The following resolution was unimously adopted Wednesday, May 28, by the Wharton Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture board of directors:

Resolution

of the Wharton Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture

WHEREAS the Export-Import Bank of the United States was established in 1934 by an Executive Order for the purpose of providing credit guarantees and other financial services that help foreign customers of U.S. companies secure financing they need from to buy American products; and

WHEREAS the Export-Import Bank of the United States has facilitated $586 billion in U.S. exports since its inception, supporting nearly $47 billion worth of exports in 2013; and

WHEREAS the charter of the Export-Import Bank of the United States provides that the Bank makes available not less than 20 percent of its lending authority to small businesses, which currently support nearly 290,000 export related jobs with more than 85 percent of all Bank transactions directly benefitting small business exporters; and

WHEREAS the Export-Import Bank of the United States has maintained a very low default rate of 1.5 percent through the recession and several years of strong growth and pays for itself through the fees it charges to foreign buyers and returns billions of dollars to the U.S. Treasury ($3.4 billion from 2006 to 2010); and

WHEREAS the Houston metropolitan area exported $110 billion of goods in 2012 and surpassed New York in 2013 as the number one U.S. market for exports with Texas having the most exporters by far that use the Export-Import Bank of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the Import-Export Bank of the United States has facilitated about $3 million in exports from Wharton’s Eco Prime Group, boosting the Wharton community’s employment and economic activity; and

WHEREAS eliminating the Export-Import Bank of the United States would not only increase the annual deficit by the amount deposited each year by the Bank in the U.S. Treasury but would also put thousands of export related jobs at risk;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

The Wharton Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture fully endorses and supports the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank of the United States because of  the significant economic impact that exports have on the regional economy and the nation.

Approved by the Board of Directors and signed on this 28^th Day of May, 2014

Justin Coldeway

Board Chair