Rodney Frelinghuysen: “I object. The Acting CHAIR. Objection is heard. The Clerk will read. The Clerk continued to read. The Acting CHAIR.…”

“I object. The Acting CHAIR. Objection is heard. The Clerk will read. The Clerk continued to read. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 628, the gentlewoman from Connecticut and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Connecticut. Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I yield myself 2 minutes. My amendment would prohibit Federal contracts issued by the Department of Defense from going to entities incorporated in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, two nations most often abused as tax havens. This body accepted a similar provision for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development earlier this month. According to a joint study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Citizens for Tax Justice, 70 percent of the companies in the Fortune 500 used tax havens last year. These companies stashed nearly $2 trillion offshore for tax purposes, with almost two-thirds of that total, 62 percent, being hidden away by just 30 companies. We just saw the medical device manufacturer Medtronic, a company founded in a Minnesota garage with deep roots throughout the State, announce it was effectively moving operations to Ireland to escape its tax obligations. This is a persistent and a growing problem, and we need to start taking action to rein it in. We can start with this amendment.…”