WASHINGTON—Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, today voted to preserve food aid for low-income families and protect senior services in a budget debate today. Larsen voted against a Republican bill that seeks to eliminate automatic cuts to defense spending and replace them with greater cuts to domestic spending. The bill, which passed the House on a 218 to 199 vote, would undo the bipartisan Budget Control Agreement signed into law last August.

“House Republicans could not be more clear about where they stand. They want to shelter the richest Americans and let out-of-control spending continue at the Pentagon, all while cutting vital services for seniors, students and middle class Americans,” Larsen said.

“The bill Republicans approved today would give the Defense Department a free pass while cutting Meals on Wheels for 1.7 million seniors, cancer screenings for hundreds of thousands of women, and reducing or eliminating food stamps for nearly 50 million of the most vulnerable Americans.

“The ideological and stubborn support for unfettered growth in defense spending is as irresponsible as it is unnecessary. The Government Accountability Office recently reported that major defense programs had more than $44 billion in cost overruns last year. The Republicans now want to throw $8 billion more on top of that. We need to reshape the force for 21st century challenges, not just keep throwing good money after bad.

“Virtually every member of Congress I know agrees that we should replace automatic spending cuts with a structured deficit reduction package. I have long advocated for a bold and balanced approach to cutting the deficit. That will include a mix of spending cuts in defense and domestic spending as well as increasing revenue through fairer tax rates for the highest earners and elimination of tax subsidies to oil and gas companies and big agribusiness. The Democratic budget that I voted for would preserve vital job-creating investments in our transportation infrastructure and maintain support for students to go to college and seniors and veterans to get quality health care.”

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Rep. Rick Larsen Floor Statement on the Reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank
May 9, 2012
 

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote in favor of HR 2072, the Securing American Jobs Through Exports Act.

The Export-Import Bank creates jobs. It reduces our trade deficit. And helps to lower our national debt.

It is a tool that our manufacturers, both large and small, use to expand their sales to customers around the world so they can keep creating jobs here at home.

In Washington’s 2nd Congressional District, the Ex-Im Bank has helped finance the sale of more than $22 billion in exports from 13 companies, including 7 small businesses, in the last five years.

Last week I sat down with three businesses in Whatcom County that have used the Bank. They told me the Bank is a critical tool, without which they would not be able to sell overseas. The CEO of one of those companies, Western Chemical in Ferndale, Wash., which makes fish health products, told me the Bank has been, quote, “indispensable in allowing our business to grow to $2M in annual Washington state exports this year and $5 million next year and supports 25 full-time employees.”

The Bank also supports our much larger exporters. Hundreds of the women and men who make the Boeing 767, 777, and new 787 aircraft in Everett, Wash., recently wrote me urging Congress to reauthorize the Bank because their jobs and our local economy rely on it.

The Ex-Im Bank has been so successful in recent years in boosting our exports that its lending authority needs to be expanded to keep up with our growing manufacturers.

I was proud to introduce a bipartisan bill earlier this year with Congressman Manzullo to reauthorize and expand the Ex-Im Bank. I am pleased that Whip Hoyer and Leader Cantor were able to work out this sensible, bipartisan agreement that is largely in line with the bill I introduced, HR 4302.

I know some of the critics of this bill will call this corporate welfare and say it is government manipulating in the market. The fact of the matter is every other major economy has a similar export-promotion program, and if we were to let the Ex-Im Bank expire, it would only help foreign companies at the expense of American exports and American jobs. Not only that, but the Ex-Im Bank is an investment that pays dividends back to the U.S. taxpayer, helping to reduce our deficit by $1.9 billion in the last five years alone.

Thousands of workers in my district and around the country depend on the Ex-Im Bank for their jobs.

I want to thank Whip Hoyer and Leader Cantor for their tireless work on this bill, as well as Congressman Manzullo for his work with me on this issue. I call on my colleagues to pass this bill so we can keep America open for business.

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"I'm encouraged to see the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House have come to an agreement to extend and expand the Export-Import Bank,"Larsen said. "The deal they reached is largely in line with the bipartisan legislation I introduced with Rep. Manzullo earlier this year.

"I've been meeting with small manufacturers in Northwest Washington this week. Many of them rely on the Ex-Im bank to sell their products overseas and create jobs here at home. I look forward to voting for this deal next week and ending the uncertainty for our manufacturers."

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“The strategic partnership announced by the President in Afghanistan helps define our exit strategy and is an important step to ending the war and bringing our troops home,” Larsen said. “Over the last decade, the United States military has achieved its task of dismantling al Qaeda and the Taliban. I continue to advocate for an accelerated transfer of control to the Afghan government and the return home of our troops.”

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From left to right: WWU President Bruce Shepard, WWU Associated Students Vice President for Governmental Affairs Iris Maute-Gibson, Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, WWU Associated Students President Anna Ellermeier, and Associated Students Legislative Liaison Joseph Meyer.