Denny Heck

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Chair, I am not as calm as the Leader in her remarks because I think enough is enough. Not directed at the offerer of this amendment but to a previous speaker: I cannot help but be reminded of Joseph Welch during the McCarthy hearings when he said: Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? With one exception, these indictments were people outside the Bank trying to defraud the Bank; yet, it is offered here today as a reflection on the 300 or 400 employees down there. What do they do? Well, they have a default rate that is one-tenth the rate of transactions in trade by the private sector, one-tenth. They have a collection rate that is the envy of the commercial banking sector. They transfer funds to the Treasury, $6 billion or $7 billion in the last generation. That is what these hardworking people do. Stop it. Stop making comments that reflect on all of these people who are hardworking civil servants, who are doing the job, and who are reducing the deficit. Yes, they are supporting and creating jobs. What does ``support'' mean? Create or save. The GAO says that, not me, the GAO. So stop it.

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Chairman, my favorite literary theme is illusion reality, where you do not know whether you are in an illusion or you are in reality. It is greatly used throughout our culture and great movies, like ``The Stunt Man,'' with Peter O'Toole, or in classic literature, like ``Ulysses,'' by--who?--James Joyce. It is not a good axis on which to pivot around an argument regarding public policy; so let's leave the illusion behind and go to reality. Here is the reality: The Ex-Im does support jobs--164,000 last year. GAO, which you keep citing, approved its methodology. What is the proof? We have already lost nearly 1,000 jobs since you shuttered the doors of the Ex-Im. The reality is this is unilateral disarmament if we fail to reauthorize it. Every other developed nation has an export authority. The reality is that this reduces deficit. The Ex-Im reduces deficit. Every year for 20 years, since the enactment of the Credit Reform Act, it has transferred cash. The heck with the accounting system--cash. The reality is a lot of these small businesses don't have an alternative. Steve Wilburn, who is the CEO of FirmGreen, stood before us last year and said: If you have got an alternative for my pending deal in Korea, tell me what it is. He lost the deal because of the cloud over Ex-Im. An Indian company got the job. This issue is about jobs.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member. Mr. Speaker, watching the nonstop ideological warfare waged on the Export-Import Bank over the last nearly 3 years reminds me of my very favorite Will Rogers adage: People feel about Congress the same way they do when baby gets hold of the hammer. And that is, in fact, what we have been treated to. But the fact of the matter is today we have an opportunity to turn that adage on its ear and do something that the American public will feel good about Congress for, for today we have an opportunity to vote for jobs, 164,000 in just last calendar year supported by the Ex-Im, good-paying jobs, send-your-kid-to-college jobs, buy-a-home jobs, take- a-vacation jobs, and have-a-secure-retirement jobs. Mr. Speaker, tonight we have an opportunity to strengthen and protect the manufacturing base of America, because the truth of the matter is it is not unrelated to our national defense infrastructure. The same entities that make up our manufacturing base keep us safe, and we should not forget that. Tonight we have an opportunity, indeed, to vote for reform of the Export-Import Bank despite the fact that it has a default rate that is the envy of commercial banks and a collection rate as well. Mr. Speaker, the truth of the matter is we can vote to increase loss reserves, improve risk management, modernize and update their IT, and notwithstanding what was said by the gentleman from Michigan, it also has a pilot recourse program in it on the reinsurance for payment side. Tonight we have an opportunity to vote for a reduction of the deficit. Yes. The Ex-Im for a generation has transferred cash--the heck with your theoretical accounting model--transferred cash into the U.S. Treasury, $675 million just last fall. Let me say it again. Tonight we have an opportunity to vote for jobs. No more Waukesha, Wisconsins, Ms. Moore, no more Waukesha, Wisconsins, where an entire factory is being shuttered because we have failed to do our job in reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member, the leader, the whip, and especially I want to thank my friends, Mr. Lucas of Oklahoma and Mr. Fincher of Tennessee, for their profile in courage. It was, indeed, a profile in courage to do the right thing. Tonight we have an opportunity to put American jobs first. Tonight we have an opportunity to put America first. I don't know about you, but I came here from the private sector. I don't reside in some kind of fantasy plot within an Ayn Rand novel. I live in the real world, and in the real world we solve problems. This will solve problems. Vote ``yes''.