington, D.C.–Today, Hillary Clinton announced new plans to help support manufacturing jobs across the United States. While Hillary outlines her detailed plans to protect existing American jobs and create new ones, Bernie Sanders has a record of joining Republicans in voting against American jobs by opposing the Export-Import Bank.
Sanders’ position would hurt Wisconsin’s economy. From 2011 to 2016, the Export-Import Bank supported $2 billion in Wisconsin exports. And General Electric planned to move 350 Wisconsin jobs to Canada following Congress’ failure (with Sanders’ help) to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank. It is clear who will be the best candidate to create American jobs and make sure more products are Made in America: Hillary Clinton.
Sanders Opposes the Export-Import Bank
2015: Bernie Sanders called the Export-Import Bank “corporate welfare to multi-national corporations,” adding, “if [if it isn’t reformed] it should be eliminated.” “An opponent of the Export-Import Bank, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement today after the Senate voted on an amendment related to a five-year reauthorization of the bank: ‘At a time when almost every major corporation in this country has shut down plants and outsourced millions of American jobs, we should not be providing corporate welfare to multi-national corporations through the Export-Import Bank. ‘Instead of providing low-interest loans to multi-national companies that are shipping jobs to China and other low-wage countries, we should be investing in small businesses and worker-owned enterprises that want to create jobs in the United States of America. If the Export-Import Bank cannot be reformed to become a vehicle for real job creation in the United States, it should be eliminated.’” [Senator Bernie Sanders, 6/10/15]
2015: Bernie Sanders opposed reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank. On July 27, 2015, Bernie Sanders opposed adoption of the Kirk, R-Ill., amendment no. 2327 to the McConnell, R-Ky., substitute amendment, as modified, that would amend and reauthorize until Sept. 30, 2019 the Export-Import Bank’s charter. The McConnell substitute amendment would provide a six-year authorization of surface transportation programs, with enough offsets to cover three years of shortfalls in the Highway Trust Fund. Adopted 64-29 : R 22-28; D 41-0; I 1-1. All Senate Democrats supported the proposal. [HR 22, Vote #256, 7/27/15; CQ Floor Votes, 7/27/15]
2012: Bernie Sanders opposed reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank. On May 5, 2012, Bernie Sanders opposed the passage of the bill that would reauthorize through Sept. 30, 2014 the charter for the U.S. Export-Import Bank. It would incrementally increase to $140 billion, from $100 billion, the cap on outstanding loans, guarantees and insurance that the bank is authorized to have at any given time. Note: By unanimous consent, the Senate agreed to raise the majority requirement for passage of the bill to 60 votes. A ‘yea’ was a vote in support of the president’s position. Passed (thus cleared for the president) 78-20 : D 50-0; R 27-19; I 1-1. All Senate Democrats supported the proposal. [HR 2072, Vote #96, 5/15/12; CQ Floor Votes, 5/15/12]
Ex-Im Bank is Important to Wisconsin’s Economy
From 2011 to 2016 the Ex-Im Bank supported $2 billion in Wisconsin exports. [Ex-Im Bank, (accessed, 4/1/16)]
General Electric planned to move 350 Wisconsin jobs to Canada following the failure to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank. “General Electric Co. said Monday that it would cease manufacturing gas engines in Waukesha, Wis., and move 350 jobs to a new factory in Canada to use that country’s export financing regime to pursue new business. The announcement is the latest from GE after Congress failed in July to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, the export financing entity in the U.S. GE says that financing from an export credit agency such as Ex-Im is required for some $11 billion of projects for which it is preparing bids, including power turbines, generation equipment and aircraft engines. Earlier in September, GE executives announced plans to create 500 jobs in the company’s power and water business in France, Hungary and China, saying the moves would enable GE to secure export financing from those countries in exchange for creating jobs. The company also said it would create as many as 1,000 jobs in its oil-and-gas unit in the U.K., also in exchange for export financing. Export financing deals, such as those GE has secured in the past from the Ex-Im Bank, are required as part of a formal bid on many significant projects that GE competes for, company officials say. ‘You have to make a choice,’ said John Rice, a GE vice chairman who directs the company’s global operations. ‘Either bid and make it in a country that has an export credit agency, or you’re not going to bid.’” [Pioneer Press, 10/27/15]
