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Washington Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell made a deal with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, essentially agreeing to vote for fast track trade deal authority for the White House as long as McConnell agrees to allow a vote in June to renew the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
"We want this vote to be on a viable legislative vehicle. We want to drag this issue out of the shadows and show the American people where the Senate stands," Cantwell said. "What is frustrating in America’s trade debate is that the far-right conservatives are trying to get rid of trade tools that allow American companies to compete."
"My point is that in a global economy, export is the way to go. We must have the trade tools to go along with opening markets."
The Export-Import Bank guarantees loans for U.S. exporters. The bank supports an estimated 164,000 jobs across the country. Ex-Im has consistently returned money to the U.S. Treasury. It has underwritten millions of dollars of Boeing aircraft
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sales, but is also important to a vast array of small exporters.
"The Export-Import Bank is critically important to Washington state workers and the economy, so it was great we were able to secure a commitment today from Senate Republicans to allow a vote next month," Murray said.
If the Senate votes to renew the Export-Import Bank — the votes are apparently there — the legislation faces intense right-wing opposition in the House of Representatives and by conservative lobbies such as FreedomWorks, the Heritage Foundation and the Club for Growth, and now Delta Airlines.
Delta, which is expanding services in the Pacific Northwest, is furiously lobbying for elimination of the Export-Import Bank — which supports thousands of Washington state jobs — on grounds that it helps Delta’s foreign competitors when they buy Boeing jets.
For more of the Seattle P.I. story: blog.seattlepi.com
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