[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 142 (Wednesday, September 30, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H6710]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TAX REFORM AND INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, Politico yesterday had a fascinating 
story about Chuck Schumer, widely expected to become the next 
Democratic leader in the Senate, in talks with Republican leaders in 
the House and Senate about a major tax and infrastructure deal.
  It would give a lower tax rate on hundreds of billions of dollars 
parked overseas by international corporations and use the tax on those 
proceeds to finance a more robust 6-year transportation bill. What is 
not to like?
  I have been working tirelessly for us to be able to finance America's 
failing infrastructure, having introduced the first gas tax increase on 
the Federal level in 22 years. I have been working with stakeholders, 
like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, organized labor, truckers, AAA, 
contractors, transit, the whole array of people who build, operate, 
use, and rely upon American infrastructure.
  I am sympathetic to getting this job done. America is falling apart 
while we are falling behind. It doesn't work to try to pay for 2015 
infrastructure with 1993 dollars.
  The simple answer that Ronald Reagan successfully championed as 
President was raising the gas tax, in his case, 125 percent. It is 
taking hold around the country as even very red Republican States--six 
already this year--have raised their gas taxes, and our legislation in 
Congress is gaining more attention as people understand that this is 
the best way forward to solve the problem.
  What is wrong with the deal that is being examined by Senator 
Schumer? Well, first of all, the path towards international tax reform 
is very complex and rocky, with many competing interests. No one 
disputes that the patchwork of our corporate tax system that we have 
currently is unfair to some and produces distorted results.
  We have the highest stated statutory corporate tax rate in the world. 
But, for many corporations, that is not so much of a problem because 
they have been working to carve out their own exemptions and loopholes 
so that what the average that corporations pays is much less than the 
stated rate. But, for some, particularly those that build and operate 
in the United States, they do pay that statutory rate and it is a 
problem and it is unfair.
  There is also still the incentive for some to park more money 
overseas. Most of us think that it is going to require revenue to buy 
down the corporate rate, to reform it, and repatriated dollars would be 
a source to adjust that in a way that doesn't make the deficit much, 
much worse.
  There is also a problem of competitiveness. Some organizations 
actually have offshore operations to be closer to their markets. If you 
are going to sell in China, for instance, it makes sense perhaps to 
manufacture it there rather than ship it halfway around the world with 
all the complexity and expense.
  I have been meeting with a wide variety of corporate tax officers who 
ask the question about equity. Why should they with their overseas 
operations pay for domestic infrastructure that everybody benefits 
from? That is a great question.
  This has the potential of actually costing the Treasury more in the 
long run, making it harder to have an equitable adjustment in corporate 
tax reform, and shift the burden that should be paid by all American 
users instead concentrated on a small portion of American taxpayers on 
their overseas operation. They ask where is the equity, and it is hard 
to see.
  That is why we have the basic principle of a user fee: People use a 
service and they pay for it. The gas tax for decades has served that 
purpose since it was first introduced in my home State of Oregon in 
1919 for road construction. It is still the simplest, most direct, most 
fair, easiest to administer, and would enable us to solve this problem 
in a matter of months.
  Unfortunately, the path we are on is very uncertain as well as 
unfair. We are going to have the 35th short-term extension of the 
highway trust fund next month. No country has become great building its 
infrastructure 10 months at a time.
  The answer is not an elaborate deal that is being discussed which 
makes it less likely we solve the problems. Why don't we just deal with 
it directly, put hundreds of thousands of people to work at family-wage 
jobs, actually reduce the deficit, increase the economy, and strengthen 
the quality of life in communities large and small all across America.
  Let's not engage in gimmickry. Let's rebuild and renew America.

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