Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2005

FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005 -- (House of Representatives - July 15, 2004)

The Committee resumed its sitting.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. SANDERS

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.

The text of the amendment is as follows:

Amendment offered by Mr. Sanders:

At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the following:

LIMITATION ON PROVISION BY EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF CREDIT TO ENTITIES REINCORPORATING OVERSEAS
SEC. __. None of the funds made available in this Act may be used by the Export-Import Bank of the United States to approve an application for a master guarantee and political risk supplement where the applicant's charter or articles of incorporation show that the entity is incorporated or chartered in Bermuda, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Antigua, or Panama.

The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the order of the House of today, the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) each will control 20 minutes.

The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders).

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 6 minutes.

Mr. Chairman, this tripartisan amendment has widespread support across the ideological spectrum, from Democrats and Republicans, from progressives, conservatives to moderates. It is being cosponsored today by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul), the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher), the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor), the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) and the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro). It also enjoys the support of the AFL-CIO, the Teamsters, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Citizen Works and other national organizations.

Mr. Chairman, in a very profound way this amendment deals with the issue of patriotism, love of country and respect for the American people. At a time when our country is at war and young Americans are dying almost every day, at a time when our country has a $7 trillion national debt and when veterans are unable to get the health care that they need, this amendment asks a very simple question: Should the middle class of this country, people who work hard, love their country and pay their fair share of taxes, be asked to provide billions in loan guarantees to corporate expatriates, U.S. companies who set up phony headquarters abroad in order to avoid paying U.S. taxes? That is what this amendment is all about.

Mr. Chairman, enough is enough. The American people are growing sick and tired of large corporations throwing American workers out on the streets as they move to China, to India and to other low-wage countries; and they are equally outraged by companies who come begging to Washington for corporate welfare and taxpayer dollars while they move to tax-haven countries in order to avoid their tax obligations here.

Oh, they do not want to pay taxes in America, not them. That is for the suckers of this country. That is what they say, but they sure do want the taxpayers to help them out with corporate welfare. That is okay.

This amendment will begin the process of putting an end to that absurdity. I fully concede that this amendment is not going to solve this problem completely, no question about that, but its passage will be a shot across the bow to every corporation in America who thinks that they will be able to continue to rip off the taxpayers of this country with impunity. It will, in fact, make some companies think twice before they run to Bermuda or to Panama or to the Cayman Islands in order to avoid paying American taxes.

Specifically, Mr. Chairman, this amendment would prohibit the Export-Import Bank from approving subsidized loan guarantees to corporate expatriates, companies who were formerly located in the United States but who have set up paper headquarters abroad in tax-haven countries in order to avoid paying taxes here.

Mr. Chairman, what every Member of Congress should know is that five out of the top 23 largest recipients of Export-Import Bank assistance since 2003 are corporate expatriates that have set up sham headquarters and post office boxes in places like Bermuda, Barbados and the Cayman Islands for the sole purpose of avoiding U.S. taxes.

Mr. Chairman, it is bad enough corporate expatriates are abandoning this country to dodge taxes, but it is unconscionable that these companies then turn around and seek U.S. taxpayer assistance through the U.S. Export-Import Bank, forcing middle-class families to pick up the tab. Companies that dodge U.S. taxes should not be rewarded with taxpayer subsidies through the Export-Import Bank.

Mr. Chairman, we are talking about substantial dollars here. Let me give my colleagues some examples of what I am talking about.

Tyco International, everybody will remember Tyco International, one of the poster children for corporate greed, saved $400 million in U.S. taxes by reincorporating in Bermuda in 1997. What was the response of the Export-Import Bank to this deliberate attempt to avoid paying their fair share of taxes? What did they do when Tyco moved to Bermuda? Well, they gave Tyco $115 million in assistance since 1998. That is absurd.

In 2002, Ingersoll-Rand saved up to $60 million in U.S. taxes by reincorporating in Bermuda. Since 2002, this tax-dodging company received over $370 million in subsidized loans, loan guarantees and other financial assistance from the Export-Import Bank.

In 2002, Nabors Industry saved $10 million in taxes by reincorporating in Bermuda. Since that year, it has received over $300 million in taxpayer-backed financial assistance through the Export-Import Bank.

Mr. Chairman, the time is now to say enough is enough. If corporations want to move to Bermuda and disown the United States, that is their right, but they do not have a right to then come back to the taxpayers of this country and ask the United States Congress and the Export-Import Bank to give them substantial sums of money.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the remainder of my time.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, since I believe I will be the only one speaking here, I reserve my time.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).