Congress should reauthorize the Export-Import Bank to continue its crucial role in U.S. foreign policy

Recent weeks have seen debates in Congress over the future of the Export-Import Bank, a government agency that provides financing for exporters. While the Bank’s opponents accuse it of ‘corporate welfare’, Sarah Cleeland Knight argues that its benefits are not just economic. She writes that since its inception 80 years ago, the Export-Import Bank has kept firms engaged in countries where the U.S. would like to effect change, and that for the continuation of this important role, it should be reauthorized by Congress.