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.

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Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Chairman, while I am a strong supporter of the Ex-Im Bank, I am voting for this amendment to prevent companies that dodge U.S. taxes from receiving U.S. taxpayer assistance. It is simple: we should not be providing taxpayer-funded assistance to corporations that set up shell headquarters offshore for the purpose of avoiding paying their fair share of U.S. taxes.

The Export-Import Bank should be screening companies it funds to prevent this type of abuse. And if it does not, we should. I have consistently been a vigorous backer of the Export-Import Bank's mission to provide funding for exports produced in the United States. The bank's loans have supported American companies and provided jobs in this country, in my district of New York, and in many others. But giving loans to corporations, to expatriates, is an abuse of a good program.

Not only are companies that evade U.S. taxes getting taxpayers' money, but they are taking away dollars that should be spent helping companies that pay their fair share of American taxes. And, of course, if we allow this, we are encouraging other companies to move their so-called headquarters to Bermuda to avoid taxes and abandon the American worker. This is exactly what Senator Kerry meant when he said that we must stop providing tax subsidies to Benedict Arnold CEOs.

Specifically, this amendment would prohibit the Ex-Im Bank from approving subsidized loans or loan guarantees for any company that sets up a sham headquarters offshores to dodge U.S. taxes.

Five of the top recipients of Ex-Im funding are corporations that have set up sham headquarters in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

Mr. Chairman, I just want to cite one example, Ingersoll-Rand. They saved $60 million in 2002 by formally incorporating in Bermuda, but they have received over $370 million since 2003 in Ex-Im financial assistance. This is wrong. It is a gross abuse of a good program.

In the name of American workers and taxpayers, we should put a stop to it. I urge my colleagues to vote for American jobs, for American companies that are responsible, for American companies that pay their fair share, not those that dodge our country and their responsibilities to it. I urge a strong "yes" vote on this amendment.