The chairmen of two House committees are calling on their fellow Republicans to vote against a rarely successful tool that would force a vote on the Export-Import Bank’s reauthorization.
Republican Reps. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, and Pete Sessions of Texas, chairman of the Rules Committee, sent a letter to their GOP colleagues Friday encouraging them to oppose a discharge petition that would bring legislation reauthorizing Ex-Im directly to the House floor, bypassing both the committees and Republican leadership.
“[T]his isn’t about us, nor is it about the Financial Services Committee or the Rules Committee,” the chairmen wrote. “It’s about whether we support regular order or not. It’s about whether members should have the prerogative to offer amendments or not.
“Ultimately, it’s about whether a minority of our conference will find common cause with Democrats whenever we have an internal disagreement, use this uncommon, extreme discharge petition process, and force a vote when a majority of the majority does not want a vote,” they continued.
Earlier this month, more than 40 Republicans partnered with more than 100 Democrats in signing a discharge petition that would force a vote on Ex-Im’s reauthorization. The petition garnered the 218 signatures needed to advance, and the House will vote on it today.
If the motion is passed, the House will then move to debate and vote on legislation sponsored by Rep. Stephen Fincher, R-Tenn., which reauthorizes the bank for five years. That vote, however, could come later this week.
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Hensarling, whose committee has jurisdiction over Ex-Im, has led the charge against its reauthorization. Though Democrats and some Republicans serving in the Financial Services Committee backed the bank’s reauthorization, Hensarling has stressed that a majority of the members on the panel and a majority of Republicans in the House oppose Ex-Im.
In their letter to GOP colleagues, Hensarling and Sessions noted that no chairman of a committee has moved legislation that does not have the support of the majority of the majority party—Republicans, in this case.
“It is always a difficult matter when Republicans don’t see eye-to-eye on an issue,” Hensarling and Sessions wrote. “But the strength of our conference is that we commit to work together, as a team, to resolve our differences and resist the temptation to resort to gimmicks or strange bedfellows. Doing so ensures that we have the support of a majority of the majority on any vote we choose to hold.”
The two Republican chairmen also said that not only are discharge petitions intended to be used by the minority party—Democrats—but they also are “the opposite of regular order,” as discharge petitions bypass committees and the conference.
Additionally, the discharge petition calling for Ex-Im’s reauthorization does not allow for any amendments.
“So today we’re respectfully asking you—no matter what your position on the Export-Import Bank may be—to vote no on the discharge petition,” Hensarling and Sessions wrote.
Ex-Im is an agency that provides taxpayer-backed loans and loan guarantees to foreign countries and companies for the purchase of U.S. exports. The bank’s charter expired June 30.
Hensarling and those opposing the bank argue that it furthers cronyism and corporate welfare, and more than 51 percent of Ex-Im’s financing benefited just 10 corporations from 2007 to 2014.
However, champions of the 81-year-old agency like Fincher believe that it helps small businesses and creates jobs.
Hensarling-Sessions EXIM Discharge Petition (PDF)
Hensarling-Sessions EXIM Discharge Petition (Text)
