John Thune

Republicans Divided Over Tying Renewal Of Export Agency To Capital Access Bill

Republican senators appear divided over whether to oppose a Democratic plan to attach the reauthorization of a federal agency that supports U.

S. exports to a bill that would seek to spur greater access to capital by small firms.Sen. Richard Shelby (R., Ala.), the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said that he supported a four-year renewal of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, and would have no problem if that reauthorization was added to the small business capital bill.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said on the Senate floor Tuesday morning that he wanted to add the bank's reauthorization to that bill."The business community thinks it's extremely important," Reid said. "It is important to other segments of our industrial base. It's an important piece of legislation and I hope that we can add that to the small business jobs bill."The underlying legislation would include a number of initiatives aimed at facilitating greater access to capital by start-ups and other sm...

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