Rare floor vote secured for Ex-Im Bank reauthorization

A group of Republican House lawmakers on Friday exercised a rarely used “discharge petition” to gather enough support to force a vote on the chamber floor to reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

   A group of Republican House lawmakers on Friday exercised a rarely used “discharge petition” to gather enough support to force a vote on the chamber floor to reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
   The vote is expected to take place about Oct. 26, according to the legislative newspaper The Hill.
   Congressmen Stephen Fincher, R-Tenn.; Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.; and Chris Collins, R-N.Y., filed the discharge petition to allow House consideration of their bill to reauthorize and reform the Ex-Im Bank. The bank shut down in June when a group of lawmakers successfully blocked its reauthorization, calling it “corporate welfare” for large companies such as Boeing and General Electric.
   “This Republican-led petition is a procedure to stand up to Washington’s broken system that is killing thousands of American jobs and jeopardizing thousands more,” the three lawmakers said in a statement Friday. “Our constituents expect us to fight for them and get the job done, but Congress has failed to even hold a vote to reform and reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank. 
   “We refuse to look any more hardworking Americans in the eye and say, ‘you lost your job because Congress refused to hold a vote.’ This cannot wait any longer. If we do not get this done for the American people, the only thing our country will be exporting is jobs,” they added.
   According to The Hill, Fincher, Kinzinger and Collins secured 218 votes from both Republicans and Democrats to deploy the discharge petition. 
   Passing Ex-Im Bank reauthorization legislation from the House floor may still be an uphill battle, however, as opposition to Ex-Im Bank’s reauthorization vows to fight the bill’s passage.
   “Ex-Im supporters have so far failed to convince a majority of Republicans on the Financial Services Committee to support a vote on reauthorizing the bank. This is an issue we’ve whipped no less than three times and the majority of Republicans on the committee have said they do not favor bringing Ex-Im up for a vote,” House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling said in a statement, who called the discharge petition a “dangerous precedent” for the Republican majority in the House.