All amendments to Ex-Im bill fail

The Senate defeated all five Republican amendments to legislation reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank.

The votes on all five amendments came just ahead of a vote on legislation reauthorizing the actual bank, the Securing American Jobs Through Exports Act (H.R. 2072).

An amendment by Sen. Mike Lee, (R-Utah), eliminating the bank in 2013, failed in a vote of 12-87. That vote was followed by Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) amendment which keeps the bank from loaning to projects in countries that have government debt instruments like government bonds. Paul's amendment failed, 9 to 89. An amendment by Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) that stopped the bank from fully financing certain products, did not pass 36 to 62.

The final two amendments, one by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) that prohibits the bank from funding energy projects that compete with similar projects in the U.S., and one by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), funding the bank only if there is progress toward shutting it down, failed as well. Vitter's amendment failed, 37 to 61 and Toomey's amendment failed, 35 to 63.

The votes on the five amendments were part of a deal Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) made with Senate Republicans to end an impasse over moving the reauthorization legislation forward. Under the agreement, the Senate would vote on the five amendments, each with a 60-vote threshold, and then proceed to a vote on the actual bill, also with a 60-vote threshold.

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