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise to ask my friends and colleagues to support Mr. Fincher of Tennessee on his motion in his effort to subject this issue to regular order. This is regular order. This is the only regular order that we are going to be given to have a chance to take up this job-creating legislation. I know this for a fact. It is not speculation. On February 12, they offered an amendment to the views and estimates on the budget that said, in part, the committee will work to consider reauthorization of the Bank through regular order that lets all sides be heard, and the leadership of the committee said, ``Vote `no.' '' There was never an intention to subject this issue to regular order. Now is our chance to do that. Support the gentlemen from Tennessee and Oklahoma and vote ``yes'' on this.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, November 3 is when we reach our statutory budget limit. That is when we must raise our debt limit or we default on our obligations: Social Security payments, Medicare reimbursements, and military paychecks. Some critics don't want us to raise the limit. They say that spending is too out of control; but, frankly, that is like going into a restaurant, eating a meal, and then skipping out on the check because you wanted to save on calories. If that happens, you are not paying what you owe. Even if you commit to spending nothing more, you are still on the hook for your financial obligations and commitments. I have a lot of hardworking small-business owners in my district. They don't skip out on their bills, and they don't expect the government to either. There is no doubt about it. Our economy will suffer. At a time when our budget deficit is at its lowest level in 8 years, we should not take this step backward. Let's pay our bills, not torch our economy.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, one of the previous speakers, the gentleman and my friend from Alabama, said today is not the time, it is not now. I want to remind him that in my effort here to defeat the previous question so that we may take up reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank, the charter for the Bank expired 3 months ago yesterday. You are right, the time isn't now; it was 3 months ago. The fact is, in the ensuing 90 days, there has begun a drumbeat of job loss, concrete and measurable. It is real. But I want to start over. Today is the first day of the new fiscal year for the Federal Government. We can all give at least some thanks that we avoided a government shutdown. So let's take a fresh start to this thing. Take a step back. The truth is, when I am home in the district talking with people, an amazing number have a consciousness, an awareness, about the termination of the charter of the Export-Import Bank and its impact. The most frequently asked question I get is, ``How can anybody do that?'' How can anybody do away with an institution that, as my friend, the gentleman from Michigan, Congressman Kildee, so eloquently said, has in 81 years been almost unanimously reauthorized 16 times by 13 different Presidents and has a track record of reducing the deficit and creating jobs? How can anybody do that? That is a very challenging question for me to answer. Adherence to ideological purity is just not something somebody can compete with when it stands up against the real-life job loss that we have begun to experience. So, in my effort--which I just digressed from--of taking a fresh start, I want to say that this Chamber will take up later today the National Defense Authorization Act. It is not unrelated to our effort to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. Some people actually support what we call the NDAA because it creates jobs. I frankly don't think that that is a good reason to support the NDAA. One should support or oppose it because of how it reinforces us and helps us fulfill our national security objectives and goals and missions. That is why you support or don't support the NDAA. But some people do support it because of the jobs it helps create. Well, the truth of the matter is, as we have said so often, the Export-Import Bank also creates jobs. In fact, for the last year for which we have data, it supported 164,000 jobs. We have an existential threat to those jobs. The fact is, as you all have heard, both General Electric and The Boeing Company have announced layoffs directly attributable to the demise of the Export-Import Bank. People are not concluding negotiations for foreign sales as a consequence of us not having that arrow in our quiver.

