House Lawmakers Reach Deal on Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization
House Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement to reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank, lawmakers said May 4. The bipartisan legislation would increase the bank's lending limit to $140 billion by 2014. The House is expected to vote on the bill this week. The text of the legislation is (here).
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The legislation would reauthorize the bank's charter, which would have expired on May 31, 2012, and increase the lending cap on the bank. The Ex-Im bank was expected to hit that lending limit by the end of May. The bill also begins the process for reducing export subsidies for aircraft, addressing a major complaint from airlines that disagreed with the practice. If passed, the Senate would still need to act on the legislation. Previous reauthorization legislation hit a snag in the Senate when conservative Republicans voiced opposition to the bank.
(See ITT's Online Archives 12032132 for summary of Senate failure to pass Ex-Im Bank reauthorization legislation.
Reauthorization of the bank would help create American jobs by "investing in a strong manufacturing sector that builds and exports products around the world," said House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) "Other nations are aggressively supporting their businesses’ exports, making it more important than ever that U.S. manufacturers can secure the financing they need to make certain their products can compete in foreign markets. This will contribute to our economic recovery and lead to the hiring of more workers for middle-class jobs here at home.”
“The simple truth is that action on this agreement is necessary to promote American exports and remove a threat to the creation of American jobs," said Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio). "It also provides for important reforms at the same time that will protect American taxpayers."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also voiced support for the deal. “This is great news for thousands of American workers, businesses of all sizes, and taxpayers, who can cheer the fact that this bill will reduce the deficit by hundreds of millions of dollars," said Chamber President Thomas Donohue. "When other countries are providing their own exporters with an estimated $1 trillion in export finance—often on terms more generous than Ex-Im can provide—failure to reauthorize Ex-Im would amount to unilateral disarmament and cost tens of thousands of American jobs.