Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly, who serves on the Senate Banking Committee, joined colleagues in introducing bipartisan legislation that would reform and reauthorize the Export-Import Bank.  Donnelly — along with U.S. Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), and Mark Warner (D-VA)— introduced legislation late Thursday that would reauthorize the Bank’s charter until September 30, 2019 and implement several reforms.

Donnelly said, “The Export-Import Bank benefits small businesses in Indiana and across the country, creating jobs and opportunity.  We strengthen our economy when we expand export opportunities, allowing for more Hoosier and American companies to sell their products both at home and overseas. I am proud to support bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank as an important part of continued economic growth.”

Ex-Im Bank is the official export credit agency of the United States, and the Bank assists in financing the export of American goods and services to international markets.  The Ex-Im Bank’s authorization currently is scheduled to expire June 30, 2015.

The bill to reauthorize and reform the Ex-Im Bank would:

• Reduce risk to taxpayers by requiring higher loan loss reserves;
• Put greater focus on small businesses by increasing the required lending to small businesses from 20 percent to 25 percent; and
• Increase oversight of Ex-Im Bank practices by:
  • Creating a Chief Risk Officer and a Risk Management Committee to oversee the Bank's operations;
  • Requiring the Inspector General to regularly audit the Bank’s risk management procedures; and
  • Creating a non-political Chief Ethics Officer to oversee ethics practices of Bank employees.

Since 2007, the Ex-Im Bank has directly helped approximately 135 Hoosier companies, including 93 small businesses, export more than $4 billion in goods and services overseas, according to the Ex-Im Bank.

Donnelly is a longtime supporter of the Ex-Im Bank. Last year, Donnelly wrote an op-ed in The Hill about the importance of  the Ex-Im Bank to the economy, citing its impact on Indiana businesses, and he co-sponsored bipartisan legislation that would have reauthorized the Ex-Im Bank for five years. That bill was not considered by the Senate, and instead Congress passed a short-term reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank through June 30, 2015.

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