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel urged Congress to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank citing the potential loss of Wisconsin jobs. “General Electric Co. may well have ulterior motives for ceasing to make engines in Waukesha. The decision, which the industrial titan blamed on congressional failure to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, also may be about corporate taxes, as some conservatives have claimed. The Canadian corporate rate is far lower than in the U.S. Such decisions often are multilayered. But losing the grease for deals provided by the Ex-Im Bank is surely part of the problem. The decision will cost Waukesha about 350 jobs and comes on the heels of an earlier GE decision to shift 500 jobs from four U.S. states to Europe and China so that the production of turbines and generators would be eligible for export aid. The jobs from Waukesha will be moved to a new $265 million engine factory to be built in Canada over the next 20 months. GE says that the decision will not be reversed. […] As Boehner wraps up his tenure in Congress, there may be an opportunity to salvage the bank. Congress should take this opportunity before more jobs in Wisconsin and elsewhere are lost.” [“Congress should save U.S. Export-Import bank,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial, 9/29/15]
Sanders’ Stance Puts Him at Odds with Wisconsin Democrats
Senator Tammy Baldwin
Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin called for the reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank saying that “failure… to act is now costing Wisconsin jobs.” “U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin today renewed her call for the Republican majority in the House of Representatives to stop stalling reauthorization of U.S Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank. Senator Baldwin’s call for action comes as GE Power & Water announced it plans to stop manufacturing gas engines in Wisconsin and blamed the Waukesha closure on the House of Representatives not reauthorizing the Ex-Im Bank. At the end of July, the U.S. Senate passed reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank as part of a long-term transportation bill. However, the House of Representatives adjourned for the August recess without passing legislation to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank and have failed to take action since. ‘The failure of the House to act is now costing Wisconsin jobs,’ Senator Baldwin said. ‘When American businesses have a level playing field, they can compete against anyone. The Export-Import Bank is an important tool that helps us create that level playing field, bringing fairness to global trade, and supporting American businesses so they can create jobs and grow. The Republican majority in the House needs to do what the Senate did nearly two months ago and take action on the Export-Import Bank before more Wisconsin jobs are lost to other countries.’ Since 2007, the Ex-Im Bank has supported 27,131 Wisconsin jobs by helping 218 Wisconsin businesses, including 128 small businesses, export $5 billion worth of goods and products made in Wisconsin. In 2014 alone, the Ex-Im Bank supported $210.2 million of Wisconsin exports, 46% of which were from small businesses. In 2014, the Ex-Im Bank supported 3,340 small-business transactions, $27 billion in total U.S. export sales and 164,000 jobs.” [Office of Senator Tammy Baldwin, 9/28/15]
Congressman Ron Kind
Wisconsin Democrat Congressman Ron Kind supported reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank, saying the bank “will help businesses across western and central Wisconsin grow and compete in the global marketplace.” “Democrat Ron Kind also voted to renew the Bank. He said it provides a variety of financing mechanisms to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services. ‘Today’s bipartisan vote to renew the Export-Import bank will help businesses across western and central Wisconsin grow and compete in the global marketplace. Almost every developed country has an Ex-Im bank to help their businesses and not having one put our economy at a severe disadvantage,’ Kind stated. ‘The vote today was not only important for renewing the Export-Import Bank, but also serves as an example of what happens when we come together to put the country ahead of partisanship.’ An independent federal agency, the Ex-Im Bank creates and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The program is funded by fees on those who use the program not taxpayers and is so successful those fees actually exceed costs and help to reduce our deficit.” [Wisconsin Ag Connection, 10/29/15]
