Statement by the President Upon Signing Bill To Broaden the Authority of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

THE long term solution to our balance of payments problem rests on our ability to develop and expand markets abroad.

As a nation, we are uniquely equipped to do this. The American economy is the world's strongest. Our businessmen and farmers, our scientists and engineers have created an advanced and productive technology. We have applied that technology to build the world's highest standard of living, and to develop and serve a vast market here at home.

Now we must apply that same kind of imagination and enterprise to develop markets abroad. The bill I am signing today is an important step in this direction. It will allow the Export-Import Bank to:

--provide wider coverage for export insurance;

--expand export financing guarantees;

--broaden the scope of Government financing of our exports.

This measure will add a new dimension to the efforts of the Export-Import Bank to serve the American business community and to increase the flow of commerce overseas.

It should help us make available to American firms export financing more competitive with that provided by other trading nations.

This new authority comes at an appropriate time. Our trade results so far this year have been disappointing. We must reverse this trend.

We must use this new authority with imagination, with a spirit of initiative, and with new administrative approaches and techniques.

We must use it to attract more short and medium term capital into the export business. We must use it to help business explore and develop new export markets.

We must use it to encourage American firms--especially small and medium size businesses who now sell only in the United States--to look toward exports as a new field for increasing sales and profits.

We must use it to support our nationwide effort to strengthen America's trade position and keep the dollar strong.

This measure brings into effect another in the series of action programs I outlined last January to move our balance of payments strongly toward equilibrium.

This is a high priority task. It is a demanding task. We must stay with it.