Urge lawmakers to support Ex-Im Bank

To the editor:

Iowans are getting ready for the 2016 presidential campaign, which saw its first official entrant with Sen. Ted Cruz's announcement.

We take our role in the campaign process seriously, which is why as a small manufacturer in Waverly, I am increasingly concerned about the anti-small-business position Cruz and others have taken on the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

The Ex-Im Bank has helped small and large U.S. companies sell their goods to customers overseas for more than 80 years. It helps create jobs and brings money back to the treasury - $675 million last year.

Cruz calls it 'crony capitalism” that benefits big businesses and wants to end it. But my company, United Equipment Accessories, relies on Ex-Im support for 30-40 percent of our revenue because we make parts that we sell to bigger companies that use the bank to sell their products overseas.

We aren't crony capitalists - we are a second-generation, family-owned business with 120 employees, and there are plenty of other Iowa businesses out there like us.

I urge my neighbors to ask candidates - and members of Congress - to support Iowa jobs and support the Ex-Im Bank.

Mark Hanawalt

United Equipment Accessories, Inc.

Waverly

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