Second Opinions

[Editor's note: This week we bring you what we hope will be a continuing Times feature: a look at an issue that has broad as well as local implications. Following are several excerpts from news features and opinion pieces from Washington and nationwide regarding the upcoming battle to reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank.]

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U.S. agency that helps foreign companies buy American-made products is facing the biggest test in its 80-year history as House Republicans press to shut the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

Companies including Boeing, General Electric and business groups for hundreds of manufacturers promised to ramp up their lobbying to prevent the bank's demise, which they said would jeopardize billions of dollars in sales of goods from crop dusters to satellites and airplanes.

The bank offers loan guarantees and other financing to foreign companies that borrow money to buy American products, which were valued at $37.4 billion in 2013 alone. The backing helped sell a range of U.S. goods, from Air Tractor Inc.'s planes for crop dusting to satellites by Orbital Sciences Corp.

Opponents including small-government advocacy groups like Heritage Action for America and Americans for Prosperity, say the lender meddles too much in markets.

~News Report from Bloomberg News

The Export-Import Bank must institute serious reforms to protect taxpayers before Congress reauthorizes it this year, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said Tuesday.

The bank, which provides funds for the purchase of American goods by foreign buyers, is important for thousands of jobs in trade-dependent Washington, she said. But she wants to be sure the taxpayers are protectedhellip;

hellip;Ex-Im, as it is sometimes called, has become a bone of contention for House Republicans. Its reauthorization is strongly supported by some major corporations, including the Boeing Co. and business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Washington Business. But it is opposed by some limited-government conservatives and tea party supporters.

The bank was created in the 1930s and was regularly reauthorized since then, often without controversy. That changed in 2012, when some House conservatives fought reauthorization as its charter was close to expiringhellip;

~News report from The Spokesman- Review, Spokane

When asked about [the Export-Import Bank] on Monday, U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers wouldn't commit to supporting the bank, stating that she supports "a way forward" for Washington's exports "while at the same time protecting taxpayer dollars."

That's a weak response when thousands of Washington jobs, many in her district, depend on the bank. The entire Washington delegation backed the bank two years ago, and a stronger push is needed now...

hellip;Critics call the program "corporate welfare," but the loan program is selfsupporting and returned $1 billion to Uncle Sam last year. If that's welfare, the federal budget could use more of it. The Ex-Im Bank has been a boon for Washington's exporters. The delegation, including McMorris Rodgers, needs to fight to keep it.

~Editorial, The Spokesman-Review

An arch-conservative faction starved for ideological victories of late have been targeting the Ex-Im Bank, and many draw a direct connection between [former House Majority Leader Eric] Cantor's loss and the bank. Already, the new leader, Kevin Mc- Carthy of California, says he is willing to let it die.

This is why McMorris Rodgers' silence is so troubling. Reauthorization of the bank is so clearly in Washington's interest that every other delegation member has declared support, Democrats and Republicans alike. But McMorris Rodgers, the GOP conference chair, is the only member serving in Republican leadership. So far, she has told her district's largest newspaper, The Spokesman- Review (Spokane), that she supports "a way forward" - and has managed to dodge the question. Her signature was conspicuously absent from a letter supporting the bank signed by 41 Republican members Monday. Washington's other three had no trouble signing on.

In McMorris Rodgers' district, the Ex-Im Bank supported $62 million in exports from 14 companies over the last six years. A statement from her could have quite an impact. She should stand up for her state.

~Editorial, The Seattle Times

hellip;The bank's opponents say it provides a service the private sector could perform just as well, yet commercial banks and insurers have not been eager for the trade. The American program operates without cost to the taxpayer. Spokane's business community hopes to convince McMorris Rodgers that she could play a particularly important role. "We're going to be working really hard this week," says Sandra Jarrard, public policy director for Greater Spokane Inc.

McMorris Rodgers, who voted for the bank during the last reauthorization debate in 2012, today speaks with caution. "I understand how important exports are to thousands of jobs in Washington state, but it is also my responsibility to make sure taxpayer dollars are protected," she offered in a statement Wednesday. "I think we need to look at serious reforms to the Export-Import Bank as part of any reauthorization, including safeguards to increase transparency, ensuring loans and guarantees are going to those intended, and eliminating corruption."

All well and good - except that it isn't clear what needs to be safeguarded, what isn't transparent, whether money is going to the wrong place or that systemic corruption is a problem. But at least it isn't a no.

~Seattle Times opinion writer Erik Smith

Heritage Action, the lobbying arm of The Heritage Foundation, is part of a coalition of groups brought together this year by Americans for Prosperity to push for letting Ex- Im's charter expire Sept. 30...

hellip; Conference Chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.-the No. 4 Republican- told the Spokesman-Review she supports "a way forward" for her home state's exports "while at the same time protecting taxpayer dollars."hellip;

The Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers contend Ex-Im is crucial to helping small businesses remain competitive in the global market. They say small and medium businesses account for 90 percent of transactions. And the bank, they say, is a good deal for taxpayers.

But Diane Katz, a research fellow in regulatory policy at The Heritage Foundation, writes that Ex-Im programs operate at a deficit that will cost taxpayers $2 billion in addition to operating costs over the next decade. In a new commentary, Katz argues that Ex-Im is a bastion of mismanagement, dysfunction and risk.

A Heritage Foundation review of government documents determined there have been more than 74 cases of fraud and corruption at Ex-Im since 2009.

~Editorial, The Daily Signal, a publication of The Heritage Foundation