WASHINGTON, D.C. – Engaging with a bipartisan panel of Export-Import Bank Board nominees, U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today pressed former U.S. Congressman Scott Garrett, the nominee to serve as the chairman of the Export-Import Bank, for an apology to the small businesses and workers hurt by his past efforts in Congress to close the Bank. Specifically, Heitkamp asked for his commitment to supporting the Export-Import Bank’s mission of promoting American small businesses, workers, as well as local job and economic growth by providing the opportunity they need to stay competitive in the global marketplace.

Dring a hearing in the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Heitkamp – who serves as ranking member on the Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Policy – today questioned Garrett, a former congressman, on his past statements opposing the Bank and whether he is up to the task of being a true advocate for the Bank’s mission to support U.S. jobs.

Long a champion of the Export-Import Bank and the American workers it supports, Heitkamp has been pressing President Trump to appoint members to the Export-Import Bank Board so that it is fully functional since she met with him in December 2016 when he was president-elect. During a meeting at the White House in February, Heitkamp received a commitment from President Trump that he would nominate members to get the Bank fully operating.

“North Dakota has a proud tradition of manufacturers and small business owners, and for generations, they’ve been able to compete on a global scale with the help of loan guarantees of the Export-Import Bank,” said Heitkamp. “But over the past several years, some members of Congress have stalled the bank from operating or fully functioning for political reasons, hurting those American workers and businesses, and Scott Garrett helped lead the charge when he was in Congress. Today I asked him for an apology to the American small businesses and workers he hurt by his staunch, political opposition to the Export-Import Bank, an agency which he ironically he now wants to lead. But he refused the chance to reconcile his past, or to prove he wouldn’t act as a saboteur of the Bank. The Ex-Im Bank doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime, has supported thousands of U.S. jobs including many across North Dakota, and helps boost rural economies – supporting it should be a no-brainer. It’s interesting that now that Garrett wants a job, he’s suddenly had a change of tune. Unfortunately for him, I don’t buy it and neither do the American workers he left stranded when he was in Congress.”

Present at the hearing was Kristin Hedger, who serves as vice president for business development at Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing in Killdeer, North Dakota. The three-generation, family-owned company manufactures products like the wire harnesses or the ‘veins’ of aircrafts, as well as the circuit cards and fiber optic subassemblies which make up the ‘brain and nervous system’ of an aircraft for Boeing. The company took off in 2002 when the Export-Import Bank helped the company expand – boosting its sales by tens of millions, according to Hedger, and helping them employ about 350 full-time employees in western North Dakota.

“For three generations, Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing has been a part of the fabric of North Dakota – helping diversify our workforce and grow jobs in an atypically boom-or-bust agriculture and energy-industry heavy state,” said Hedger. “Every time you walk onto a 737 – you can be sure that critical parts of the aircraft you’re on you’re on an aircraft that were made by hardworking people in North Dakota. That’s something we can be proud of – and it’s why strong, rural, family-owned companies like ours shouldn’t be able to fight fair with countries abroad so we can manufacture and create more jobs right here at home. Our dedicated workers are making quality products in Killdeer, and small businesses like ours across the country ought to be able to compete on a level playing field to keep it that way. Instead, that opportunity was hobbled by a lack of support by our own federal government when members of Congress – including now-Ex-Im Chair Nominee Scott Garrett – voted to shut the Bank down for five months. Today, Senator Heitkamp fought to make sure to make sure that never happens again – pushing Ex-Im Bank nominees to commit to promoting opportunity for businesses like ours to grow certainty, jobs, and economic diversification in states like North Dakota. At Killdeer, we’re grateful for strong fighters like Senator Heitkamp, and for the continued support of our delegation. It’s time to support a strong Ex-Im Bank for the long run.”

In June, President Trump formally nominated two new members, former U.S. Congressmen Scott Garrett of New Jersey and Spencer T. Bachus III of Alabama, to the Export-Import Bank’s Board of Directors for four years. He had announced his intention to nominate Garrett and Bachus in April. The Bank’s board needs three out of five members to reach a quorum to approve deals over $10 million supporting businesses large and small including many small suppliers across the country. Heitkamp has repeatedly expressed concern for the ability of the Bank to become fully functional, particularly as Garrett – who, if confirmed as Ex-Im president, would have significant influence over the Bank’s agenda – opposed reauthorizing the Bank during his time in Congress. 

Background on the Export-Import Bank

In June 2015, Congress let the Export-Import Bank expire for the first time in the agency’s more than 80 year history. In December 2015, Congress passed Heitkamp’s legislation to reauthorize the Bank with strong bipartisan support. But the agency still hasn’t been able to fully function. The Export-Import Bank is an independent federal government agency and the official export credit agency of the United States.

Former Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) had refused for a year to hold a committee vote on the then-nominee to the Ex-Im Bank Board. This inaction prevented the lack of a quorum on the five-member board and halted the agency from financing deals over $10 million. As a result, it has hindered support for American jobs and businesses – including for small suppliers of companies that use the Bank – and prevented them from remaining competitive in the global economy. Some American companies have already been forced to move American jobs overseas because they have not been able to access financing from the Ex-Im Bank.

The Ex-Im Bank has helped North Dakota businesses grow, expand, and hire more American workers, supporting $42 million in exports since 2011 from North Dakota alone, as well as 633 jobs across the state by providing loans, loan guarantees, and insurance to facilitate overseas sales by U.S. firms.

###