Republican Congressional Candidate Hopkins-Cavanagh Responds to Courtney on Banks

Republican Congressional candidate Lori Hopkins-Cavanagh responded to Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, on his recent statements favoring the reauthorization of the controversial Export-Important Bank.

Read Hopkins-Cavanagh's full press release and statement below:

Lori Hopkins-Cavanagh Urges Export-Import Bank Reforms and Enterprise Outreach

UNCASVILLE - This week, Republican candidate for Congress Lori Hopkins-Cavanagh responded to Joe Courtney’s recent statements favoring the reauthorization of the controversial Export-Import Bank.  The role of the Export-Import Bank is to finance exports by underwriting loans to foreign companies to purchase American goods.  

Lori says that, “Renewing the Export-Import Bank without necessary reform is not what voters want. As it currently operates, the Export-Import bank is a big corporate welfare slush fund for  crony-capitalists that does little to nurture small and medium-sized businesses or grow high paying jobs in the 2nd District.”  

Over 80% of the funds are used to support Boeing, a company whose CEO is Obama’s export czar.   In 2012, 12.2 billion dollars of the 14.7 billion lent by the bank went to underwriting Boeing Aircraft which serves to undercut competitive American companies like Delta.

“If we are to see economic recovery we need to reform the Export-Import Bank so that the majority of the loan amount goes to support exports of small to medium-sized businesses and nurtures entrepreneurial growth in the 2nd District.” Hopkins-Cavanagh said.

Lori will set aside an ‘Enterprise Outreach’ budget to capitalize on existing Enterprise Zone Programs, City and Town Development Programs, Loan Funds, Foreign Trade Zone Regulations and Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) to attract small and medium sized export manufacturing businesses in the 2nd District.

“We must create an environment conducive to small and medium-sized business exports through tax and regulatory reforms, lowering the cost of energy and maximizing coordination between local, state and federal programs. These opportunities and incentives have existed for years but have not been harnessed for economic recovery,” Hopkins-Cavanagh said.

Support of the Export-Import Bank should not be clouded by special interest politics.  Boeing, General Electric, Caterpillar and other big corporate interests pay little to nothing in federal taxes and simply place more of a burden on the middle class and small to medium-sized businesses.