Export-Import Bank Termination Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1910 To abolish the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 27, 2019 Mr. AMASH (for himself, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, and Mr. BUCK) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To abolish the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Export-Import Bank 4 Termination Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds as follows: 7 (1) Export subsidies provide advantages to spe- 8 cific industries or businesses at the expense of their 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1910.IH H1910 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1910 IH domestic competition, other sectors of the United 1 States economy, and the public at large. 2 (2) Banks and other financial institutions that 3 provide trade facilitation credit also profit from ex- 4 port subsidies such as loan guarantees and trade in- 5 surance. 6 (3) International trade finance is well developed 7 and supplied by the private sector at competitive 8 rates that reflect market conditions. 9 (4) The Export-Import Bank of the United 10 States is an agency of the United States Govern- 11 ment that subsidizes exports by insuring or guaran- 12 teeing trade facilitation loans and other credit from 13 private financial institutions and by providing direct 14 loans to United States exporters. 15 (5) Export subsidies impose risks on United 16 States taxpayers. In a June 2012 paper using accu- 17 rate, fair value estimation, the Congressional Budget 18 Office found that the expected return of the Export- 19 Import Bank of the United States was less than a 20 tenth of the estimate under the current, flawed 21 methodology used pursuant to the Federal Credit 22 Reform Act of 1990. 23 (6) In recent years, other ‘‘safe’’ Federal credit 24 programs have been shown to create significant risk 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1910.IH H1910 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1910 IH for taxpayers, for example, Fannie Mae, Freddie 1 Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration. 2 (7) The Export-Import Bank of the United 3 States claims to serve small businesses primarily, 4 but most of its financing subsidizes exports of large 5 multinational corporations. 6 SEC. 3. REDUCTIONS OF AUTHORITIES BEFORE ABOLISH- 7 MENT. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 9 sion of law: 10 (1) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT 11 APPLICATIONS FOR ASSISTANCE.—The Export-Im- 12 port Bank of the United States (in this Act referred 13 to as the ‘‘Bank’’) may not accept an application for 14 a loan, insurance, or a guarantee, or to participate 15 in an extension of credit by another entity, after the 16 30-day period that begins with the date of the enact- 17 ment of this Act. 18 (2) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY TO RENEW 19 OR ENTER INTO A CONTRACT FOR THE PROVISION 20 OF ASSISTANCE BY THE BANK.—The Bank may not 21 renew or enter into a contract which would obligate 22 the Bank to provide a loan, insurance, or a guar- 23 antee, or participate in an extension of credit by an- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1910.IH H1910 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1910 IH other entity, after the 12-month period that begins 1 with such date of enactment. 2 (b) RULE OF INTERPRETATION.—Nothing in this 3 section shall be construed to extend the expiration date 4 of any authority provided by section 7 of the Export-Im- 5 port Bank Act of 1945. 6 SEC. 4. ABOLISHMENT OF EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE 7 UNITED STATES. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Effective on the abolishment date: 9 (1) ABOLISHMENT.—The Bank is abolished. 10 (2) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—All functions 11 that, immediately before the abolishment date are 12 authorized to be performed by the Bank, the Board 13 of Directors of the Bank, any officer or employee of 14 the Bank acting in that capacity, or any agency or 15 office of the Bank, are transferred to the Secretary 16 of the Treasury (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec- 17 retary’’). 18 (b) ABOLISHMENT DATE DEFINED.—In this Act, the 19 term ‘‘abolishment date’’ means the date that is 3 years 20 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 21 SEC. 5. RESOLUTION AND TERMINATION OF BANK FUNC- 22 TIONS. 23 (a) RESOLUTION OF FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary 24 shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1910.IH H1910 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1910 IH (1) complete the disposition and resolution of 1 functions of the Bank in accordance with this Act; 2 and 3 (2) resolve all functions that are transferred to 4 the Secretary under section 4(a)(2). 5 (b) TERMINATION OF FUNCTIONS.—All functions 6 that are transferred to the Secretary under section 4(a)(2) 7 shall terminate on the date all obligations of the Bank, 8 and all obligations of others to the Bank, in effect imme- 9 diately before the abolishment date have been satisfied, as 10 determined by the Secretary. 11 (c) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—When the Sec- 12 retary makes the determination described in subsection 13 (b), the Secretary shall report the determination to the 14 Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep- 15 resentatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 16 Urban Affairs of the Senate. 17 SEC. 6. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall be responsible 19 for the implementation of this Act, including— 20 (1) the administration and wind-up of all func- 21 tions transferred to the Secretary under section 22 4(a)(2); 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1910.IH H1910 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1910 IH (2) the administration and wind-up of any out- 1 standing obligations of the Federal Government 2 under any programs terminated by this Act; and 3 (3) taking such other actions as may be nec- 4 essary to wind-up any outstanding affairs of the 5 Bank. 6 (b) DELEGATION OF FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary 7 may delegate to any other Federal department or agency 8 head the performance of the functions of the Secretary 9 under this Act, to the extent that the Secretary determines 10 that the delegation would further the purposes of this Act. 11 (c) TRANSFER OF ASSETS AND PERSONNEL.—In 12 connection with any delegation of functions under sub- 13 section (b), the Secretary may transfer to the department 14 or agency concerned such assets, funds, personnel, 15 records, and other property relating to the delegated func- 16 tion as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 17 (d) AUTHORITIES OF THE SECRETARY.—For pur- 18 poses of performing the functions of the Secretary under 19 this Act and subject to the availability of appropriations, 20 the Secretary may— 21 (1) enter into contracts; 22 (2) employ experts and consultants in accord- 23 ance with section 3109 of title 5, United States 24 Code, at rates for individuals not to exceed the per 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1910.IH H1910 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1910 IH diem rate equivalent to the rate for level IV of the 1 Executive Schedule; and 2 (3) utilize, on a reimbursable basis, the services, 3 facilities, and personnel of other Federal agencies. 