By Nick Timiraos And Kristina Peterson
WASHINGTON--For years, critics have referred to the U.S.
Export-Import Bank as " Boeing's Bank" because the government
agency provides billions in financial backing to the aerospace
company.
The latest skirmish over the bank's future illustrated that
co-dependence, and showed the muscle Boeing Co. will deploy in
coming weeks in the larger fight over reauthorizing the bank's
charter, which lapses June 30. Key to that effort will be lawmakers
from states with a heavy Boeing presence, who are taking unusually
dramatic steps to preserve it, including nearly derailing a trade
bill last week.
The agency, which provides financing for U.S. exports, is a top
target of conservatives who want to wind it down in what is
expected to be the most heated political fight when Congress
returns May 31 from its weeklong Memorial Day recess.
Business groups have rallied Congress to both renew the bank's
charter and pass the separate trade legislation that cleared the
Senate late Friday and, if approved by the House next month, would
pave the way for a major trade agreement with Japan and 10 other
Pacific trading partners. But the trade bill nearly stalled
Thursday when Sen. Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.) balked at voting to
advance the trade measure without a commitment that House and
Senate leaders would hold a vote in June on the 81-year-old
agency.
Ms. Cantwell and fellow Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray
ultimately voted for the trade measure after extracting a pledge
from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) that he would
hold a June vote on reauthorizing the bank. Mr. McConnell, an
opponent of the bank, had previously said he would not block a vote
on it.
The last-minute negotiations were conducted on and off the
Senate floor during Thursday's procedural vote, which Senate
leaders let run unusually long in an effort to reach a deal. The
agreement came after a concerted push from Boeing on Capitol Hill.
The Business Council, an association of chief executives that
includes Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney, met with Democratic
leaders Thursday morning. That morning, Mr. McNerney also chatted
with Ms. Cantwell near the Senate reception room, aides said.
Industrial exporters say that without credit support from the
Ex-Im Bank, they'll be at a disadvantage to foreign rivals who
receive similar assistance from their home countries.
"Ex-Im is an important competitive issue for us and for all of
the workers in our vast U.S. supply chain," said Tim Neale, a
Boeing spokesman. Many exporters share those concerns about the
effect of Ex-Im's closure and "have been actively lobbying Congress
on this issue."
Boeing employs around 80,000 people in Washington state, nearly
15,000 in Missouri and 8,000 in South Carolina. Executives at
Boeing and General Electric Co. have warned that without credit
support from Ex-Im, they could be forced to move production
overseas to compete with foreign rivals that enjoy similar backing
from their home governments.
"I unashamedly support Boeing and GE," said Sen. Lindsey Graham
(R., S.C.) in an interview, noting that four of five Dreamliner
aircraft made in South Carolina are eligible for Ex-Im financing.
"I cannot in good conscience go to a worker at Boeing or GE that
makes gas turbines in South Carolina and say that we're going to
require some people to lose their jobs by losing this bank," he
said.
Across the Capitol, Missouri Republican Rep. Billy Long, who
supports the bank's reauthorization, resigned from the Republican
Study Committee after the group of conservative House Republicans
on Thursday endorsed winding down the agency. A spokesman for Mr.
Long confirmed that he resigned last week.
The RSC represents about 170 lawmakers, not all of whom want the
bank to expire, including Rep. Stephen Fincher (R., Tenn.) Mr.
Fincher has introduced a bill that would reauthorize Ex-Im's
charter with some minor changes. It is supported by nearly 60 other
Republicans, many representing export-heavy manufacturing
districts, and one Democrat, Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota.
The Republican Study Committee can take an official position on
an issue if at least two-thirds of its steering committee, votes in
favor of it.
Secretary of State John Kerry used a Boeing factory in Renton,
Wash., as the backdrop for a speech Tuesday to defend both the
trade bill, which is unpopular among Democrats, and the Ex-Im Bank,
which most Democrats support.
The fight over the bank's future has also become a flash point
on the presidential campaign trail, with most GOP candidates
opposing its reauthorization. Democratic presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton on Friday criticized Republicans' efforts to shut
down the agency, saying such a move would hurt small
businesses.
Conservative Republicans have cast the battle over Ex-Im as a
test of whether the GOP is willing to support free markets more
broadly.
Supporters of the bank say critics fail to acknowledge that 59
export-credit agencies in other countries help domestic
manufacturers, which means that shutting down Ex-Im would leave
U.S. exporters at a serious disadvantage.
Boeing customers are among the biggest recipients of Ex-Im Bank
loan guarantees. In the most recent fiscal year ended Sept. 30,
2014, the bank helped Boeing sell 61 widebody planes to foreign
airlines by guaranteeing more than $7 billion in loans.
Write to Nick Timiraos at nick.timiraos@wsj.com and Kristina
Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com
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