Earlier this year, Tea Party ideologues managed to stop Congress from reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a federal agency that helps American businesses sell their products abroad. Closing down the bank has been an obsession with some conservatives who falsely insist that doing so would curb corporate welfare.

More sensible lawmakers are trying to revive the bank, whose charter expired on June 30 (it is still managing its existing portfolio). The agency helps American companies by providing loans and loan guarantees to foreign customers seeking to purchase their goods. Without it, American exporters would have a tougher time competing with businesses in Europe, China and elsewhere that receive similar or even more generous export financing from their governments.

A bipartisan majority in the Senate is trying to reauthorize the bank by adding an amendment to unrelated transportation legislation. That approach will probably not work. Before leaving for their summer recess, lawmakers in the House passed a short-term transportation bill on Wednesday that does not renew Ex-Im’s charter. In any case, a far better way to resurrect the bank would be through a stand-alone bill.

While a majority of lawmakers in the House and Senate want to revive the bank, some conservatives like Representative Jeb Hensarling and Senator Ted Cruz, both Republicans from Texas, have done everything they can to prevent a vote. They complain that most of the Ex-Im Bank’s lending benefits large corporations like Boeing and General Electric that do not need the help.