[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2868-2869]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Schumer, 
        Mr. Brown, Mr. Casey, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Leahy, 
        Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Warren, Mrs. Feinstein, and 
        Mr. Reed):
  S. 408. A bill to require the President to disclose income, assets, 
and liabilities associated with countries with which the United States 
is negotiating a trade or investment agreement, countries subject to 
presidential determinations in trade enforcement actions, and countries 
eligible for trade preference programs, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I, along with 13 of my Senate 
colleagues, am introducing the Presidential Trade Transparency Act of 
2017. This bill establishes new reporting requirements directing the 
President to disclose foreign income, assets, and liabilities when 
initiating or continuing trade or investment negotiations with a 
foreign country, taking or refraining to take certain trade enforcement 
actions, or granting or modifying preferential tariff treatment under 
statutory trade preference programs. Each of these decisions may have 
significant commercial implications, both as to a foreign country's 
economy as a whole and with respect to particular investments within a 
foreign country. Given the complexity and lack of transparency with 
respect to the President's finances, additional country-specific 
reporting is necessary for Congress to properly exercise its oversight 
responsibilities and assess whether the authority it has granted to the 
President is the subject of undue influence due to a business 
relationship between the President and one or more foreign entities. 
Reporting of this information will also help address questions 
regarding improper influence by foreign entities when the President 
exercises trade authorities granted by Congress.
  Americans have a right to know if the President is looking out for 
the good of the country or just his own bottom line when he negotiates 
a trade deal, decides whether or not to enforce our trade laws, or 
decides whether to cut tariffs on imports from a developing country. 
The President has business interests around the world, but he continues 
to keep the full nature of those ties secret.
  Under the Constitution, Congress is responsible for regulating 
foreign commerce, including setting U.S. tariff rates applicable to 
imports from foreign countries. However, Congress has granted the 
President limited authority to modify U.S. tariffs in certain 
circumstances, including to enforce U.S. laws protecting U.S. industry 
from harmful trade or to address foreign trade barriers, to negotiate 
trade agreements that eliminate foreign barriers to U.S. exports, and 
to grant developing countries preferential access to the U.S. market.
  In many instances, the President himself is granted this authority 
and does not exercise it through a Cabinet official. While Congress has 
granted such authority to the President, it retains the responsibility 
to ensure that the President uses the authority in a manner consistent 
with congressional objectives.
  The bill directs the President to report to Congress information 
regarding foreign income, assets, and liabilities, consistent with the 
information required to be disclosed under the Ethics in Government 
Act, specifically as to any country that is the subject of a trade 
negotiation, trade enforcement action or inaction, or decision to grant 
or deny tariff preferences, and to describe in detail the nature of the 
connection between the income, asset, or liability and the foreign 
country. The bill specifies deadlines for disclosure of the information 
with respect to each action that generally track existing deadlines for 
Presidential reporting under U.S. law.
  Failure to timely submit a report would render without legal effect a 
Presidential proclamation modifying U.S. tariffs with respect to the 
country and, with respect to a trade agreement, would disqualify the 
agreement from eligibility for expedited consideration under trade 
promotion authority.
  Passage of this bill would close a key loophole in congressional 
oversight authorities over trade and shine much needed daylight on the 
financial relationship between the President and America's trading 
partners.
  I thank my colleagues for their efforts on this bill, and I hope the 
Finance Committee will consider our proposal quickly.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Mr. Portman):
  S. 424. A bill to amend title 5, United Stated Code, to include 
certain Federal positions within the definition of law enforcement 
officer for retirement purposes, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I rise today to reintroduce the Law 
Enforcement Officers' Equity Act. This good-government bill will 
provide Federal law enforcement officers with the Federal benefits they 
deserve for their service. I thank Senator Rob Portman for being an 
original cosponsor of this bill.

[[Page 2869]]

  There is perhaps no harder job in the United States than that of law 
enforcement officers. Each day, brave men and women work under 
tremendously stressful conditions to keep our communities safe. From 
apprehending violent criminals to arresting drug kingpins, these brave 
men and women in uniform put their lives on the line for a higher 
cause. We owe them our sincerest gratitude for their service.
  Due to the high level of training required for their job and the 
ever-present danger in their profession, Congress determined that 
Federal law enforcement officers should receive higher salaries and 
enhanced benefits compared to other Federal employees. Unfortunately, 
due to a technical error, nearly 30,000 Federal law enforcement 
officers classified as G5-0083 police officers do not receive enhanced 
benefits under the United States Code. As a result, certain officers 
who work for Federal agencies--such as the Department of Defense, 
Department of Veterans Affairs, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. 
Postal Service, U.S. Mint, National Institute of Health and many more--
receive lower pensions as compared to other law enforcement officers 
with similar responsibilities. It makes no sense that postal police 
officers or any other Federal law enforcement officers receive less 
benefits even though they have the similar duties and functions as 
other law enforcement officers.
  The Law Enforcement Officers' Equity Act would fill in this gap in 
the law and expand the number of Federal law enforcement officers who 
can receive benefits. The bill would expand the definition of ``law 
enforcement officer'' for retirement purposes to include all Federal 
law enforcement officers. The change would grant law enforcement 
officer status to the following individuals: employees who are 
authorized to carry a firearm and whose duties include the 
investigation or apprehension of suspected criminals; employees of the 
Internal Revenue Service whose duties are primarily the collection of 
delinquent taxes and securing delinquent returns; employees of the U.S. 
Postal Inspection Service; and employees of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs who are Department police offices. These officers face the same 
risks and challenges as the men and women currently classified properly 
under Federal law as law
  The Law Enforcement Officers' Equity Act would allow incumbent law 
enforcement officers' Federal service--after the enactment of the act--
to be considered service performed as a law enforcement officer for 
retirement purposes.
  This legislation has the support of law enforcement groups, including 
the Fraternal Order of police, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers' 
Association, and the Law Enforcement Action Network.
  Fundamental fairness demands that we close this loophole in Federal 
law and give all Federal law enforcement officers the retirement 
benefits they deserve-Trask my colleagues to support the Law 
Enforcement Officers' Equity Act, and I urge its speedy passage.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. McCONNELL (for himself and Mr. Paul):
  S. 429. A bill to exempt the aging process of distilled spirits from 
the production period for purposes of capitalization of interest costs; 
to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text 
of the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 429

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Advancing Growth in the 
     Economy through Distilled Spirits Act'' or the ``AGED Spirits 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. PRODUCTION PERIOD OF DISTILLED SPIRITS.

       (a) In General.--Section 263A(f) of the Internal Revenue 
     Code of 1986 is amended--
       (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5), and
       (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following new 
     paragraph:
       ``(4) Exemption for aging process of distilled spirits.--
     For purposes of this subsection, the production period shall 
     not include the aging period for distilled spirits (as 
     described in section 5002(a)(8)), except such spirits that 
     are unfit for use for beverage purposes.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--Paragraph (5)(B)(ii) of section 
     263A(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as redesignated 
     by this section, is amended by inserting ``except as provided 
     in paragraph (4),'' before ``ending on the date''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall apply to interest costs paid or incurred in taxable 
     years ending on or after December 31, 2018.

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