[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for the quorum call be rescinded.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.
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