Mr. HECK of Washington. Because the fact of the matter is the Chinese are developing a wide-body aircraft to compete in the international market, code name C919. They think it will be online in 2 years. I think it is more like 10 years. They will take business away from us. When they do, they will take jobs away from us. And I remind you that China has not one, but four, export credit authorities. It is also a relevant issue to the subject we take up later today-- the NDAA--because the truth of the matter is the Export-Import Bank helps protect the homeland very directly. There is a lot of talk about rebalancing the Pacific and Asia and the pivot. But the fact of the matter is, in order for us to compete with China, we have to retain the heart of our manufacturing base. And, frankly, the production of aircraft, in the aggregate, constitutes the largest concentration of engineers and manufacturing capacity within that base.

Mr. HECK of Washington. This is vital to our national security. Imagine a world 20, 30, 40 years from now in which The Boeing Company no longer exists. I don't want to imagine that future, but think of what it would it would do to our national security circumstance. It would be devastating to our national security. And we are ceding this territory. We are literally ceding this territory. The irony of this debate and why, again, I find it so challenging to answer the question of why would anybody do this is, truly, if we had never had an Export-Import Bank, we would all be sitting around asking ourselves, ``How do we compete with those other countries, all of whom have export credit authorities?'' We would be devising and standing up an Export-Import Bank and we would say, ``What do we want that to look like?'' First of all, we want it to support American jobs. Secondly, we would say we want it to protect American taxpayers and not have them on the hook. Well, guess what, my friends. We already have--or had--that institution. The Export-Import Bank in the last generation has transferred billions of dollars to the Treasury and reduced the deficit. The Export-Import Bank has helped create and support millions of jobs. If you want to compete in the global economy, you need an export credit authority that creates jobs. Please defeat the previous question and take up the issue of reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida. I rise to oppose the demand for the previous question so that we might, in fact, take up the issue of a long-term reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. Something has changed. This is no longer an abstract philosophical conversation. This is a real, manifest, concrete conversation in which people are losing their livelihoods. I stood here last week and reported that not one, but two, satellite sales were likely lost. A subsequent announcement by Boeing to lay off workers in El Segundo, California, is not abstract. I referred to General Electric announcing that it was laying off 500 people as a result of the failure of this body to do what it has done every chance it had under every President for 81 years, almost always unanimously. This is no longer an abstraction. People are losing their livelihoods, and it will continue. It continued yesterday. General Electric announced another 350 jobs lost. They are moving them from Wisconsin to Canada. This is not an abstraction. This is not some ideological tug of war. You are taking away people's jobs. And, by the way, last week, when GE announced its first layoff of 500, the spokesman for the majority party said it was immaterial. They dismissed it. Well, if you opened up that envelope and found a pink slip, you wouldn't think it was immaterial. Last week I revealed a dirty little secret. I shared with you that the Boeing aircraft company, the largest exporter in the United States of America, the heart of our manufacturing base, didn't make airplanes. They don't. They design and assemble them. They assemble them with parts made mostly in America. Now, here is today's dirty little secret: domestic content. The Export-Import Bank requires anything it finances to be made out of 85 percent domestic content. Made in America, 85 percent. Now, our largest exporter, in good times, finances about 1 in 5 of its sales through the Ex-Im. But it is countercyclical. In bad times, it is up to 40 percent, as a consequence of that material amount that is sold. And, by the way, 70 percent of its sales are international. They make all their airplanes with a minimum of 85 percent domestic content. People, stop and think. If you do away with the Ex-Im, you do away with the 85 percent domestic content requirement. Boeing wants to make airplanes in America with 85 percent domestic content.

