Dianne Feinstein: “I will vote against this FSC/ETI conference report and I want to explain why. The original purpose of this legislation…”

“I will vote against this FSC/ETI conference report and I want to explain why. The original purpose of this legislation was simple and clear--to bring the United States into compliance with a World Trade Organization, WTO, ruling which said that portions of our Federal Tax Code run counter to international trade regulations. It is critical that we fix this problem, or U.S. companies will face increased European tariffs, costing U.S. jobs. This conference report, however, goes far beyond the simple legislative fix needed to bring the U.S. into compliance with the WTO ruling. In fact, the cost of bringing the U.S. into compliance with the WTO is $49 billion, while the cost of the final bill is $145 billion. The difference is $96 billion in benefits to special interests paid for with certain revenue fixes that should be used to balance the budget. In fact, this bill provides billions of dollars in benefits to special interests at a time of unprecedented budget deficits.”