[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 143 (Thursday, September 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H8941]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE AMBASSADOR FROM BELIZE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Bonior] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to tell a story worthy of a 
Hollywood script.
  In fact, if it was made into a movie, it would probably be called 
``the Strange Case of the Billionaire, the Loophole, the 
Ambassadorship, and a Country Called Belize.''
  For our purposes today, I just call it a window on the soul of the 
Gingrich revolution.
  Mr. Speaker, our story begins in the small Nation of Belize.
  You may have heard of Belize before.
  It's a small Central-American nation known for its great vacations, 
its near-pristine tropical forests, and its great skindiving.
  But recently, it made news for a different reason.
  Last week, the Nation of Belize inquired about setting up a new 
diplomatic post in one of the most important cities in America.
  Was it Washington, DC? New York City?
  Nope. Belize wants to set up its diplomatic post in Sarasota, FL.
  Now why, you may wonder, would they want to do that? It's not because 
Sarasota has an overly large concentration of Belizeans.
  Well, it seems they would like to have a new ambassador to the United 
States.
  A new ambassador by the name of Kenneth Dart.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, you may have heard of Kenneth Dart before.
  He's an American. At least he was an American.
  Up until a year ago, he was a billionaire investor and styrofoam-cup 
maker living in America.
  But last year, he renounced his American citizenship and moved to 
Belize.
  Why did he do that?
  Well, because under a provision in the U.S. Tax Code, by renouncing 
his citizenship, Mr. Dart could avoid paying his U.S. income taxes.
  Tens of millions of dollars in U.S. income taxes.
  So in exchange for becoming a billionaire Benedict Arnold, Mr. Dart 
got to keep millions of dollars.
   Problem is, while taking his trip abroad, he's taking American 
taxpayers for a ride.
  During the tax debate this year, Democrats offered a bill to close 
this loophole and force billionaires like Kenneth Dart to pay their 
fair share.
  But when it came time for a vote, every Republican but six voted 
against it.
  Instead, they voted to cut school lunches, student loans, and 
Medicare.
  But now Mr. Dart has a new problem.
  Under U.S. law, he can only come back to America once every 30 days.
  Problem is, his family still lives in America.
  And I'll bet you'll never guess where his family lives.
  That's right--Sarasota, FL.
  So, as a new Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Dart will indeed be 
visiting the white house--the white house he and his family own in 
Sarasota, FL.
  The kicker to all this, Mr. Speaker is simply this: Under the 
Republican tax plan, Mr. Dart's family in Florida is still eligible to 
receive huge tax breaks.
  Huge tax breaks that are being paid for by Republican cuts to 
Medicare.
  So next time you hear people talking about the Gingrich revolution, 
stop and think for a minute about the ``Case of the Billionaire, the 
Loophole, the Ambassadorship, and a Country called Belize.''
  Because that's the real Gingrich revolution.

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