Industry Associations Push for Ex-Im Bank Nominations
A group of industry associations is pushing the White House to move swiftly on nominations for the Export-Import Bank’s Board of Directors. “Failure to act quickly on nominations for the pending Board vacancies would threaten those hundreds of thousands of American jobs that depend directly or indirectly on Ex-Im Bank's export financing,” said a letter, sent March 8 to President Obama and signed by 13 associations, including the Chamber of Commerce, National Foreign Trade Council and the National Association of Manufacturers. “Reliable access to export financing is a vital part of being globally competitive, and export financing has taken on renewed importance in today's unsettled financial environment.”
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The Ex-Im Bank’s current Chairman and CEO, Fred Hochberg, was confirmed by the Senate in May 2009. His term ended in January and he is currently serving on a six-month extension, the letter said. Director and Vice Chair Wanda Felton and Director Larry Walther are also serving through extensions. “The extensions allowed under the Bank's charter will expire, at the latest, in July,” the letter said. “If three of the five positions go unfilled, the Bank's business will grind to a halt.”