House passes bill to revive Export-Import Bank

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to renew the Export-Import Bank’s charter on Tuesday, but the path for the trade lender’s ultimate revival remained unclear in the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opposes it.

The 313-118 vote, which included a majority of House Republicans and nearly all Democrats, aims to put EXIM back in business offering new loans and guarantees for U.S. exports through Sept. 30, 2019 with some reforms.

EXIM has been effectively idled since its charter expired on June 30, causing some U.S. companies to lose export contracts and move jobs overseas.

“After today’s vote, there is no question where support for EXIM reauthorization stands. Broad, bipartisan majorities in both chambers have now clearly spoken in support of EXIM reauthorization,” said Jay Timmons, chief executive of the National Association of Manufacturers.

The trade group and companies large and small have been frustrated by the efforts of conservative Republicans and outside political groups to close the bank, which they say provides “corporate welfare” to elite multinationals such as Boeing Co and General Electric.

House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling had blocked EXIM renewal legislation for months, arguing that the bank hurts some companies, such as Delta Airlines, which has complained that cheap EXIM loans on Boeing aircraft allowed foreign carriers to drive Delta from some routes.

“So much of this support ends up in countries like China and Russia,” Hensarling said Tuesday. “It’s stupid for us to subsidize China in the thought that somehow, we are going to compete with China.”

The vote was the result of an effective mutiny in the House in which moderate Republicans teamed up with Democrats to invoke a rarely successful procedural maneuver to bypass Hensarling’s committee and force the issue to the House floor.

In a statement released Tuesday evening, U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, said, “Earlier this year, I voted against President Obama’s Trade Promotion Authority in order to help protect Maine jobs, such as those at New Balance in Norridgewock, Norway, and Skowhegan. I also pushed to get HUBZone language added to the National Defense Authorization Act as it would help attract and create more jobs in Maine — unfortunately President Obama vetoed this bipartisan bill last week.

“That’s why I voted to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, with much needed reforms, so we can continue to attract and secure jobs,” Poliquin said. “These reforms include establishing an Office of Ethics, an increase in loss reserves so that taxpayers are less on the hook, an independent audit of the Bank’s portfolio and more.

“However, there is much more work to be done in reforming the culture at the Bank. With the full weight of my office, I will continue to push my reforms that will lay the foundation for a growing American economy and good-paying jobs while rooting out fraud, corruption, and insider dealings in Washington.”

Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, also voted to reopen the bank.

“It’s outrageous that it took this long and required a petition by Members of Congress to reopen the Export Import Bank,” Pingree said. “Jobs in Maine and across the country depend on this bank, and shutting down the bank put small business at a competitive disadvantage when they try to export their products around the world. It’s disappointing that reauthorizing the Bank got caught up in Tea Party politics and it took this long to even allow a vote on it.”

McConnell said Tuesday he does not plan to devote any more Senate floor time to EXIM.

He added that the bank’s backers could try to attach a renewal bill to a highway funding measure. But the future of the highway measure is unclear, with the Senate in July passing a six-year plan and the House passing another short-term extension.

The House will take up a longer-term transportation bill later this year under prospective new Speaker Paul Ryan, who is widely expected to take over from John Boehner after a vote Thursday.

Ryan, however, is an ardent EXIM opponent, saying Tuesday it represented “crony capitalism.”

https://bangordailynews.com/2015/10/27/politics/house-passes-bill-to-revive-export-import-bank/