Facing a tough primary challenge next month, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) quietly fell in line behind his young tea party colleague, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), even to the point of joining in a doomed amendment to wipe out the bank entirely in the space of one year.

But South Carolina’s GOP delegation was the true ground zero, and in vote after vote Tuesday afternoon, Sens. Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham butted heads without apology.

Boeing’s huge investment in the state — where the company’s 787 Dreamliner passenger jets are rolling out to meet foreign sales orders dependent on Ex-Im financing — punctuated this spat. And last Wednesday, South Carolina’s five Republicans in the House broke only 3-2 for the bill, again influenced by the Boeing jobs in hard economic times.

“From a South Carolina perspective, this is a very big deal. It was a big deal to get Boeing to come to South Carolina,” Graham told his Senate colleagues in support of the bill. “Eight out of 10 planes being manufactured in Charleston, S.C., are sold based on Export-Import Bank financing.

“It’s one thing to do reform; it’s another thing to unilaterally surrender,” Graham added. “It’s one thing to lead the world; it’s another thing to put people who make products in America at risk unnecessarily.”

“Our job is to protect taxpayers,” answered DeMint minutes later. “When we guarantee a loan, we are signing the taxpayer’s name to a loan guarantee. … We cannot assume this money is coming back to the taxpayer.

“We’re in a bidding war with China and Europe to see who can subsidize the most loans at a time when all of us are broke. We need to bring this to a close,” DeMint said.

Indeed, the bill includes significant reforms negotiated by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) but also gives the bank substantial freedom to continue on the aggressive course set under President Barack Obama.

Ex-Im’s loan-exposure cap, which has remained at $100 billion since 2001, would be raised to $120 billion immediately and then continue to grow in two $10 billion increments in fiscal 2013 and 2014.

The bank’s expanded portfolio is already such that it had expected to bump up against the $100 billion cap by the end of this month if Congress did not act. Officials said Tuesday they are now confident that with the extra authority and projects in the pipeline, Ex-Im will exceed last year’s record activity loan level of $32.7 billion.

In return for these concessions, the bill subjects the bank to new rules, demanding greater transparency for any transaction of $100 million or more. Management will be required to maintain default rates below 2 percent and submit both a business plan and a report responsive to criticism of its risk-management practices. Quarterly financial reports will be required, and if the default rate should go over 2 percent for any six-month period, the Treasury would have to bring in an independent third party to address the problem.

Cantor also won a requirement that Secretary Timothy Geithner initiate talks with U.S. trading partners toward “substantially reducing” and ultimately ending the practice of export financing subsidies, including for passenger aircraft. Geithner would be required to report back in six months and annually thereafter.

But critics like DeMint and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) argued that progress on the talks must be more closely linked to the higher loan authority sought by the bank.

A Toomey amendment, for example, proposed to keep the cap at $100 billion until the talks are actually under way and only then raise the ceiling to $120 billion until the administration has come back with a multilateral agreement.

“This is a very sensible way to deal with really the only compelling argument I have heard in favor of forcing taxpayers to continue to take this risk,” Toomey said. “That is, ‘Everyone does it so we must.’”

“Well since that’s the only reason, let’s start the process of persuading everyone else not to do it. We have tremendous leverage.”

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) wasn’t buying. “Capping it and saying you aren’t going to give any more money for more loans until you negotiate an end to the bank, I think is the wrong way to go,” she argued. Toomey’s amendment failed 63-35.

A second proposal by Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) to require the bank to maintain a 10 percent capital reserve in case of loan losses also failed 62-36. Corker said that Ex-Im is now required to maintain only $1 billion in reserves. But the bank’s annual report for 2011 shows it had $4.1 billion, or 4.6 percent, of total exposures — less than Corker wanted but more than the floor debate suggested. ]]> http://www.republicanmainstreet.org/2012/05/politico-ex-im-bank-deal-clears-congress/feed/ 0 http://www.republicanmainstreet.org/2012/05/main-street-praises-senate-passage-of-export-import-bank-re-authorization/ http://www.republicanmainstreet.org/2012/05/main-street-praises-senate-passage-of-export-import-bank-re-authorization/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 21:15:31 +0000 RMSP http://www.republicanmainstreet.org/?p=1476 Joint Statement of former U.S. Rep. Amory F. Houghton (R-NY) and former U.S. Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA)

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the U.S. Senate re-authorized the Export-Import Bank. In response, former U.S. Rep. Amory F. Houghton, Chairman of the RMSP Board, and former U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, President of RMSP, issued the following joint statement:

“The Senate has followed the House in passing bipartisan legislation to re-authorize the Export-Import Bank.  Re-authorization will spur economic growth and create jobs, without adding the federal debt.

