Byron Dorgan: “I came to the floor not to talk about the obstruction by the majority party; I came instead to talk about a new report…”

“I came to the floor not to talk about the obstruction by the majority party; I came instead to talk about a new report that is just out. It is a report by the GAO, and it says something important about fiscal policy in this country. The GAO report, which Senator Carl Levin and I asked for, compares the reported tax liabilities of some of the biggest companies that do business in this country, both domestic companies and foreign companies. This report studied a period of time when we had robust economic growth in our economy, 1996-2000. On the summary page, it says that an average of 71 percent of all foreign corporations doing business in the United States of America pay no income tax at all. These are names almost all Americans would easily recognize. Obviously, this report does not provide these names. But when one talks about the major foreign corporations selling products in this country, earning billions of dollars from those sales and paying zero to the Federal Government in tax liability, it raises very serious questions about gaping holes in this country's tax system. We are nearing April 15, when Americans will march off to the post office and pay their taxes. They will pay their taxes because they do not have any alternative or any flexibility. They understand the obligation in this country to pay taxes.”