Ads to target members of Congress

Two business groups are hitting the airwaves and Internet to raise support for U.S. Export-Import Bank reauthorization and the Highway Trust Funding.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has launched "a significant, multimedia ad blitz" in dozens of congressional districts across the country to support Ex-Im Bank reauthorization. The bank's current charter expires on June 30.

"Time is running out. If Ex-Im's charter is not renewed, there will be real consequences--lost sales and lost jobs in communities all across America," Chamber CEO Tom Donohue said. "Failure to reauthorize Ex-Im would amount to unilateral disarmament in the face of other countries' far more aggressive government export credit programs."

Thousands of U.S. jobs will be lost if Congress fails to act before the deadline, according to the Chamber.

Highway funding is at the center of a new campaign by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, which said it is "turning up the heat" on Congress with television, print and radio ads in key media outlets, such as The Washington Post and Politico. The group is proposing an increase in funding for Highway Trust Fund by raising the tax on motor fuels by 15 cents per gallon.

"Our intent with the television ad is to make sure every member of Congress knows what a 15-cent gas tax solution would achieve before they make a decision on the May 31 deadline," ARTBA CEO Pete Ruane said. "Our Getting Beyond Gridlock proposal would stop the seven-year cycle of debt to future generations—now over $50 billion—that the presidents and Congress have used to maintain current funding."

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