Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. RISCH. 910 be withdrawn and the only amendments in order to Treaties Calendar No. 1 be the Paul amendment Nos. 924 to the treaty and 921 to the resolution of ratification; further, that at 5 p.m. today, the Senate vote on the Paul amendment No. 924; that following disposition of that amendment, the resolution of ratification be reported and the Senate vote on Paul amendment No. 921 take place; that following disposition of that amendment, the Senate vote on the resolution of ratification with no intervening action or debate; that if the resolution of ratification is agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; further, that the only amendments in order to treaties Calendar Nos. 2, 3, and 4 be the Paul amendment Nos. 922, 919, 923, 918, and 920; finally, that the cloture motions in relation to treaties Calendar Nos. 2, 3, and 4 be withdrawn, the pending amendments to the treaties be withdrawn, and the Senate vote on ratification of the treaties at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Democratic leader on Wednesday, July 17.

4.
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Mr. RISCH. Mr. President and fellow Senators, today the Senate is considering four tax protocols. These treaties--and these are treaties--have been approved by substantial bipartisan majorities in the Foreign Relations Committee in multiple successive Congresses. Two of these four protocols were reported out of committee without objection during the four most recent Congresses. It is in the interest of U.S. taxpayers that these be approved, and it is time for these to be approved.

I am honored that on my watch, we have finally brought these to the floor and brought them here at this moment to actually adopt these treaties, which will be adopted when the vote is called.

Tax treaties benefit U.S. businesses and citizens in a number of ways. Tax treaties create certainty for the business community. They promote a favorable business environment by minimizing uncertainty and helping U.S. businesses grow.

In the case of Americans working and conducting business abroad, tax treaties are indispensable in that respect. Tax treaties facilitate trade and investment by preventing double taxation. They provide U.S. taxpayers and investors with greater clarity about their tax burden. They provide tools to ensure that U.S. taxpayers are treated equally and fairly overseas, allowing them to invest and compete abroad with the knowledge that they will not face discriminatory barriers.

Tax treaties strengthen the ability of U.S. businesses to explore new opportunities abroad by establishing a predictable framework for how a tax burden will be assessed. These treaties also provide tools to help resolve tax disputes between the United States and our tax treaty partners. Without these tools, U.S. investors would have limited ability to resolve these problems on their own.

It is not just businesses that benefit from tax treaties. These treaties impose reasonable limits in the amount of tax the other country can impose on a U.S. person who might live or work overseas. Tax treaties help us ensure that the United States can maintain an appropriate tax base by preventing tax fraud.

One of our colleagues has raised concerns about how the treaties deal with individual privacy and sensitive information. These treaties protect taxpayer information in a manner consistent with decades-long, established standards and practices under U.S. domestic law. These standards and practices have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court for more than half of a century. They have been used by administrations of both parties for decades. Changing the standard now would create confusion related to global administration of our tax laws.

I do not view this issue as an impediment or a change to how these matters have been successfully handled in the past. I ask my colleagues to oppose any amendments to these treaties. The treaties are consistent with the U.S.-modeled tax treaty and with a decades-long practice of implementing and enforcing our tax laws.

To be clear, any amendment to this resolution that materially changes the underlying provisions of these treaties will require acceptance by both our President and the foreign partner or the treaty cannot be ratified. These amendments constitute a material change to the treaties. They are damaging and would lead to, potentially, years of further delay when further delay is simply not acceptable.

These treaties had been held up for 8 years, and I am very pleased that this week we are finally moving forward in our role of advice and consent to the President on these commonsense treaties. It is time to move for the Senate to act on these treaties and a vote.

I urge my colleagues to approve them and to vote against the proposed amendments.
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