Tyco Shareholder Vote

TYCO SHAREHOLDER VOTE -- (House of Representatives - March 24, 2004)

(Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, while the House today takes up a budget resolution to fund important programs for education, national defense, health care, homeland security, environment and veterans, let me point out that there is another vote taking place today. That is the vote of the shareholders of the Tyco corporation. They are going to continue to shirk their responsibilities, apparently.

In 1997, New Hampshire-based Tyco, International renounced its corporate citizenship and changed its mailing address to Bermuda to avoid paying $400 million in U.S. taxes. Today, shareholders will be asked to vote on a resolution that will change that. My hunch-it is going to fail.

This is unfortunate for all Americans because they are being asked to make sacrifices during a wartime economy. We have 134,000 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq while Tyco, International and the Bermuda-based companies, all for the price of a $27,000 post office box they do not want to contribute, and the other side does not want to do anything about it.

I am the sponsor of the Corporate Patriot Enforcement Act which would deny tax benefits to former American companies that reincorporate offshore simply to avoid paying the same taxes the rest of us do. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, we could save $4 billion just asking these folks to pay their fair share.

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