[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 138 (Wednesday, September 28, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 28, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
             THE DUTY DRAWBACK DISASTER RELIEF ACT OF 1994

                                 ______


                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 28, 1994

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, more than 9 months after the devastating 
January 17 Northridge earthquake, many individuals, families. and 
businesses in the Los Angeles area are still picking up the pieces and 
trying to return to a normal existence. The Federal Government has 
played a central role in the recovery effort from day one, and to date 
significant progress has been made. FEMA Director James Lee Witt, SBA 
Administrator Erskine Bowles, and HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros deserve 
a great deal of credit for their willingness to go the extra mile to 
help those in need.
  Despite the unprecedented flexibility demonstrated by Federal, State 
and local officials, some earthquake-damaged companies have been unable 
to obtain disaster assistance. A number of businesses face relatively 
unique problems that had not been previously experienced or 
anticipated, and are thus having trouble qualifying for the standard 
Federal disaster assistance programs.
  To help ensure that some victims of the Northridge earthquake and 
other disasters don't fall through the cracks, I am introducing 
legislation today that would provide an 18 month extension of the duty 
drawback filing period for businesses that sustain damage in a 
presidentially declared disaster. Under current law, the Commissioner 
of Customs has no discretion to provide such an extension even if, 
through no fault of their own, businesses lose their records in a fire, 
flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake or other disaster.
  This legislation would have an almost negligible budgetary impact, 
yet would be of crucial importance to the small number of businesses 
unable to file drawbacks when disaster strikes. The Customs Service, 
the Treasury Department, and the Office of the United States Trade 
Representative have all signaled their support for this legislation, 
and I hope it will be enacted by the Congress in a timely fashion.

                               H.R. ----

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SPECIAL RULE FOR EXTENDING TIME FOR FILING 
                   DRAWBACK CLAIMS

       Section 313(r) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
     1313(r)), is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3)(A) Notwithstanding the limitation set forth in 
     paragraph (1), the Customs Service may extend the time for 
     filing a drawback claim for a period not to exceed 18 months, 
     if--
       ``(i) the claimant establishes to the satisfaction of the 
     Customs Service that the claimant was unable to file the 
     drawback claim because of an event declared by the President 
     to be a major disaster on or after January 1, 1994, and
       ``(ii) the claimant files a request for each extension with 
     the Customs Service within 1 year from the last day of the 3-
     year period referred to in paragraph (1).
       ``(B) If an extension is granted with respect to a request 
     filed under this paragraph, the periods of time for retaining 
     records set forth in subsection (t) of this section and 
     section 508(c)(3) shall be extended for an additional 18 
     months.
       ``(C) For purposes of this paragraph the term `major 
     disaster' has the meaning given such term in section 102(2) 
     of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
     Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(2)).''.

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