Conference Report on H.R. 4520, American Jobs Creation Act of 2004

CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4520, AMERICAN JOBS CREATION ACT OF 2004 -- (Extensions of Remarks - October 11, 2004)

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the conference report on H.R. 4520, the corporate tax bill. This bill, which repeals a portion of the U.S. tax code known as the Foreign Sales Corporation and Extraterritorial Income Exclusion (FSC/ETI),--thereby ending European sanctions on American businesses, is nothing but the latest handout in a string of unnecessary tax cuts for multinational corporations by this Republican Majority.

With 2.5 million manufacturing jobs lost in the last 3 years, including nearly 40,000 in my State of Connecticut alone, many outsourced to other countries like China and Singapore, we all understand that steps must be taken to revive what is the very backbone of America's economy. We have seen more than half a million jobs shipped overseas over the last three years and that could grow to 6 million by 2015.

I do not believe government is in the business of creating jobs; but government has an obligation to foster an environment in which jobs can be created. With this legislation, we could be providing this country's manufacturers with the opportunity to be able to stay here. We could invest in our technology and invest in our workers. And, we could promote more economic development in the United States. Instead, this Administration and its Republican Leadership follow a business model that assists companies in sending the jobs offshore, allows companies not to pay their fair share of their taxes, and then rewards these companies with Federal contracts. They simply do not get it.

Even more, by clinging to the idea that we should be rewarding companies who send jobs overseas, this majority has delayed action on this issue for more than a year. As a result, manufacturers have been paying 11 percent tariffs on more than 1,600 American-made products.

But now that the fix is in, this represents a huge missed opportunity. Rather than helping our struggling manufacturing base, this Republican conference agreement would give U.S. multinational corporations more incentive to ship jobs overseas-more than $42 billion in additional tax benefits for offshore operations of U.S. corporations.

In addition to rewarding corporations for exporting U.S. jobs, the conference report is just a grab bag of special interest provisions that will benefit few and clutter an already bewildering tax code. It includes billions for a range of new narrow special-interest tax breaks, such as tax breaks for several varieties of bows and arrows, NASCAR racetracks, electronic fish finders, bait containers, foreign gamblers who win at U.S. horse and dog tracks, nuclear steam generators, and importers of Chinese ceiling fans.

Mr. Speaker, what manufacturers need from this body is not more incentives to send jobs abroad; they need bold vision, recognizing that our Federal Tax Code could work for them, not against them, by favoring those companies who keep their jobs here. That is exactly what Democrats have been pushing for more than a year-to revitalize our manufacturing base by cutting taxes for U.S. companies in order to keep good-paying manufacturing jobs here at home and end the tariffs on U.S. products. American companies should not have to resort to transferring jobs to countries where workers make less and have fewer benefits to stay competitive.

Americans understand outsourcing. It is eroding our workforce; it has threatened every middle-class family in this country. Putting an end to outsourcing starts with helping our manufacturers here at home become more productive, more innovative. If we want to boost sales, investment in modernization and employment is the way to do it. This conference report is not the answer.