Johnson aiming to get Ex-Im bill passed before charter expires

A top Senate Democrat said Thursday that he still intends to pass a bill reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank before its charter expires at the end of the September.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) said Thursday that he will push to move the bill before the Sept. 30 deadline as the upper chamber heads out of town for the five-week summer recess.

{mosads}“It is clear there is bipartisan support for this in the Senate, and it is my continued hope that Congress can get this five-year reauthorization passed before the bank’s charter expires at the end of September,” Johnson said in a statement.

Main sponsor Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) introduced the five-year measure Wednesday evening without a controversial coal provision after some Democrats objected. 

He plans, instead, to push for an amendment on the coal language.

“If we are truly committed to protecting our global environment, the U.S. should lead the world in clean coal technology, which is why I am introducing an amendment that helps U.S. businesses export that technology to the rest of the world,” Manchin said.

Johnson and Manchin along with Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) teamed up to introduce the long-awaited legislation.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) had said earlier this month that he was expecting the Senate to vote on a bill before the recess.

But the upper chamber was faced with a series of more pressing issues that include restoring federal transportation funding and providing aid for the ongoing border crisis.