“Unlike the failed “stimulus” spending, which cost taxpayers trillions of dollars, the cost to the American taxpayers for the Export-Import Bank’s job creation is nothing.  The Bank generates enough fees to offsets its costs and actually contributes the remaining surpluses to the United States Treasury.  Indeed, over the last five years, the Bank has returned $3.4 billion to the United States Treasury.

“Last year alone, the Export-Import Bank supported more than $40 billion in export sales from American companies.  These sales, from 3,600 companies, supported almost 300,000 jobs.

“The Republican Main Street Partnership praises the Senate’s bipartisan re-authorization and urges the President to sign this important legislation.”

# # #

The Republican Main Street Partnership (RMSP) is dedicated to promoting and building a pragmatic, thoughtful, fiscally conservative, and inclusive “Governing Majority,” where political debate is encouraged to promote solutions to improve the lives of all Americans. Embracing the full spectrum of center-right ideologies and values in order to build coalitions, RMSP is the largest organization of elected leaders who are in the mold of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan. For more information on RMSP, visit our website at www.republicanmainstreet.org.

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives re-authorized the Export-Import Bank. In response, former U.S. Rep. Amory F. Houghton, Chairman of the Board of RMSP, and former U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, President of RMSP, issued the following joint statement:

“Lawmakers in Washington have a daunting task in front of them today – not only must they find ways to spur economic growth and create jobs, they must do so in the context of a looming unprecedented fiscal crisis as a result of deficit spending and mountains of federal debt. The good news is that re-authorizing the Export-Import Bank not only creates jobs, it does so without adding the federal debt.

“Unlike the failed “stimulus” spending, which cost taxpayers trillions of dollars, the cost to the American taxpayers for the Export-Import Bank’s job creation is nothing. The Bank generates enough fees to offsets its costs and actually contributes the remaining surpluses to the United StatesTreasury. Indeed, over the last five years, the Bank has returned $3.4 billion to the United States Treasury.

“Last year alone, the Export-Import Bank supported more than $40 billion in export sales from American companies. These sales, from 3,600 companies, supported almost 300,000 jobs.

“The Republican Main Street Partnership praises the House’s bipartisan re-authorization and urges the Senate to follow suit.”

# # #

The Republican Main Street Partnership (RMSP) is dedicated to promoting and building a pragmatic, thoughtful, fiscally conservative, and inclusive “Governing Majority,” where political debate is encouraged to promote solutions to improve the lives of all Americans. Embracing the full spectrum of center-right ideologies and values in order to build coalitions, RMSP is the largest organization of elected leaders who are in the mold of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan. For more information on RMSP, visit our website at www.republicanmainstreet.org.

A freshman Republican drafting legislation aimed at protecting Planned Parenthood seems to go against the national narrative about the 87 newest members of the House. But Rep. Robert Dold, R-Ill., is fighting for reelection in the most pro-Obama district held by any Republican member of Congress, and he offers a glaring exception to the staunch conservatism of his freshman class.

As part of a continuing effort to be seen as that endangered species—a socially moderate congressional Republican—Dold is introducing a bill on Tuesday aimed at shielding health clinics from discrimination. The Protecting Women’s Access to Health Care Act solidifies language stating that clinics performing abortions cannot be blocked from Title X funding.

