Byron Dorgan: “That is an absolutely absurd contention. It makes no sense at all for someone to say, ``Well, this is a tariff.'' This…”

“That is an absolutely absurd contention. It makes no sense at all for someone to say, ``Well, this is a tariff.'' This has nothing to do with tariffs, nothing to do with international trade. I would love to offer, incidentally, some amendments on trade, but I shall not. This has to do, simply, with a tax subsidy that now tilts the playing field and says to a company, ``If you move those jobs from Akron, from Toledo, from Bismarck, from Lincoln, to some tax-haven company, we will reward you.'' How much is the reward? Well, I come from a town, as I said yesterday, of 300 people, a high school class of nine, a wonderful community in southwestern North Dakota. The reward here is not giant in the context of our Federal budget. It is $2.2 billion in 7 years. Now, that may not sound like much to people here who would chair a Budget Committee, for example. Go to my hometown and talk about $2.2 billion that the Federal Government asks other Americans to pay effectively as a subsidy to companies who would move their jobs overseas, and then see what kind of reaction you get from people who think with a bit of common sense.”