David Obey: “I greatly regret the action that has just taken place. Both political parties are posing for political holy pictures on…”

“I greatly regret the action that has just taken place. Both political parties are posing for political holy pictures on the issue of exporting jobs, and both parties have done it for quite some time. This language that was just stricken represents the second attempt over a 2-year period for a number of us on this side of the aisle to try to eliminate rewards that our government provides to corporations who, for tax purposes, decide to claim citizenship of another country, thereby adding to the tax burden of the American citizens who remain in this country. This language was meant to prevent Accenture from getting a contract from the Homeland Security Department that could be worth up to $10 billion. Now, I do not think that the American public minds spending any money that we need to appropriate to protect the homeland, but I do think they feel it is particularly absurd in this case, because this contract involves a contract to establish a process by which we track the activities of people as they cross our borders. And it is ironic that the company who will be given that juicy contract is a company that in itself has determined that it would rather locate for tax purposes in Bermuda rather than the United States.”