Tina Smith: “I rise today to commend Treasury Secretary Paulson and his staff at the Treasury Department for convening the Treasury…”

“I rise today to commend Treasury Secretary Paulson and his staff at the Treasury Department for convening the Treasury Conference on Business Taxation and Global Taxation. The purpose of this conference is to examine ways our current business tax system affects economic growth, job creation, and competitiveness. This is a very important issue that requires our immediate attention. Today American companies compete in a global market. In the 1960s, trade in goods to and from the United States represented just over 6 percent of GDP. Today, it represents over 20 percent of GDP, a threefold increase. The U.S. role in the global economy also is quite different. Forty years ago, the United States was dominant, accounting for over half of all multinational investment in the world. Yet, today the United States economy represents 20 percent of global GDP. However, our Tax Code has not kept up with the globalization of the U.S. economy. The rules are outdated and penalize U.S. economic interests by hindering American businesses' ability to effectively compete in our global economy.”