House Dems urge Senate panel to vote on Ex-Im Bank nominee

Four House Democrats are urging a top Senate Republican to consider a nominee to the board of the Export-Import Bank.

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.), along with Reps. Maxine Waters (Calif.), Gwen Moore (Wis.) and Denny Heck (Wash.) sent a letter on Monday to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (Ala.) urging him to take action on the nomination of Mark McWatters to the board of the Ex-Im Bank.

{mosads}The letter calls on Shelby to allow the Senate Banking panel to take a vote on McWatters and send his nomination to the Senate floor.  

“We understand that you have a different view on ensuring American companies have access to financing to compete for export opportunities, and we respect the position you have taken,” the lawmakers wrote.  

“However, we urge you to allow members of your committee — and the full Senate — to vote up-or-down on McWatters’s nomination,” they said.  

“If you do so, we are confident the nomination would be confirmed and that American workers and businesses would benefit.”

Last week, Democratic Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) and Sherrod Brown (Ohio), each members of the Banking panel, urged Shelby to clear out a backlog of the panel’s pending nominations, including McWatters to serve a four-year term on the agency’s board.

But Shelby, who opposes the Ex-Im Bank, has shown no signs that he is going to consider McWatters. He has said he wants President Obama to send up a nominee for the position of vice chairman of supervision to the Federal Reserve before he will act on the other pending nominees.

The House Democrats called McWatters a “highly qualified candidate” with more than 30 years of experience in tax law, corporate finance and financial oversight who serves on the board of the National Credit Union Association and was formerly a member of the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel.

The Ex-Im Bank needs one more person to reach the three-person quorum on its five-member board.

Until then, the agency can’t approve loans for more than $10 million, making it difficult for many U.S. firms — large and small — to get the financing guarantees they need for overseas projects.

“Confirming this nomination now is necessary to ensure that the benefits of the reauthorization can be fully realized,” the House lawmakers wrote.

“As you know, absent a quorum on the board, the Bank is unable to approve medium- and long-term transactions worth more than $10 million, precisely the kind of deals where the need to offset foreign export financing support is most pronounced.”

Last year, Hoyer joined forces with a group of House Republicans to reopen the agency after conservative efforts closed its door last summer.

The House and Senate eventually each easily passed a bill.