U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) released a statement after the House on Tuesday passed the Export-Import Bank Reform and Reauthorization Act, which Kirk introduced with fellow Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND).
The senators' bill passed in the Senate as an amendment to the DRIVE Act in July. When the bill went to the House, it was sent to the floor through a discharge petition filed by U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN). The bill extends the Export-Import Bank's charter to 2019.
“American manufacturers can be confident that the Export-Import Bank has a clear supermajority in the Senate and now the House." Kirk said. "This vote is a great indicator of support, but is not the final hurdle in keeping American jobs in America.”
The Export-Import Bank supports a variety of American-based companies, such as Caterpillar, Boeing and CNH Industrial America, as well as hundreds of small businesses in Illinois. The bank has returned $2.5 billion to the U.S. Treasury over the last three years. In addition, the Kirk-Heitkamp bill is expected to provide an estimated savings of $2.3 billion to taxpayers.
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