Title X is a family-planning program created in 1970 to provide preventative care to low-income women. In 2010, the law funded clinics that served more than 5 million people, nearly 70 percent of whom had incomes at or below the federal poverty level. The funds themselves cannot go to abortion services.
“I don’t anticipate that we will have the majority of support within our party,” said Dold, one of seven House Republicans who support abortion rights. “But as a pro-choice Republican it’s important that I speak out for Title X planning. We as a Congress need to make sure women have access to critical health care needs.”
That programs like Planned Parenthood are under attack is clear. States including Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, and Wisconsin have moved bills through their legislatures to defund the organization. Of course, the chances of Dold’s bill getting any real action are slim, and his critics feel that this is nothing more than pandering to a district that is getting more and more liberal.
“Where was Congressman Dold when congressional Republicans voted to end Medicare, but give tax breaks to millionaires and big oil, or when congressional Republicans pushed a radical attack on women’s health?” said Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “It takes more to stand up for Illinois against the tea party’s extreme ideological agenda than symbolic gestures or disingenuous rhetoric, and Congressman Dold has been a reliable foot soldier for congressional Republicans every step of the way.”
In fact, his opponent in the November election, Democrat Brad Schneider, portrays Dold as just another extremist freshman, pointing to votes he cast against raising the debt ceiling and in favor of the budget plan being pushed by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
“Only a week after Speaker [John] Boehner admitted that Rep. Dold was ‘frankly pretty vulnerable,’ we see Dold’s attempt to mask his record of voting against women,” said Schneider campaign manager Reed Adamson. “Sadly, Rep. Dold’s record of voting to defund Planned Parenthood to voting for anti-choice legislation shows that this is more of an election-year maneuver than a stand for women’s health care.”
But Dold’s moderate reputation is earned, according to vote ratings compiled by National Journal that cite him as the 231st most-conservative member in the House.
“This isn’t a new thing,” Dold said, noting that he spoke out against eliminating Title X funding in early 2011. “It’s a continuation of what we’ve been doing since I got here.”

ADVERTISEMENT
As former Republican members of the House who served during the 1990s, it is not often that we agree with former President Bill Clinton. On the re-authorization of the Export-Import Bank, however, the former president is absolutely right. Recently, Clinton urged reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank: “Whether you are Republicans, Democrats or Independents, I urge you to ask the Congress to reauthorize.”

President Clinton is spot on when he says that re-authorization of the bank will “help to create a stronger America.”

The truth is that our economy continues to struggle and that our national unemployment rate continues to be far too high. For too many in our country, the American dream is becoming harder to realize.

Republicans have rightfully said for years that the last thing we should do is raise taxes in the teeth of a recession. Republicans have also been leading the fight on regulatory reform because they understand the burden placed on businesses by unnecessary and overly complex bureaucratic red tape.

Republicans have fought against tax increases and for regulatory reform because they understand the importance of creating jobs — particularly in this fragile economy. It is for that reason that the Export-Import Bank should be re-authorized.

Last year alone, the Export-Import Bank supported more than $40 billion in export sales from American companies. These sales, from 3,600 companies, supported almost 300,000 jobs.

Lawmakers have a daunting task in front of them today — not only must they find ways to spur economic growth and create jobs, they must do so in the context of a looming, unprecedented fiscal crisis that is a result of deficit spending and mountains of federal debt. The good news is that the Export-Import Bank not only creates jobs, it does so without adding to the federal debt.

Unlike the failed “stimulus” spending, which cost taxpayers trillions of dollars, the cost to the American taxpayers for the Export-Import Bank’s job creation is nothing. The bank generates enough fees to offset its costs and actually contributes the remaining surpluses to the United States Treasury. Indeed, over the last five years, the bank has returned $3.4 billion to the United States Treasury.

The Export-Import Bank has been an important tool for global competitiveness, especially for small businesses. Small businesses are the engines that drive job creation in the American economy, and more than 85% of the Export-Import Bank’s transactions directly support small businesses.

The Export-Import Bank does not compete with private lenders. Instead the bank is a “lender of last resort.” The bank helps to level the playing field for U.S. exporters by matching the financing that other governments provide to their exporters. The Export-Import Bank also fills important gaps in trade financing by assuming credit risks and country risks that other private sector actors are unable or unwilling to do. It has done so with amazing success — supporting more than $456 billion of United States exports over the last 77 years.

