[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 65 (Friday, April 7, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E821-E822]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       H.R. 1378, REGARDING RENUNCIATION OF AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP

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                            HON. SAM GIBBONS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 6, 1995
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, last week the Republicans in the House of 
Representatives, acting on behalf of powerful lobbyists representing 
unnamed clients, succeeded in stopping a provision that would have 
prevented wealthy Americans from avoiding billions of U.S. tax by 
renouncing their American citizenship.
  Earlier this week, I introduced H.R. 1378, which would require that 
those unnamed clients be identified to the public. The legislation 
would require the Secretary of State to publish in the Federal Register 
the names of individuals who renounce their U.S. citizenship. 
Individuals enjoying enormous tax advantages through renunciation of 
their U.S. citizenship should be publicly identified.
  In the debate last week, Republicans tried to faithfully follow the 
script prepared by lobbyists representing wealthy expatriates and those 
few wealthy Americans planning to renounce their allegiance to their 
native country in the near future. Their arguments were eloquently 
refuted by the Democratic Members participating in the debate and we 
need not repeat that debate.
  However, the Republicans did stray from the script prepared by these 
lobbyists in several respects, and I want to respond to those 
arguments. They accused the Democrats of engaging in class warfare and 
attempting to tax wealthy individuals out of existence. They argued 
that these wealthy individuals would not have engaged in the despicable 
act of renouncing their allegiance to the United States but for the 
punitive levels of taxation in this country.
  The Republican concern for the wealthiest among the privileged class 
is understandable given their political philosophy but, from the 
average taxpayer's perspective, it is seriously misguided. The 
wealthiest of the wealthy did quite well during the 1980s. The 
wealthiest of Americans saw their share of total income almost double 
in the 1980s. According to Treasury Department data, the share of total 
income reported by the top one-half of 1 percent of taxpayers increased 
from 6.05 percent in 1979 to 11 percent in 1989.
  Their argument that our taxes are at punitive levels is totally 
false. The United States has one of the lowest tax burdens of all 
industrialized nations in the world. It is true that our rates exceed 
those provided by the tax havens to which these wealthy people are 
fleeing. However, those individuals can reside safely in those havens 
only by reason of the defense expenditures of this country which enable 
wealthy expatriates to live safely anywhere in the world. Many of these 
expatriates continue to live and work in this country for large 
portions of the year.
  The argument that I find most appalling is the argument that we 
engaged in class warfare when we tried to prevent these billionaires 
from avoiding their tax responsibilities by renouncing their U.S. 
citizenship. Two weeks ago, Republican Members of this House compared 
poor Americans to ``alligators'' and 
[[Page E822]] ``wolves'' and engaged in crude stereotyping of welfare 
recipients by referring to ``studs'' outside their homes. They passed a 
welfare reform bill that took $66 billion away from the poorest of 
American citizens. None of this was considered class warfare by the 
Republicans. However, they condemn as class warfare our attempt to make 
a handful or two of the wealthiest of the wealthy bear the same burden 
of tax as all the rest of us.
  I will continue to work toward making our tax system fair to all who 
benefit from this great country. H.R. 1378 is one small step in that 
direction.


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