House Passes Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization

Just last night, the House passed legislation to extend the authority of the Export-Import Bank into 2019.  The final vote was 333-118 with one Democrat and 117 Republicans opposing.  CompTIA has continually supported Ex-Im reauthorization.

Action on Ex-Im legistlation had been stalled for months in the House, where the Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Jeb Hensarling, opposed Ex-Im reauthorization, blocking the legislation from coming to the floor for a vote.  However, Tennessee Representative Stephen Fincher initiated a rarely-used procedural tactic known as a discharge petition, which successfully moved the Ex-Im reauthorization legislation directly to the House floor, bypassing both the committees and Republican leadership.

This House-passed reauthorization legislation now moves to the Senate, where its future is uncertain.  Senate Majority Leader McConnell has stated that the only path for Ex-Im was in the context of the highway trust fund bill, which the Senate passed in July.  Attached to that legislation was an amendment adopted by a vote of 64-29 that would have extended the Ex-Im Bank; thus, there is support for Ex-Im in the Senate.  However, even with this support, Majority Leader McConnell must make a path for the House-passed legislation to come to the floor for a vote.