Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2005

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005 -- (House of Representatives - June 18, 2004)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 675 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the further consideration of the bill, H.R. 4567.
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Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

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Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, there are two things to remember: Bermuda is not part of the WTO; and, secondly, President Bush said he would never check with another country before deciding about American national security.

Mr. Chairman, I want to say something to the gentleman who spoke a moment ago about the "beating on your chest" about this issue. I have brought this issue up now in the Committee on Ways and Means consistently for 3 years. We cannot even get a vote on it. This is not an appropriations issue in the end; this is really a tax issue.

The gentleman from Virginia said a moment ago there are no employees from Accenture in Bermuda. That is the point. That is precisely the point. It is merely a post office box rented for $27,000. Does anybody believe that Tyco is a Bermuda-based company?

Why are we here today debating this issue? Joint Tax has said, and listen to this carefully, $5 billion would come to the American Treasury if we would simply send these folks their tax bill.

I want to ask Members of this body today this question as you vote: What would the IRS do to you next Monday if you renounced your citizenship and said you were really a citizen of Bermuda?

This is not an argument about patriotism. This is an argument about that woman on Wall Street who said, "Maybe it is time that patriotism took a back seat to profits." Tell that to the moms and dads of 134,000 kids in Iraq, 20,000 kids in Afghanistan, troops committed to Haiti and Bosnia as well. And these people do not want to pay their corporate taxes? They are protected by these men and women, these soldiers who serve honorably and with distinction every day.

You know what this argument is about, because the American people know what this argument is about, it is about money. That is all it is about, money.

Then the argument becomes, well, let us give those who left, went to Bermuda, moved money to the Cayman Islands, and Luxembourg, let us give them a permanent advantage competitively over those who have chosen to stay, like Stanley Works in Connecticut, and ask them to compete in a bidding process where one side does not have to worry about corporate taxes.

This is indeed an argument about patriotism, and it is an argument about the fact that these companies do not have, and I repeat, do not have employees in Bermuda. They have instead a post office box. $27,000 is what it costs to open a post office box in Bermuda and avoid millions in U.S. taxes. It is indeed about money.

We ought to have the backbone here to stand up and say, once and for all, very simply, like the American people who send their sons and daughters off to war, either you are in or you are out. That is what this argument is about. It is not about the WTO and the bidding process. Bermuda is not in the WTO.
But I know this: when the sun sets on this argument today, the Committee on Ways and Means still will not take this issue up. And I would say this to the people that are on the other side on this issue, put this question in front of this body in an open, fair vote with an opportunity for all of us to express ourselves, and I will tell you what: I will eat the piece of paper it is on if we do not get 350 votes to end this practice. And you know it, and you stop it from coming to the floor time and again.

You can do something about this today with a small start and then do something about it permanently.

When I hear these folks say this is not about patriotism, tell that to the moms and dads of those kids who are over in Afghanistan and Iraq that these companies do not want to pay their corporate taxes to support them and give them the best equipment they need.

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Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas.

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Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, there is no question. This is about the failure of Congress.

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Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DOGGETT. I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran) was the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia. Did the gentleman ever void a contract that had been competitively bid?

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Not after it was competitively bid when all of the factors were legitimately considered.

Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. How about when they were not all legitimately considered?

Mr. MORAN of Virginia. There is no question that it was not legitimate. This was a legal bid.

Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Across this country every day mayors void contracts.

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