Senate

Reid: Don’t be fooled by ‘sham’ Ex-Im vote

by Jordain Carney - 06/11/15 12:00 PM ET

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday that supporters of the Export-Import Bank wouldn’t be satisfied with a “sham” vote weeks before the bank charter is set to expire.

“We shouldn’t be easily fooled, and we’re not. If the bank expires, there’s no telling how long it will take to renew it, if, in fact, it ever happens,” he said. “None should be fooled by these sham votes.”

{mosads}Reid’s remarks followed a procedural vote on Wednesday where supporters of the Export-Import Bank were able to overcome a motion to table an amendment on reauthorizing the bank. The amendment on Ex-Im was retained in the bill in a 65-31 vote.

Supporters of Ex-Im said the vote proves there is more than enough support in the Senate to overcome a filibuster of legislation that would renew the bank’s charter.

But Reid suggested that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) allowed Wednesday’s move as “a token vote on the measure to try to appease the bank’s supporters.”

Supporters of the Export-Import Bank want a vote before the bank’s charter expires at the end of the month.

Conservative groups are fighting to kill the bank, arguing the financing it provides for exports corrupts the marketplace. McConnell and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) support letting the bank’s charter expire.

Reid accused McConnell of “hypocrisy” on the bank, saying the Kentucky Republican was for it before he was against it.

“The senior senator from Kentucky has turned a legislative backflip, and today wants the bank to disappear,” Reid said, adding that “Republicans in Congress were for the Export-Import Bank until the Kochs were against it.”

Tags Harry Reid Mitch McConnell