Mr. HECK of Washington. I know this because 2 years ago there was a coalition formed to lobby to reduce the domestic content. Boeing left the coalition because they want to make airplanes in America. If you do away with Ex-Im, you do away with the domestic content requirement. Six to 8,000 of the 15,000 businesses in Boeing's supply chain are small businesses. They are small businesses. You are holding a gun to the head of America's number one exporter and forcing them--forcing them--by virtue of competitive disadvantage to look at and consider outsourcing. More pink slips. More people losing their livelihood. This is no longer an abstraction. You are taking away people's livelihoods. Yes, it is unilateral disarmament. Every other developed country on the face of the planet has an export credit authority, every other one, except us now. In God's name, defeat the previous question.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and thank the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission for its unyielding dedication to the restoration of Puget Sound and the protection of Tribal treaty rights for the First Peoples of the Pacific Northwest. For Tribes, clean water and healthy salmon are not just perks of life in the Pacific Northwest; they are the centerpiece of the Tribes' history, culture, and way of life. Unfortunately, changing ocean chemistry, degrading habitats, and stormwater runoff are posing an existential threat to these resources. Following a landmark victory reaffirming treaty-protected fishing rights, the Tribes created the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission to assist them in developing biologically sound fisheries and restore the salmon runs that sustained their people for centuries. The interconnectedness of habitats and ecological systems throughout the Puget Sound region means that Tribal participation is vital to all aspects of natural resource management in the Pacific Northwest. To that end, NWIFC provides a forum for member Tribes to jointly address natural resource management issues and enables Tribes to speak with a unified voice on issues of mutual concern. For decades, NWIFC and the Tribes have asked the Federal Government to fulfill its treaty obligations by protecting the Puget Sound and restoring salmon runs. Today, I thank the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission for its partnership and cooperation in the development of the Promoting United Government Efforts To Save Our Sound Act, or the PUGET SOS Act. This bill requires a more coordinated and deliberate effort within the Federal Government to restore and protect the Puget Sound, and it explicitly recognizes and prioritizes the treaty rights of the sovereign Tribes. I sincerely thank the Commission's staff for their assistance and advice in crafting this important piece of legislation. I raise my hands to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and its member Tribes for their tireless efforts to save the Puget Sound.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and thank the Puget Sound Partnership for its tireless efforts to protect and restore America's largest estuary. The Puget Sound Partnership is the agency of Washington state serving as the backbone organization for Puget Sound recovery. The Partnership coordinates the efforts of citizens, governments, tribes, scientists, businesses and nonprofits to set priorities, implement a regional recovery plan, and ensure accountability for results. It is this kind of cooperative effort that can turn back the tide of degrading habitats and changing ocean chemistry, and I commend the Partnership for taking on the mantle of leadership in this vital mission. The Puget Sound is not only a national environmental treasure; it is the centerpiece of our cultural identity and economic strength in the Pacific Northwest. If habitats continue to degrade and our cool, clean water is jeopardized by changing ocean conditions, we will lose much of what makes the Puget Sound and Washington state so special. That is why I have worked closely with the Puget Sound Partnership and its Executive Director, Sheida Sahandy, to bring their model of cooperative, coordinated recovery to federal agencies through the Promoting Unified Government Efforts To Save Our Sound Act, or the PUGET SOS Act. This bill is a significant first step to bring more federal attention to bear on Puget Sound recovery, and I sincerely thank the Partnership's staff for their assistance and advice in crafting this important piece of legislation.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, to explain the significance of the Puget Sound in 1 minute is impossible. But I will tell you this: With every 60 seconds that goes by, the Puget Sound is being damaged more than it is being fixed. With every minute that goes by that we fail to collectively do something, we are all losing money. Puget Sound is a resource, but it is more than that. It is an American treasure. Puget Sound is a body of water that deserves national recognition. Congressman Kilmer and I have brought together numerous stakeholders that agree on very few things to agree on this: We need to do more. The Federal Government needs to step up to the plate to get recovery moving. The Puget SOS Act is that plan. We do it for the Great Lakes. We do it for the Chesapeake Bay. Now is the time to bring forth this effort for our Puget Sound, the largest estuary in America. Let's clean the Puget Sound up. Join us in cosponsoring this bill, along with Mr. Reichert, Mr. Newhouse, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Rick Larsen, Mr. Adam Smith, and Ms. DelBene. Clean up the Puget Sound.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the previous question so that we might indeed take up legislation to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. Because I think the gentleman from Georgia has it exactly right, the question before this Chamber, before this Congress, before the President, before the American people is: Where are the jobs? Now we know where the jobs, in part, have come from over the last 8 years. In fact, about 1.5 million of them have come through the activity of the Export-Import Bank, where they supported $200 billion in exports spread out across 7,300 companies. And we know where the jobs have not come from since July 1, when the charter of the Export- Import Bank expired, at which time there were 116 deals frozen, constituting $9.3 billion in activity. Who were they? Norwest Ingredients is a company in my home State that sells mint flavoring for the manufacturers of candy and oral care. The company currently employs about a dozen employees. It is a small business. Without Ex-Im, many small businesses like Norwest aren't going to be able to extend terms to foreign buyers, and they will have to ask for cash in advance. When they do, they will lose their business to other countries who have export credit authorities. By way of reminder, every single developed nation on the face of the Earth has an export credit authority right now, except the United States of America. Combustion Associates in California, they spent 3 years closing a deal for a new power project in Nigeria that would generate $39 million in revenue and create 30 new American jobs. The deal is on hold, along with two other projects that would have been worth nearly $50 million in revenue and 100 jobs. GE, the gentlewoman from California shared the sad news of the 500 jobs that are leaving these shores as a consequence of our failure to reauthorize the Ex-Im. Digital Check, an Illinois company, sells check scanning equipment to clients in nearly 100 countries. Tom Anderson is the family-run company's chief executive. He says: We're losing now a quarter million in sales in British markets and around $300,000 in India. And that half-million-dollar hit is causing the company to reevaluate whether they will suspend, altogether, their scanner leasing services. FirmGreen--Steve Wilburn, president of FirmGreen and, I might add, a proud and highly decorated marine--laid off 10 of its 17 employees last year because the company lost $60 million in contracts during our latest period of uncertainty. They are now, right as we speak, right as we are attempting to answer the question of where are the jobs, competing for a $300 million project in the Philippines, and it hinges on securing export credit financing from the Ex-Im. Without it, that business is going to likely go to a South Korean rival and, with it, the 400 jobs he would have added. Boeing, again, the gentlewoman made mention of layoffs in El Segundo, California. That was not the first but the second satellite sale to a foreign company and country that we lost as a consequence of the uncertainty surrounding the Export-Import Bank.

