Congresswoman Chellie Pingree voted tonight to reopen the Export Import Bank after its authorization to operate expired this summer. Congressional leaders had blocked any attempt to pass a bill to reauthorize the Bank until Pingree and her colleagues signed a discharge petition forcing a vote.
"It's outrageous that it took this long and required a petition by Members of Congress to reopen the Export Import Bank," Pingree said. "Jobs in Maine and across the country depend on this bank, and shutting down the bank put small business at a competitive disadvantage when they try to export their products around the world. It's disappointing that reauthorizing the Bank got caught up in Tea Party politics and it took this long to even allow a vote on it."
The U.S. Export-Import Bank helps manufacturers sell U.S.-made goods overseas. The Bank has supported $266 million in exports from Maine since 2007 and over the last twenty years has returned $7 billion to U.S. taxpayers.