4 SEC. 7. PERSONNEL. 5 Effective on the abolishment date, there are trans- 6 ferred to the Department of the Treasury all individuals, 7 other than members of the Board of Directors of the 8 Bank, who— 9 (1) immediately before the abolishment date, 10 were officers or employees of the Bank; and 11 (2) in their capacity as such an officer or em- 12 ployee, performed functions that are transferred to 13 the Secretary under section 4(a)(2). 14 SEC. 8. TRANSFER OF INSPECTOR GENERAL DUTIES. 15 (a) TERMINATION OF THE OFFICE OF INSPECTOR 16 GENERAL FOR THE EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE 17 UNITED STATES.—Notwithstanding any other provision 18 of law, the Office of Inspector General for the Bank shall 19 terminate on the abolishment date, and the assets and ob- 20 ligations of the Office shall be transferred to the Office 21 of the Inspector General for the Department of the Treas- 22 ury or otherwise disposed of. 23 (b) AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRANS- 24 FER OR DISPOSAL.—The Secretary shall have the author- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1910.IH H1910 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1910 IH ity and responsibility for transfer or disposal under sub- 1 section (a). 2 (c) SAVINGS PROVISION.—The provisions of this sec- 3 tion shall not affect the performance of any pending audit, 4 investigation, inspection, or report by the Office of the In- 5 spector General for the Bank as of the abolishment date, 6 with respect to functions transferred by this section. Noth- 7 ing in this subsection shall be deemed to prohibit the dis- 8 continuance or modification of any performance under the 9 same terms and conditions and to the same extent that 10 such performance could have been discontinued or modi- 11 fied if this section had not been enacted. 12 SEC. 9. EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES. 13 Except as otherwise provided by law, a Federal offi- 14 cial to whom a function is transferred by this Act may, 15 for purposes of performing the function, exercise all au- 16 thorities under any other provision of law that were avail- 17 able with respect to the performance of that function to 18 the official responsible for the performance of the function 19 immediately before the effective date of the transfer of the 20 function under this Act. 21 SEC. 10. TRANSFER OF ASSETS. 22 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, so much 23 of the personnel, property, records, and unexpended bal- 24 ances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds em- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1910.IH H1910 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1910 IH ployed, used, held, available, or to be made available in 1 connection with a function transferred to an official or 2 agency by this Act shall be available to the official or the 3 head of that agency, respectively, at such time or times 4 as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 5 directs for use in connection with the functions trans- 6 ferred. 7 SEC. 11. DELEGATION AND ASSIGNMENT. 8 Except as otherwise expressly prohibited by law, an 9 official to whom functions are transferred under this Act 10 (including the head of any office to which functions are 11 transferred under this Act) may delegate any of the func- 12 tions so transferred to such officers and employees of the 13 office of the official as the official may designate, and may 14 authorize successive redelegations of such functions as 15 may be necessary or appropriate. No delegation of func- 16 tions under this section or under any other provision of 17 this Act shall relieve the official to whom a function is 18 transferred under this Act of responsibility for the admin- 19 istration of the function. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1910.IH H1910 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1910 IH SEC. 12. AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF THE TREAS- 1 URY WITH RESPECT TO FUNCTIONS TRANS- 2 FERRED. 3 (a) DETERMINATIONS.—If necessary, the Secretary 4 shall make any determination of the functions that are 5 transferred under this Act. 6 (b) INCIDENTAL TRANSFERS.—The Secretary, at 7 such time or times as the Secretary shall provide, may 8 make such determinations as may be necessary with re- 9 gard to the functions transferred by this Act, and to make 10 such additional incidental dispositions of personnel, assets, 11 liabilities, grants, contracts, property, records, and unex- 12 pended balances of appropriations, authorizations, alloca- 13 tions, and other funds held, used, arising from, available 14 to, or to be made available in connection with such func- 15 tions, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of 16 this Act. 17 SEC. 13. SAVINGS PROVISIONS. 18 (a) LEGAL DOCUMENTS.—All orders, determinations, 19 rules, regulations, permits, grants, loans, contracts, agree- 20 ments, certificates, licenses, and privileges— 21 (1) that have been issued, made, granted, or al- 22 lowed to become effective by the President, the 23 Bank, any officer or employee of any office trans- 24 ferred by this Act, or any other Government official, 25 or by a court of competent jurisdiction, in the per- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1910.IH H1910 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1910 IH formance of any function that is transferred by this 1 Act, and 2 (2) that are in effect on the effective date of the 3 transfer (or become effective after such date pursu- 4 ant to their terms as in effect on such effective 5 date), 6 shall continue in effect according to their terms until 7 modified, terminated, superseded, set aside, or revoked in 8 accordance with law by the President, any other author- 9 ized official, a court of competent jurisdiction, or operation 10 of law. 11 (b) PROCEEDINGS.—This Act shall not affect any 12 proceedings or any application for any benefits, service, 13 license, permit, certificate, or financial assistance pending 14 on the date of the enactment of this Act before an office 15 transferred by this Act, but such proceedings and applica- 16 tions shall be continued. Orders shall be issued in such 17 proceedings, appeals shall be taken therefrom, and pay- 18 ments shall be made pursuant to such orders, as if this 19 Act had not been enacted, and orders issued in any such 20 proceeding shall continue in effect until modified, termi- 21 nated, superseded, or revoked by a duly authorized official, 22 by a court of competent jurisdiction, or by operation of 23 law. Nothing in this subsection shall be considered to pro- 24 hibit the discontinuance or modification of any such pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1910.IH H1910 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1910 IH ceeding under the same terms and conditions and to the 1 same exten [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]