[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 148 (Tuesday, October 21, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H9741]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SUPPORT BILL TO ELIMINATE TAX SHELTERS

  (Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend the members of the other 
Chamber for introducing bipartisan legislation to shut down abusive 
accounting tax shelters costing U.S. taxpayers over $18 billion every 
year and leaving middle-class Americans to pick up the tab.
  Fairness and economic growth should be synonymous with the tax code. 
That is why I will introduce companion legislation to eliminate the way 
firms market tax shelters to their audit clients. This bill will 
eliminate tax shelters created by the accounting firms selling ``tax 
advice'' directly to publicly-traded companies whose books they 
regularly audit. As today's hearing on tax shelters in the other body 
will show, this process makes a mockery of auditor independence and 
creates irreconcilable conflicts of interest for auditors.
  Mr. Speaker, the economic principle of transparency and the American 
value of accountability are essential to economic growth. These abusive 
accounting schemes do neither, burdening the middle class and slowing 
down our economic recovery. I am proud to support this real reform to 
get real results.

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