Don Brunell: Export-Import Bank fuels trade and job growth

It started in 1935 with a $3.8 million loan to Cuba for the purchase of U.S. silver ingots. That loan, backed by the U.S. government, was the beginning of the Export-Import Bank. Today, the bank helps finance export sales by thousands of U.S. manufacturers.

While it is little-known outside our nation’s capital, the Export-Import Bank is a lynchpin of our economy. It provides direct loans, loan guarantees and insurance to help finance sales of American goods and services overseas.

In 2011, the Export-Import Bank provided $32 billion in financing, supporting more than $41 billion in export sales...