Ex-Im supporters launch super-PAC

Export-Import Bank supporters have launched a political action committee to build support for the controversial agency ahead of November’s midterms.

Gregory Sandler, president of Massachusetts-based Think Global Inc., filed paperwork last week with the Federal Election Commission to create the “Americans for the Ex-Im Bank” super-PAC, according to the FEC disclosure.

{mosads}Sandler’s Think Global Inc. works with businesses worldwide on exporting deals, according to the firm’s website.

Sandler told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Thursday that he hopes to raise $1 million ahead of the midterm elections, but that he hasn’t decided on a political strategy.

“We took this political step because the real question here is why are we considering closing a program that support U.S. companies and jobs and that has returned $2 billion to U.S. taxpayers,” Sandler told the Journal.

The bank is a target of Tea Party groups who argue that it is corporate welfare for big businesses. Supporters who say the bank is needed to help sustain U.S. jobs and open markets won a temporary victory on Wednesday when House lawmakers passed a nine-month extension of the bank’s charter.

That measure, included in a stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, is also expected to be approved by the Senate on Thursday.

But the extension only delays a larger fight over the bank until spring 2015.