Jeb Hensarling: “We had a rather spirited debate here between those who believe the Ex-Im Bank is about economic development and trade…”

“We had a rather spirited debate here between those who believe the Ex-Im Bank is about economic development and trade, and those who believe it is about corporate welfare, cronyism, and an unfair economy. For those who claim that the Ex-Im Bank creates jobs, the Congressional Research Service would tend to beg to disagree and citing economists who say they largely rearrange jobs. We know for a fact they have rearranged jobs away from Delta because they have said they have lost jobs when the Ex-Im Bank subsidizes Air India. Valero Refining, in my native Texas, has said they lose jobs in America when the Ex-Im Bank will subsidize a Turkish competitor. Cliffs Natural Resources of Cleveland, Ohio, will say they lose jobs when the Ex-Im Bank subsidizes an Australian competitor, which has caused economist Donald Boudreaux to say, at best, the Ex-Im Bank creates jobs in export industries by destroying jobs in non-export industries. How is that fair? How is that fair, Mr. Speaker? We are told that the Ex-Im Bank makes money for the taxpayers. Well, yes, if you use special insider Washington accounting rules. But if you use fair value accounting, something that the rest of America has to use, the Congressional Budget Office says that it actually loses money, and in fact, it has received an actual bailout from the Federal taxpayers before. We are told they help small business. And you know what? That is true in a number of cases.…”