March 30, 2022

Ahead of the Final Confirmation Vote, Brown Urges Colleagues to Support Judith Pryor For First Vice President of the Export-Import Bank

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today on the Senate Floor, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, called on his colleagues to support the nomination of Judith Pryor for First Vice President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. As First Vice President, Ms. Pryor will help lead the nation’s official export credit agency as it supports U.S. workers and manufacturers throughout our country.  

Video of Senator Brown’s remarks is available here.

Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow:

Mr./Madame President, I urge my colleagues to join me in advancing the nomination of Judith Pryor as First Vice President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

Our foreign competitors operate more than 100 export credit agencies and credit programs supporting their manufacturers. China’s export finance activity is larger than all of the export credit that G7 countries collectively provide, and China will continue to use export credit to win manufacturing business in critical sectors.

As First Vice President, Ms. Pryor will help lead the nation’s official export credit agency as it supports U.S. workers and manufacturers throughout our country.  

The Senate previously confirmed Ms. Pryor to be a board member of EXIM in July 2019 with overwhelming bipartisan support by a vote of 77-19.  Most recently, she was advanced out of the Banking and Housing Committee by a voice vote.

As a board member, Ms. Pryor worked with former President Kimberly Reed and current board member Spencer Bachus, both Republican nominees, to reopen EXIM to full operations.

Ms. Pryor is proudly a native Ohioan—hailing from Richmond Heights. She has more than 25 years of international business, finance, and public policy experience.

Don’t be misled by attacks on EXIM’s creation of a new financing facility for U.S. exporters.  EXIM President Reta Jo Lewis is doing exactly what Congress told the Bank to do when we reauthorized its charter in 2019: help American exporters compete with China. 

EXIM is not asking Congress to waive any rules, and the Bank is required to show that its financing does not crowd out financing from the private sector. 

It is essential that our manufacturers have every tool at their disposal so that they can compete globally. That is why we need Judith Pryor at EXIM. 

I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting Ms. Pryor’s nomination.

I yield the floor.

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