Mr. HECK of Washington. The outgoing CEO, Mr. McNerney, said: ``We never would have considered that before this craziness on Ex-Im. We love making and designing airplanes in the U.S. We are now forced to think about doing it differently.'' Ladies and gentlemen of the House, we have now moved beyond the theoretical and the abstract. We are now in the phase of this debate where real people with real jobs and real families are losing their livelihood. The question is right: Where are the jobs? The answer is: In reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank. Defeat the previous question so that we might do what a majority of this body wants to do, which is continue to compete in a global economy.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor Growth Awareness Week. How much a child grows is a major sign of his or her overall health. If a child is failing to grow, it could mean that they are developing serious medical problems. A child's height (either too much or too little for their age) is one of nature's early warning signs--a visual alarm for parents and physicians. According to the Pictures of Standard Syndromes and Undiagnosed Malformations (POSSUM) database, more than 600 serious diseases and health conditions cause growth failure. Many conditions which interfere with children's growth are treatable, but according to the MAGIC Foundation for children's growth, unfortunately 48% of children in the U.S. who were evaluated with the two most common causes of growth failure went undiagnosed. The longer a child with growth failure goes undiagnosed, the greater the potential for damage and higher costs of care. Early detection and diagnosis are crucial in ensuring a healthy future for a child with growth failure. Last year I was pleased that Congress recognized ``Growth Awareness Week'' as the third week in September 2014. So today I ask my colleagues to join me in permanently recognizing the third week in September as ``Growth Awareness Week'' and to continue to raise public awareness of growth failure to improve the lives and health of children.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor my good friend and Commander of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, U.S. Army Colonel Charles Hodges, Jr. COL Hodges will leave command next month after a tremendously successful three years at JBLM. He has played a critical role in the implementation of joint basing and has proved the success of the program to both the Department of Defense and the Army. In addition, his partnership with the surrounding community is unprecedented. He has strengthened an already robust relationship between the base and community by finding creative solutions to issues such as traffic congestion and noise abatement. COL Hodges has also been instrumental in ensuring our separating troops can pursue job training and career opportunities. He has worked to develop resources in the surrounding community and at the state and federal levels to provide transition assistance for all veterans. The Army will be losing a strong leader when COL Hodges retires later this year after a long and impressive career in the Army. He started his service in the summer of 1985 when he enlisted in the Florida National Guard as an 11B Infantryman. After being commissioned as an Infantry Officer and Distinguished Military Graduate from the University of Central Florida (UCF) he completed the Infantry Officer Basic Course, Airborne School and Ranger School. He was then assigned to Germany and 3-5 Cavalry in the 3rd Armored Division. While there he participated in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. After returning from Germany and completing the required military schooling, he commanded A Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry (ASSLT) in the Republic of Korea; and Company H, the 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard) in Arlington, Virginia. In 2001-2002, COL Hodges attended the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth and was then assigned to Fort Lewis, where he served as a Battalion Operations Officer and Executive Officer in 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry, (Tomahawks); and as the Operations Officer of 3-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team. While there, he was part of the team that certified the Army's first Stryker Brigade Combat Team and deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, he served as the Chair of the Military Science Department at Duke University. In 2007, he returned to Fort Lewis and took command of 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry, 3-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team. He commanded the battalion for three years, and he deployed it to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom. After command, he was selected to serve as the Director of Training, G3, for I Corps. After attending the United States Army War College, COL Hodges took command of the newly created Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in August of 2012. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to recognize COL Hodges' successful and decorated career. I commend him for his service, leadership, and dedication. I also wish to recognize the sacrifices and contributions made by his family including his wife Kathy and their children Shelby and Sam. The State of Washington and our country owe COL Hodges a debt of gratitude for his work and dedication to our country. We thank him for his service to our country and congratulate him as he begins the next chapter of his career.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise to ask the Chamber to reject the rule so that we might, indeed, offer an amendment to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank for three reasons. One, it is the will of the United States Congress; two, it does good; three, if we don't do it, great harm will be visited upon the American economy. It has already been, I think, very clearly demonstrated it is the will of this body, both in the Senate and here. I do want to remind you that, for 81 years, 16 times, Democrats and Republicans, no matter how conservative or how liberal, the United States has reauthorized the Export-Import Bank. It does good. That is why they do it. In fact, I would respectfully suggest that the votes were there in Rules Committee yesterday to allow this amendment. The good gentleman from Texas who chairs--and he is a gentleman; he is a good gentleman-- opened up his comments by saying 9,000 jobs in and around his district in the State of Texas, attributable to the Export-Import Bank, they hang in the balance. It does good--last year, 164,000 jobs supported by the Export-Import Bank, $675 million transferred to the Treasury. It reduces the deficit. It creates jobs. Why don't we want more of this? Call me crazy, I guess. If we don't do it, harm will come to us. Read this morning's Wall Street Journal. Small businesses already--not prospectively--are already suffering job loss in States throughout this great country. The fact of the matter is not reauthorizing does constitute unilateral disarmament. About 3 weeks ago, two academics, one from Canada, one from New York, concluded the big winner if we fail to reauthorize. It is China. They are rubbing their hands. They are rubbing their hands. Listen, this isn't about software or apples or film.

