April 30, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement responding to House Speaker Rep. John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) statement that “I support any plan that the chairman [Hensarling] can get through his committee, whether it would reform the bank, wind it down. But there are thousands of jobs on the line that would disappear pretty quickly if the Ex-Im Bank were to disappear. So I have told the chairman he needs to come up with a plan, because the risk is that if he does nothing the Senate is likely to act, and then what?”:
“Congress need take no action to unwind the Ex-Im bank, because existing law already provides for the orderly liquidation of the bank. A lapse of authority will simply mean the bank’s operations continue until all existing obligations are settled. It will continue collecting interest payments to maintain those operations. Why would the House pass such a redundant piece of legislation?
“We urge Chairman Hensarling to do all that is necessary to unwind the bank in an orderly manner, which is absolutely nothing.”
Attachments:
12 U.S.C. §635f – Termination date of Bank’s functions; exceptions; liquidation at https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/12/635f : “Export-Import Bank of the United States shall continue to exercise its functions in connection with and in furtherance of its objects and purposes until the close of business on September 30, 2014, but the provisions of this section shall not be construed as preventing the bank from acquiring obligations prior to such date which mature subsequent to such date or from assuming prior to such date liability as guarantor, endorser, or acceptor of obligations which mature subsequent to such date or from issuing, either prior or subsequent to such date, for purchase by the Secretary of the Treasury or any other purchasers, its notes, debentures, bonds, or other obligations which mature subsequent to such date or from continuing as a corporate agency of the United States and exercising any of its functions subsequent to such date for purposes of orderly liquidation, including the administration of its assets and the collection of any obligations held by the bank.”
“Export-Import Bank: Overview and Reauthorization Issues,” By Shayerah Ilias Akhtar , Congressional Research Service, March 25, 2015 at http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43581.pdf: “[A]ccording to Ex-Im Bank, if its authority were to lapse, no new commitments (including new loan, guarantee, or insurance transactions) could be approved by its Board of Directors or under delegated authority, but prior obligations (including disbursements on already-approved final commitments) could continue. The Bank could continue to make expenditures in its operations (including salary, rent, etc.), while developing a plan for orderly liquidation.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.
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