[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 74 (Thursday, May 14, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2926-S2927]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       ENSURING TAX EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS THE RIGHT TO APPEAL ACT

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 1314) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986 to provide for a right to an administrative appeal 
     relating to adverse determinations of tax-exempt status of 
     certain organizations.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.


                           Amendment No. 1221

       (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)

  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I call up amendment No. 1221.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Utah [Mr. Hatch] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 1221.

  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading 
of the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The amendment is printed in the Record of May 12, 2015, under ``Text 
of Amendments.'')
  Mr. HATCH. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                Amendment No. 1243 to Amendment No. 1221

  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I call up amendment No. 1243.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Utah [Mr. Hatch], for Mr. Flake, proposes 
     an amendment numbered 1243 to amendment No. 1221.

  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading 
of the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

 (Purpose: To strike the extension of the trade adjustment assistance 
                                program)

       Strike title II.


                Amendment No. 1237 to Amendment No. 1221

  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I call up the Lankford amendment No. 
1237.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Utah [Mr. Hatch], for Mr. Lankford, 
     proposes an amendment numbered 1237 to amendment No. 1221.

  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading 
of the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

  (Purpose: To establish consideration of the conditions relating to 
   religious freedom of parties to trade negotiations as an overall 
              negotiating objective of the United States)

       At the end of section 2(a), add the following:
       (13) to take into account conditions relating to religious 
     freedom of any party to negotiations for a trade agreement 
     with the United States.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.


                Amendment No. 1242 to Amendment No. 1221

  Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I call up Brown amendment No. 1242.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Ohio [Mr. Brown] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 1242 to amendment No. 1221.

  Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading 
of the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

   (Purpose: To restore funding for the trade adjustment assistance 
  program to the level established by the Trade Adjustment Assistance 
                         Extension Act of 2011)

       On page 118, strike lines 19 through 23, and insert the 
     following:
       (b) Training Funds.--
       (1) In general.--Section 236(a)(2)(A) of the Trade Act of 
     1974 (19 U.S.C. 2296(a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ``shall 
     not exceed'' and all that follows and inserting ``shall not 
     exceed $575,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2015 through 
     2021.''.
       (2) Offset.--
       (A) Clarification of 6-year statute of limitations in case 
     of overstatement of basis.--Subparagraph (B) of Section 
     6501(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--
       (i) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (i), by 
     redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii), and by inserting 
     after clause (i) the following new clause:
       ``(ii) An understatement of gross income by reason of an 
     overstatement of unrecovered cost or other basis is an 
     omission from gross income;'', and
       (ii) by inserting ``(other than in the case of an 
     overstatement of unrecovered cost or other basis)'' in clause 
     (iii) (as so redesignated) after ``In determining the amount 
     omitted from gross income'', and
       (iii) by inserting ``AMOUNT OMITTED FROM'' after 
     ``DETERMINATION OF'' in the heading thereof.
       (B) Effective date.--The amendments made by subparagraph 
     (A) shall apply to--
       (i) returns filed after the date of the enactment of this 
     Act; and
       (ii) returns filed on or before such date if the period 
     specified in section 6501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986 (determined without regard to such amendments for 
     assessment of the taxes with respect to which such return 
     relates has not expired as of such date.

  Mr. BROWN. Madam President, if the chairman of the Committee on 
Finance and Senator Wyden will indulge me, I would like 2 or 3 minutes 
to explain the amendment and the importance of it.

[[Page S2927]]

  One of the most important reasons for the vote on Tuesday, I believe, 
is that a significant number of Members of this body and I think the 
public--those who support fast-track and those who oppose it--all 
believe that enforcement is important and assisting workers is 
important. So it would be a tragedy to send TPA to the desk of the 
President for him to sign, leading the way to at least two other trade 
agreements--the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the United States-
European Union agreement, the so-called TTIP trade agreement--without 
enforcement and without assistance for workers.
  We make decisions in this body, those who support this fast-track and 
the trade agreements, and we know--even the most enthusiastic 
supporters and cheerleaders for free trade acknowledge there are 
winners and losers when it comes to trade agreements. Some people, 
because of dislocation due to these trade agreements, dislocation in 
the economy, lose their jobs in places such as Wheeling, WV, and 
Bellaire, OH, right across the Ohio River. So it is important that we 
take care of those workers who lose their jobs because of our actions. 
That is why the TAA--trade adjustment assistance--provides help for 
workers to get new training and find new jobs when they are laid off 
from the chemical or steel industry along the Ohio River or elsewhere. 
The opportunity to be retrained is so important.
  I meet people frequently who were laid off because of NAFTA or 
because of CAFTA and now they are back in school. A man the other day I 
met is becoming a nurse, a woman might become a physical therapist, a 
man might be trained in information technology or some other kind of 
work after they have lost their job. So that is the importance of trade 
adjustment assistance.
  The President's budget called for a significantly higher number of 
dollars for trade adjustment assistance than the bill coming out of the 
Finance Committee. That is why I am offering my amendment, to get those 
dollars commensurate with the need, because every President in both 
parties--President Bush I on NAFTA, President Clinton on NAFTA and 
PNTR, President Bush on fast-track and CAFTA, President Obama on South 
Korea Free Trade Agreement and now on TPP--make big promises about 
trade numbers and increased jobs, big promises about higher wages. 
Unfortunately, those big promises end up with bad results.
  We know it from South Korea most recently; we have seen it throughout 
the last 20 years of trade. That is why the number of dollars 
authorized and appropriated for the trade adjustment assistance needs 
to be increased, so it will take care of those people who lose their 
jobs because of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and because of TTIP, 
which this Congress could very well agree to in the next year or so.
  So I ask for support of Brown amendment No. 1242. My understanding is 
that vote will come on Monday night. I appreciate the support of all 
the Members of this body.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________