House Speaker Boehner gets bon voyage from business groups

With the House speaker’s departure, many business groups are left to wonder about the likelihood of passing various trade and transportation bills in a deeply divided Congress.    The sudden announcement Friday from House Speaker John Boehner that he will be stepping down from his post at the end of October left many large industry groups disappointed at the loss of a ranking pro-business lawmaker on Capitol Hill.
   Boehner’s departure leaves a void within both trade and transportation funding legislative activity in Congress, such as the momentum to reauthorize U.S. Export-Import Bank’s charter. Many large companies are eager for Capitol Hill lawmakers to restore the Ex-Im Bank’s charter, which expired this summer, and Boehner was widely seen as an important ally in that cause. Some large American exporters have already threatened to move some jobs and production overseas to tap other countries’ export credit agencies.
   Boehner will also likely leave his post without passing a long-term transportation and infrastructure funding bill, an issue on which Congress has continually “kicked the can” via short-term extensions due to disagreements over where those funds should come from.
   “Throughout his career, he has consistently been a champion of manufacturers, recognizing the important role that America’s manufacturing workers play in building a strong economy,” said Jay Timmons, president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Manufacturers, in a statement Friday. “Manufacturers and the speaker’s friends at the NAM are grateful for his leadership through times of economic and political turmoil.”
   “We will miss his deep understanding of the positive role business plays in society, the bond that was his word, and his Midwest manners and sensibility. He has our friendship and we wish him well in whatever comes next,” said U.S. Chamber President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue.