[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 130 (Monday, October 11, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1923]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4520, AMERICAN JOBS CREATION ACT OF 2004

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 7, 2004

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the 
conference report on H.R. 4520, the corporate tax bill. This bill, 
which repeals a portion of the U.S. tax code known as the Foreign Sales 
Corporation and Extraterritorial Income Exclusion (FSC/ETI),--thereby 
ending European sanctions on American businesses, is nothing but the 
latest handout in a string of unnecessary tax cuts for multinational 
corporations by this Republican Majority.
  With 2.5 million manufacturing jobs lost in the last 3 years, 
including nearly 40,000 in my State of Connecticut alone, many 
outsourced to other countries like China and Singapore, we all 
understand that steps must be taken to revive what is the very backbone 
of America's economy. We have seen more than half a million jobs 
shipped overseas over the last three years and that could grow to 6 
million by 2015.
  I do not believe government is in the business of creating jobs; but 
government has an obligation to foster an environment in which jobs can 
be created. With this legislation, we could be providing this country's 
manufacturers with the opportunity to be able to stay here. We could 
invest in our technology and invest in our workers. And, we could 
promote more economic development in the United States. Instead, this 
Administration and its Republican Leadership follow a business model 
that assists companies in sending the jobs offshore, allows companies 
not to pay their fair share of their taxes, and then rewards these 
companies with Federal contracts. They simply do not get it.
  Even more, by clinging to the idea that we should be rewarding 
companies who send jobs overseas, this majority has delayed action on 
this issue for more than a year. As a result, manufacturers have been 
paying 11 percent tariffs on more than 1,600 American-made products.
  But now that the fix is in, this represents a huge missed 
opportunity. Rather than helping our struggling manufacturing base, 
this Republican conference agreement would give U.S. multinational 
corporations more incentive to ship jobs overseas--more than $42 
billion in additional tax benefits for offshore operations of U.S. 
corporations.
  In addition to rewarding corporations for exporting U.S. jobs, the 
conference report is just a grab bag of special interest provisions 
that will benefit few and clutter an already bewildering tax code. It 
includes billions for a range of new narrow special-interest tax 
breaks, such as tax breaks for several varieties of bows and arrows, 
NASCAR racetracks, electronic fish finders, bait containers, foreign 
gamblers who win at U.S. horse and dog tracks, nuclear steam 
generators, and importers of Chinese ceiling fans.
  Mr. Speaker, what manufacturers need from this body is not more 
incentives to send jobs abroad; they need bold vision, recognizing that 
our Federal Tax Code could work for them, not against them, by favoring 
those companies who keep their jobs here. That is exactly what 
Democrats have been pushing for more than a year--to revitalize our 
manufacturing base by cutting taxes for U.S. companies in order to keep 
good-paying manufacturing jobs here at home and end the tariffs on U.S. 
products. American companies should not have to resort to transferring 
jobs to countries where workers make less and have fewer benefits to 
stay competitive.
  Americans understand outsourcing. It is eroding our workforce; it has 
threatened every middle-class family in this country. Putting an end to 
outsourcing starts with helping our manufacturers here at home become 
more productive, more innovative. If we want to boost sales, investment 
in modernization and employment is the way to do it. This conference 
report is not the answer.

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