WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama
has asked Fred P. Hochberg, president of the U.S. Export-Import
Bank, to remain in his post, the White House said on Thursday.
Hochberg, who has led the export credit agency since May
2009, would have had to step down in July without Obama’s fresh
endorsement.
The Ex-Im Bank provides direct loans, loan guarantees and
other types of financing to support U.S. exports. The bank’s
biggest client is Boeing, the leading U.S. exporter.
As part of Obama’s economics and trade team, Hochberg has
been an advocate for increasing U.S. trade opportunities abroad.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson whose panel
has oversight of the Export Import Bank, welcomed the
renomination.
“Under the direction of Fred Hochberg, the Ex-Im Bank has
set new records in exporting U.S. goods and services and
expanded our reach into new international markets,” Johnson, a
Democrat, said in a statement.
Hochberg, an openly gay member of the Obama administration,
is a former president of Lillian Vernon Corp, a mail order
company founded by his mother that he helped build into an
international publicly traded direct marketing corporation.
During Hochberg’s tenure, the Ex-Im Bank has provided record
amounts of financing for U.S. exports, exceeding $35.7 billion
in the 2012 budget year.
Hochberg is also a former deputy administrator of the Small
Business Administration and was dean of Milano, the New School
for Management and Urban Policy in New York City from 2004 to
2008.
Hochberg has traveled the world in support of Obama’s goal
of doubling exports to $3 trillion by the end of 2014.
