The House on Monday is expected to take a first step toward reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, the export financing agency that Republican leaders allowed to expire on July 1.
GOP leaders in the House see the bank as a form of corporate welfare, but Rep. Stephen Fincher, R-Tenn., and many other Republicans and Democrats are supporting a “discharge petition,” which is aimed at overriding the will of the leadership.
If the discharge petition were approved, it would allow the House to hold a vote on passage of Fincher’s legislation to reform and reauthorize the bank.
The discharge petition has more than half of all House members supporting it, and under the rules of the House, any member supporting it has the right to call it up Monday.
According to a House Republican aide, lawmakers are expected to call up the petition today, and the House is likely to hold a vote on passage of Fincher’s bill by Tuesday.
Approval of Fincher’s bill would help build momentum for passage in the Senate, where many Republicans and Democrats support it. Back in July, the Senate approved a long-term highway bill that included language to reauthorize the bank.
That bill passed 64-29, a sign support in the Senate is there.
On Sunday, Fincher and Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., wrote in the Wall Street Journal that it’s time to reform the bank, but also to reauthorize it because it can help spur job creation.
“Since Ex-Im’s charter lapsed, we’ve seen what happens when companies, particularly small businesses, are unable to receive export financing,” they wrote. “For instance, Weldy-Lamont, an Illinois engineering company, has brought electricity to more than 1,000 villages in Africa. Without Ex-Im, it has been forced to put projects and jobs on hold.”
“We want more American-made products, not less,” they added. “It’s time for Congress to reform and reinstate the Ex-Im Bank.”
The two lawmakers said they support language in the bill that lowers the bank’s overall ability to provide loans and loan guarantees to foreign companies that are trying to buy U.S. goods. Additionally, they support efforts to strengthen risk management and end the bank’s favoritism toward green energy projects.
