Political Quotes

“let me underscore the point Senator Menendez, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, has made in regard to these tax treaties. I want to make two principal points, and then a few other comments, and then I am going to propound a unanimous consent request in regard to the Swiss protocols. The two points I want to raise--first on the standard of fraud, the relevancy standard that has been included in tax treaties ratified by the Senate since the 1990s. There are at least eight treaties that have used this standard. This is the international standard on fraud. It is not the U.S. Standard. It is not the Swiss standard. It is not the Chilean standard. It is the international standard. There may have been one time when the United States could dictate what tax treaties would include. But we are part of an international community. It is part of international negotiations. This is the international standard for cooperation among taxing authorities in order to establish a level playing field. Secondly, our Constitution provides for the ratification of treaties by the Senate and provides for a two-thirds vote. It is an extraordinary vote. It is a heavy vote. It is a heavy burden for ratification of the treaties. It is not 100 percent; it does not require every Senator to agree to it, but it takes two-thirds of the Senators. I would urge my colleagues that we need to return to regular order. Everyone talks about returning to regular order in the Senate.…”