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STATEMENT OF
ELMER B. STAATS, COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES
BEFORE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE
COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND CURRENCY
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ON
[A( H.R. 5846] to amend the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, as 60
amended, to allow for greater expansion of export trade of
the United States, to exclude Bank receipts and disburse-
ments from the budget of the United States, and for other
purposes.
May 20, 1971
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:
We appear at your request to present our views and answer your
questions on the provisions of H.R. 5846, which would exclude the
( receipts and disbursements of the Export-Import Bank from the totals
of the budget of the United States Government and exempt them from any
annual expenditure and net lending limitations imposed on the budget.
Our views were expressed in September 1970 when we appeared before the
Senate Subcommittee on International Finance, Committee on Banking and
Currency, at its request on a similar bill, S. 4268, which failed of
enactment and also in March 1971 before the Senate Committee on Banking,
Housing and Urban Affairs on S. 19 and S. 581. Our position on H.R. 5846
is the same as the one taken in our previous testimony.
As you know, the General Accounting Office has over many years favored
the principle of full disclosure to the Congress and review by the Congress
of the budgetary programs submitted by the executive branch. In our view
excluding the Export-Import Bank's receipts and disbursements from the
budget totals would establish a highly undesirable precedent since the
exclusion could with equal logic and justification be applied to other
loan programs. In my opinion, it is impossible to differentiate between
this program and other loan programs in the budget. It would open the
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