Republicans clash over U.S. Export Import Bank plan

Republican Speaker John Boehner said he would support any plan to reform or wind down the trade finance agency that can win approval from the committee with jurisdiction over the bank, but he said he is concerned about job losses if the bank closes.

"Listen, I'd support any plan that the chairman can get through his committee, whether it would reform the bank, wind it down," Boehner said. "But there are thousands of jobs on the line that would disappear pretty quickly if the Ex-Im Bank were to disappear."

Jeb Hensarling, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee and wants the bank to close when its charter expires on June 30, signaled no plans to take up any bill to renew the agency.

A majority of committee Republicans did not support reauthorization, he told reporters. The panel has 34 Republicans and 26 Democrats.

"I know of neither Republican nor Democrat chairman of the House Financial Services Committee that has ever put forth a bill that was not supported by a majority of the majority."

Hensarling told a committee hearing the bank cost jobs by supporting the overseas buyers of U.S. goods who in some cases compete with local firms, such as foreign airlines who use Ex-Im financing to buy Boeing Co. wide-body aircraft.

But Ex-Im Chairman Fred Hochberg said the bank supports thousands of U.S. exporters who hire local staff and source supplies from other U.S. companies.

"Our job is to support U.S. jobs," he said.

The committee's top Democrat, Maxine Waters, urged lawmakers to sign a petition designed to bypass Republican leadership and force a vote on Ex-Im. The petition would need signatures of the majority of House members, or 217 lawmakers.

Boehner's own district in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, is adjacent to General Electric Co's main commercial aircraft engine production facilities, which employ about 7,500 people and benefit from Ex-Im financing for Boeing jets.

Boehner said he has warned Hensarling that the Senate may act first to reauthorize the bank. He did not say whether he would put a Senate bill to a vote in the House.

(Reporting by David Lawder and Krista Hughes; editing by Bill Trott and Cynthia Osterman)