House Republicans weigh joining Export-Import, spending bill

WASHINGTON – House leaders will ask the rank-and-file to consider allowing a short-term re-authorization of the Export-Import Bank, House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions said.
Attaching the Ex-Im extension to stopgap spending legislation “would be the plan” to be presented Tuesday to the House Republican Conference, Sessions said.
The Ex-Im Bank, whose charter expires on Oct. 1, would be able to continue operations through mid-December, said a House Republican leadership aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Sessions provided no details on the duration of the extension.
“I am not here to announce that,” he told reporters. “There will be a discussion about this.”
The Export-Import Bank provides loan guarantees, loans and insurance to help foreign companies buy U.S. goods. Some House Republicans, backed by small-government groups including the Club for Growth and Heritage Action, want to abolish the agency.
When asked about merging the Ex-Im reauthorization and the government funding measure, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican, said the temporary spending bill hasn’t been “perfected yet.”
“We are trying to keep this bill as clean as we can,” Rogers said.

Sticking point

Congress must pass a spending measure by Sept. 30 to avoid a partial government shutdown. Whether to attach an extension of the Ex-Im bank is the main sticking point in House-Senate negotiations, said a Senate Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, said she expects a 10-week spending bill.
Lobbyists for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and related groups have been pushing hard to secure a re-authorization of the bank.
Top beneficiaries of the bank include Boeing Co., Deere & Co. and Caterpillar Inc.

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