Mr. HECK of Washington. It is about our manufacturing base. Who says we don't need more good manufacturing jobs? We need more good manufacturing jobs. Let me conclude on this note. Ominously, and without drama, hear me, from my heart to your ears. In the very near future, major manufacturers will announce that they are offshoring certain manufacturing capacity because they have to, to compete in a global economy. The global economy has increased fivefold since 1980. Get in the game, people. Reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. Defeat the rule.

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I said earlier that the first, most immediate damage as a result of our failure to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank will be visited upon small businesses. It occurs to me that a little bit of color in that regard would serve us well, giving the benefit of the doubt to those who are opposing our opposition to the rule so that we can reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. Let me give you the data. The Export-Import Bank has approximately 90 percent of its transactions going to small businesses, about 90 percent. Most of us tend to think about those as all direct loans, but they aren't. The fact of the matter is the bulk of them are what we would call accounts receivable insurance. But there are also revolving lines of credit. There are also loan guarantees, not actual direct loans. And these, again, are small businesses. These are businesses like Manhasset Specialty Company in Yakima, Washington, which makes music stands and has a global market. Thirty- five percent of its sales are exports, and a good portion of them are assisted by the Export-Import Bank. In my district, Pexco in Fife, Washington, makes traffic control equipment. They are growing their export business with the assistance of the Export-Import Bank. So it is the small businesses that first will feel the damage. But for those of you who say, yes, but the biggest share of the dollars go to big businesses, let's go back to Economics 101. A lot of people point to Boeing. Ladies and gentlemen, Boeing does not manufacture airplanes. If that surprises you, please pay attention to what I am about to say. Boeing does not manufacture airplanes. They design them. They assemble them with the assistance of 15,000 businesses in their supply chain, about half of whom are small businesses. In the tiny town of Puyallup, relatively speaking, in my district, there are 17 businesses within the city limits whose principal customer is Boeing.

Mr. HECK of Washington. Small businesses will be hurt first. Over the long term, big businesses will be hurt. I did not say earlier lightly. I did not say earlier in hyperbole that we will have major announcements causing grievous damage to the manufacturing base of America. We cannot allow that to happen. We simply must, for the sake of small businesses and for the sake of our manufacturing base, reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. It reduces the deficit. It creates jobs.

Mr. HECK of Washington

Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 1031, which is within its power to do--a bill to protect thousands of American jobs by preventing the shutting down of the Export-Import Bank.