Sanders’ Stance Puts Him in the Company of Wisconsin Republicans, National Republicans
Governor Scott Walker
Republican Governor Scott Walker opposed reauthorizing the Ex-Im Bank. “Gov. Scott Walker has resumed speaking out against reauthorizing the federal Export-Import Bank, despite a possible connection to hundreds of planned layoffs in Waukesha. General Electric says the refusal by Congressional Republicans to reauthorize the bank — which makes loans to overseas customers of U.S. manufacturers — was the tipping point in the company’s decision, announced earlier this week, to end gas engine production in Waukesha. Friday in Mequon, Walker spoke against reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. ‘I’ve said before as a candidate and still say so now, I do not think that the federal government should be renewing that,’ Walker said. ‘But I think there are other ways that we can help manufacturers like that in Waukesha and others across the state be competitive.’ Several Wisconsin Democrats say Republican efforts to derail the Export-Import Bank may continue to cost jobs in the state.” [WPR, 10/2/15]
Speaker Paul Ryan
Speaker Paul Ryan opposed reauthorizing the Ex-Im Bank, calling it “corporate welfare.” “Wisconsin’s First District Congressman and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan delivered the following remarks in opposition of H.R. 597, legislation to reauthorize the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank. ‘Mr. Speaker, I want to express my strong disapproval for this bill for the Export-Import Bank. ‘This is a pretty profound debate we are having. It’s about what kind of economy we’re going to have. Are we going to reward good work or good connections? ‘I think there are plenty other ways to expand opportunity in this country, and corporate welfare is not one of them. The biggest beneficiaries of this bank, two-thirds of their money go to 10 companies. Forty percent goes to one company. ‘And this bank does cost money—just ask the Congressional Budget Office when they use real scorekeeping. Remember Fannie Mae? Remember their accounting? Remember when they told us they weren’t going to cost any money—until they did? And it cost us billions. ‘The other excuse that I just don’t buy is, ‘other countries do this, so should we.’ We shouldn’t acquire other countries’ bad habits. We should be leading by example. We should be exporting democratic capitalism, not crony capitalism.’” [Office of Rep. Paul Ryan, 10/27/15]
Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz on him and Bernie Sanders both opposing Import-Export Bank reauthorization: “This is an issue where Bernie and I are in complete agreement. We need to end this corporate welfare.” “The Texas Republican has praised Sanders in the past. ‘I respect honesty in politics. Bernie admits he’s a socialist,’ Cruz said on MSNBC in July. He has also joked about him and Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail, telling audiences the Democratic race for president consists of a ‘wild-eyed socialist … and Bernie Sanders.’ The two men stood on the same side of an issue in the summer: opposing the renewal of the Export-Import Bank. ‘The one person who’s standing up strong is Bernie Sanders,’ Cruz said in July. ‘This is an issue where Bernie and I are in complete agreement. We need to end this corporate welfare.’” [Washington Post, 2/3/16]
Donald Trump
Donald Trump on Export-Import Bank: “I don’t like it because I don’t think it’s necessary.” According to Bloomberg, “Trump also had some red meat for the conservative base, saying he wants to shut down the Export-Import Bank. ‘I don’t like it because I don’t think it’s necessary,’ the real estate mogul said. ‘It’s a one-way street also. It’s sort of a featherbedding for politicians and others, and a few companies. And these are companies that can do very well without it. So I don’t like it. I think it’s a lot of excess baggage. I think it’s unnecessary. And when you think about free enterprise it’s really not free enterprise. I’d be against it.’” [Bloomberg, 8/4/15]
Koch Brothers
Koch Industries urged Congress to oppose reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. “Dear Member of Congress: On behalf of Koch Industries, I am writing to urge you to oppose reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The Ex-Im Bank is yet another example of the government intervening in the market to pick winners and losers. It confers benefits granted by the American people as a whole to a small number of well-connected corporations. It socializes the risk of economic activity while benefiting relatively few companies. We respectfully ask Congress to allow the Ex-Im Bank to expire.” [Koch Industries, 3/3/15]