Coalition of 50+ Orgs to Congress: Let the Export-Import Bank Expire

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On April 21, 2014, the Club for Growth and 52 other organizations wrote to Members of Congress urging them to oppose reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. Here is the letter:

 

Dear Members of Congress:
On behalf of our groups and organizations, together representing millions of Americans, we urge you to oppose the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. It unfairly hurts domestic companies and risks billions of taxpayer dollars.

By paying foreign companies to buy American exports, the Export-Import Bank tilts the playing field away from mid-sized and small businesses in favor of large, politically connected corporations. The Airlines for America, for example, estimates that the bank’s recent loans to foreign airlines have killed as many as 7,500 jobs for domestic airlines in the United States. Eliminating the Export-Import Bank would level the playing field and allow U.S. companies to compete for business on their merits rather than the strength of their political ties to the bank.

Not only does the Export-Import bank interfere with the free market, it also jeopardizes billions of taxpayer dollars. According to a 2014 report from the Congressional Budget Office the bank will costs taxpayers $2 billion over the next decade despite claims that it pays for itself. This discrepancy is because the bank does not use fair-value accounting, a method widely used by private finance organizations. These risky loans and poor accounting practices are harmful to taxpayers, who are
left footing the bill.

America deserves an international trade policy that is based on free-market mechanisms, not paying foreign companies to buy exports from large corporations with political connections. We, the undersigned organizations, urge you to oppose reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank.
Sincerely,

David McIntosh, President
Club for Growth

Brent Gardner, Vice President of Government Affairs
Americans for Prosperity

Marc Short, President
Freedom Partners

Jim Martin, Chairman
60 Plus Association

Susan A. Carleson, Chairman/CEO
American Civil Rights Union

Phil Kerpen, President
American Commitment

Dan Schneider, Executive Director
American Conservative Union

Sean Noble, President
American Encore

Thomas J. Pyle, President
American Energy Alliance

Coley Jackson, President
Americans for Competitive Enterprise

Peter J. Thomas, Chairman
Americans for Constitutional Liberty

Richard Manning, President
Americans for Limited Government

Grover Norquist, President
Americans for Tax Reform

Scot Mussi, President
Arizona Free Enterprise Club

John Tate, President
Campaign For Liberty

Kristin Fecteau, Co-Founder
Campaign to Free America

Tina Pisenti, Executive VP and COO
Cascade Policy Institute

Tom Brinkman Jr., Chairman
Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST)

Lawson Bader, President
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Pete Hegseth, CEO
Concerned Veterans for America

Chris Prandoni, Interim Executive Director
Cost of Government Center

Thomas A. Schatz, President
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste

L. Brent Bozell III, Chairman
ForAmerica

Matt Kibbe, President and Founder
FreedomWorks

Evan Feinberg, President
Generation Opportunity

Michael Scupin, Vice President
Georgia Grassroots Coalition

Michael A. Needham, Chief Executive Officer
Heritage Action for America

Mario H. Lopez, President
Hispanic Leadership Fund

Kimberly Fletcher, President & Founder
HomeMakers for America Inc.

Carrie Lukas, Managing Director
Independent Women’s Forum

Heather Higgens, President and CEO
Independent Women’s Voice

Andrew Langer, President
Institute for Liberty

Seton Motley, President
Less Government

Colin A. Hanna, President
Let Freedom Ring

Dee Hodges, President
Maryland Taxpayers Association

Amy Ridenour, Chairman
National Center for Public Policy Research

Lew Uhler, President
National Tax Limitation Committee

Pete Sepp, President
National Taxpayers Union

Gov. Gary Johnson, Honorary Chairman
Our America Initiative

Kimberly Wold, Executive Director
Prosper

Andrew Moylan, Executive Director and Senior Fellow
R Street Institute

Mike Stenhouse, CEO
Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity

Paul Gessing, President
Rio Grande Foundation

William Whipple III, President
Secure America’s Future Economy

Teri Christoph, Director of Digital Media
Tami Nantz, Co-founder

Smart Girl Politics
Stephen Ellis, Vice President

Taxpayers for Common Sense
David Williams, President

Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Judson Phillips, Founder

Tea Party Nation
Brett Healy, President

The John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy
Daniel Garza, Executive Director

The LIBRE Initiative
Morton Blackwell, Chairman

The Weyrich Lunch
Carl Bearden, Executive Director

United for Missouri
Rose Bogaert, Chair

Wayne County Taxpayers Association