[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 17, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               DUTY DRAWBACK DISASTER RELIEF ACT OF 1995

                                 ______


                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 17, 1995
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, as we mark the 1-year anniversary of the 
devastating Northridge earthquake, some businesses in the Los Angeles 
area are still struggling to pick up the pieces and get back on their 
feet.
  Despite the commendable efforts of FEMA Director James Lee Witt, 
former SBA Administrator Erskine Bowles, and HUD Secretary Henry 
Cisneros, a number of earthquake-damaged companies are at serious risk 
of falling through the cracks. Some of these face unique and 
unanticipated circumstances, and have thus been unable to qualify for 
the standard Federal disaster assistance programs.
  To help one small subset of these needy businesses, I am once again 
introducing legislation 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 U.S. 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 such 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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