[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 136 (Tuesday, September 30, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12194-S12195]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BUNNING.
  S. 1681. A bill to exempt the natural aging process in the 
determination of the production period for distilled spirits under 
section 263A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; to the Committee on 
Finance.
  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, today, I am pleased to introduce a bill 
that will address an issue of inequity in the U.S. Tax Code. Current 
tax law requires that certain production expenses of a product for sale 
by a manufacturer be capitalized into the inventory cost of that 
product. One such expense is the allocable portion of interest expenses 
that are attributable to equipment used in that production. However, 
this capitalization requirement only applies when the product being 
produced has a production period in excess of 2 years.
  The bill I am introducing today will clarify that, for the production 
of distilled spirits, the production period for purposes of this 
capitalization rule includes only the distilling of the liquor--it does 
not include time that the liquors are naturally aged following the 
distillation.
  This is an important clarification to insure that distilled spirits 
that are aged for long periods of time--in some cases many years--do 
not face adverse tax consequences merely due to this aging process. The 
clarification of this inequity will aid many small distilleries located 
in the United States by not forcing them to carry additional inventory 
costs over long periods of time.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. ROCKEFELLER:
  S. 1682. A bill to provide for a test census of Americans residing 
abroad, and to require that such individuals be included in the 2010 
decennial census; to the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, today I want to introduce legislation 
to direct the Census Bureau to develop a test census of Americans 
living abroad in 2004. The long-term goal is to develop methods to 
include Americans living overseas in our next decennial census in 2010.
  There are approximately 3 million to 6 million private American 
citizens living and working overseas, and many of them continue to vote 
and pay taxes in the United States. These citizens help increase 
exports of American goods, because they traditionally buy American, 
sell American,and create business opportunities for American companies 
and workers. Their role in strengthening the U.S. economy, creating 
jobs in the United States, and extending U.S. influence around the 
globe is vital to the well-being of our Nation.
  I believe that Americans abroad deserve to be counted, and to achieve 
this goal we must begin with a test census next year.
  For many years, I have been proud to work on policies to ensure that 
Americans living abroad are treated fairly.

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