–Senate Approves Export-Import Bank Reauthorization, 78 to 20
–Senate Reject 5 Republican Amendments To Scale Back Or Kill Bank
–Senate Majority Sets Up Thursday Procedural Votes For Fed Nominees.

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – The Senate voted Tuesday to approve legislation
to reauthorize the Import-Export Bank.

The Senate passed the bill on a 78 to 20 vote. The House passed the
identical bill last week on a 330 to 93 vote.

The measure now goes to President Obama for his signature.

The bill reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank and gradually
increases its lending ceiling from $100 billion now to $140 billion in
2014.

Before the Senate passed the bill, it voted down five Republican
amendments. These amendments would have either scaled back or eliminated
the bank’s activities. Each amendment required 60 votes to pass.

An amendment by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah would have killed the bank in
one year. Another amendment by Sen. Pat Toomey would have limited the
bank’s lending until progress is made in multilateral talks to terminate
export-financing programs by governments.

The Export-Import Bank provides direct loans, credit financing, and
loan guarantees to support the purchase of U.S.-made goods and services
overseas.

The bank’s charter expires at the end of May. It is also near its
current lending cap.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has said that failure to reauthorize
the Export-Import Bank would put at risk 300,000 U.S. jobs in more than
3,500 companies.

On another matter, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced a
motion to set up procedural votes Thursday to advance the nominations of
Jerome Powell and Jeremy Stein to be governors on the Federal Reserve
Board.

The Senate vote Thursday will be to end debate on the two
nominations. Sixty votes will be required.

The Senate Banking Committee approved the two nominations earlier
this year. President Obama nominated Stein and Powell late last year.

Asked earlier Tuesday about the two Fed nominees, Senate Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell said he believes they have broad support.

But he added that he has not been focused on the issue.

“I haven’t looked carefully at it,” McConnell said, referring to
the nominations of Powell and Stein.

** MNI Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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