Louise Slaughter: “I rise to support the DeLauro-Berry- Slaughter Amendment. This amendment will prevent new contracts funded under this…”

“I rise to support the DeLauro-Berry- Slaughter Amendment. This amendment will prevent new contracts funded under this bill from being awarded to corporations that set up offshore tax havens. If a corporation is located in the U.S., and conducts most of its business in the U.S., and employs most of its workforce in the U.S., then it should not be allowed to avoid its tax obligations by simply opening a post office box in the Cayman Islands or Bermuda. Corporate expatriates cost the United States approximately 5 billion dollars a year in tax revenue. Yet they are expected to reap 1 billion dollars annually in federal contracts during each of the next 5 to 10 years. Mr. Chairman, what kind of message are we sending to Americans that work hard and pay their taxes when corporate expatriates are rewarded for their deliberate and shameless tax evasion with millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded federal contracts? When we allow corporations to gain an unfair competitive advantage in the Federal marketplace by relocating overseas to skirt tax obligations, what are we telling small business owners who play by the rules? Corporate expatriates hurt honest U.S. taxpayers by shifting more of the tax burden onto their shoulders. And they siphon funds from the Federal budget that are desperately needed for essential government services. To put this in perspective, consider that today we will debate an appropriations bill that slashes funding for affordable housing programs.…”