Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 5739 - Export-Import Bank Charter Renewal Act of 1992

(House)

(Dakar (D) Ohio)

The Administration supports House passage of H.R. 5739, but will seek additional changes in the bill during its further consideration by Congress, Specifically, the Administration will work to modify or delete the following provisions:

— Section 103, which authorizes appropriations of $500 million for each of Fiscal Years 1993 -1997 for tied aid, nearly a five-fold increase over the currently appropriated level. (Tied aid is the combining of grants or low interest foreign assistance funds with regular export credits to win export sales.) Such an amount is inconsistent with the intent of the recent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Agreement to reduce trade distorting use of tied aid. The Administration prefers its requested authorization of "such sums as may be necessary." In addition, given the OECD Agreement, a shorter reauthorization period is more appropriate.

— Section 104, which provides for incremental increases in the total amount of support that may be outstanding under all of Eximbank's programs at one time. This provision may limit Eximbank flexibility and should be amended to provide a $75 billion cap, as requested by the Administration.

— Section 201, which would allow Eximbank to compensate its personnel at pay levels comparable to those received by employees of bank regulatory agencies. This section is unnecessary because of already available pay flexibilities that may be used to achieve comparability. It also would unwisely fragment the Government's pay system and lead to pressure from other agencies for similar treatment, resulting in pay competition between Federal agencies.

— Section 204, which requires Eximbank to develop a program for financing the export of high technology to eligible East European countries., with a $125 million limitation. This provision should be amended to be discretionary and eliminate the funding limitation.