The Export-Import Bank’s charter expired in 2011 and it is currently operating on an extension that is set to expire on May 31st of this year.

On Friday night, a compromise was reached in the House. Under the bipartisan agreement, the Export-Import Bank’s charter will be extended through September 2014 and its loan exposure cap will be raised 40 percent to $140 billion.

The bank will be required to keep default rates below 2 percent. Additionally, the Treasury Department will be required to initiate talks with U.S. trading partners toward “substantially reducing” and ultimately ending the practice of export financing subsidies.

Despite the bipartisan agreement, some are still opposed to re-authorization.

Opponents of re-authorization have called the Export-Import Bank “corporate welfare.” While such accusations may make for good talk radio fodder, they do not represent the reality of the long and successful history of the Export-Import Bank. The bank has a 77-year track record of making investments in American companies that have created millions of jobs.

Failure to re-authorize the bank has rightfully been compared to “unilateral surrender” — American companies and manufacturers will immediately be placed at a strategic disadvantage in the global marketplace.

Re-authorization should be passed with wide bipartisan majorities — indeed, when we were in Congress that is exactly what happened. The American people want their representatives in Washington to get this economy moving again, they want to see economic growth that creates much-needed jobs. Members on both sides of the aisle should have job creation as their number one priority and re-authorizing the Export-Import Bank is an important part of any job creation effort.

Amory F. Houghton is a former Republican congressman from New York and the chairman of the board of the Republican Main Street Partnership. Tom Davis is a former Republican congressman from Virginia and the president and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/08/re-authorize-the-export-import-bank/#ixzz1uJYt4Ah2

Snowe Reflects On Her Tenure as Retirement Nears

By Matthew Cooper

May 6, 2012 | 12:00 p.m.

WASHINGTON, DC – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today selected Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitefield (R-KY) to serve on the Conference Committee that will negotiate a House and Senate agreement on transportation legislation. The conference will negotiate provisions within the Energy and Commerce Committee’s purview, including approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, vehicle safety measures, and a framework to ensure the safe management and reuse of coal ash.

“Keystone XL is an infrastructure project that will create thousands of American jobs and fortify our nation’s energy security without costing taxpayers a dime or adding a cent to our deficit. By dragging out the approval process, the president has put this critical jobs and energy project in jeopardy. Congress must now intervene to ensure America does not lose this vital North American energy source to China and other global competitors. Majorities in both the House and Senate have voted in favor of this project, the American people want this project, and it is time to get the job done.

“Likewise, the conference is an opportunity to enact a legislative fix for EPA’s ill-advised plans for coal ash regulation. EPA’s proposal puts hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk, threatens the beneficial use of coal ash, and could drive up electricity rates for American families and businesses. Members of the Energy and Commerce Committee worked hard to come up with a bipartisan compromise that will enhance environmental protections without sacrificing jobs or putting further strain on our economy. Both the Keystone XL and coal ash provisions are products of commonsense legislation that enjoyed broad bipartisan support in the House as stand-alone bills, and I hope to see similar bipartisan backing in these negotiations,” said Upton. “The Energy and Commerce Committee has focused extensively on job creation, affordable energy, and necessary protections for consumers in the 112th Congress, and I appreciate the opportunity to address all of these priorities through these bipartisan, bicameral negotiations.”

“I am pleased to have been appointed to the Transportation bill extension conference committee,” said Whitfield. “The Keystone pipeline is essential to our energy security and economic growth. This pipeline will create approximately 20,000 direct jobs and an estimated 100,000 indirect jobs, while bringing nearly one million barrels of oil to market in the United States. Another major component of the transportation extension package is the coal ash provision, which will ensure that the EPA does not propose standards that will hinder coal-fired electricity or restrict the recycling of coal ash in concrete and other products.”

Motor vehicle safety, including oversight of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), falls within the jurisdiction of the Energy and Commerce Committee. At a recent hearing, the Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee examined proposed motor vehicle safety provisions. The committee received input from the Administrator of NHTSA, automobile manufacturers, and consumer advocates, expertise that will inform the negotiations as the House conferees work to ensure that any new regulations balance both the benefits and consumer costs.