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Palmer breaks with Alabama delegation, votes against Ex-Im Bank’s ‘corporate welfare’

Congressman Gary Palmer (R-AL6)
Congressman Gary Palmer (R-AL6)

WASHINGTON — Six-to-one votes are not uncommon among Alabama’s congressional delegation. With six Republicans and only one Democrat, many votes fall along partisan lines. But a six-to-one vote this week was a bit more unusual. While Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL7) joined five Alabama Republicans in supporting the reauthorization of the controversial Export-Import Bank, Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL6) broke with his GOP colleagues to vote against what many conservatives have called “corporate welfare.”

The Ex-Im Bank, as it is known, was originally chartered by progressive icon Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s. It was a “federal government corporation” that provides taxpayer-backed loans to foreign entities who want to buy American-made goods, but cannot secure credit in the private sector because of the risks. The bank’s charter mandates at least 20 percent its outlays benefit small businesses, but that rule has been frequently violated over the years.

In 2013 76 percent of the bank’s spending went to its top ten beneficiaries. That year Boeing, the largest beneficiary of the bank for several years, received $8.3 billion in aid from the guaranteed loans taken out by the purchasers of their exports.

The Ex-Im Bank has received vocal support from many business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“The Ex-Im Bank plays a significant role in Alabama’s job creation efforts,” said William J. Canary, the CEO of the Business Council of Alabama. “More than 80 Alabama-based exporters in various industries including forest products, chemicals, transportation and fabricated metal products have used the agency when private-sector banks could not help.”

But in spite of an intense lobbying effort by business groups, President Barack Obama and Republican congressional Leadership, the bank’s charter expired after Congress did not renew it by the June 30, 2015 deadline.

Conservative organizations waged an intense campaign against reauthorizing the bank, but the most crushing blow may have been delivered by powerful Senate Banking Committee chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).

“After years of efforts to reform the Ex-Im Bank, it has become clear to me that its problems are beyond repair and that the Bank’s expiration is in the best interest of American taxpayers,” Sen. Shelby told Yellowhammer at the time. “Nearly 99% of all American exports are financed without the Ex-Im Bank, which demonstrates that subsidies are more about corporate welfare than advancing our economy.”

However, 127 Republicans and 186 Democrats voted this week to bring the bank back to life. This time only one House Democrat voted against it, but 117 Republicans, including newly-elected House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), opposed it.

Congressman Palmer’s office said his vote against reauthorization speaks for itself and declined to comment further.

The bank’s future is now uncertain. Many congressmen and senators on both sides of the aisle are conflicted because, in spite of their philosophical opposition to “corporate welfare,” the bank has benefited exporters in their states.

Senate Democrats were blocked from reauthorizing it on Thursday when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would not allow a standalone bill to come up for a vote. The next move may be to attach Ex-Im reauthorization to a larger funding bill.


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