Key Vote Alert urging Senators to invoke cloture on the motion to recommit S. 1637, the JOBS Act
March 23, 2004
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE:
On behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation representing over three million businesses of every size, sector and region, I write to urge Senators to vote for the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to recommit S. 1637, the JOBS Act.
Given the current parliamentary situation and the threat of additional nongermane amendments, the prospects for final passage of S. 1637 appear increasingly difficult. A successful vote on cloture would be a decisive step on this important legislation and clear the way for its adoption in the Senate.
While the Chamber remains concerned about some of the items contained in S. 1637, we continue to urge both bodies of Congress to move to a final resolution of FSC/ETI as soon as possible. Because the United States has been found to be out of compliance with its obligations under the WTO, the European Union imposed a tariff on certain U.S. imports on March 1, 2004. This tariff, already at 5%, will continue to increase one percent with every month of Congressional inaction. Further stalling of the legislative process is unacceptable. This is especially true for the Americans whose jobs may be lost due to the imposition of this tariff.
We support the inclusion in the substitute amendment of a number of additional business tax provisions not originally part of S. 1637. These include extending tax provisions such as the Work Opportunity and Welfare to Work Tax Credits, expensing of "brownfields" environmental remediation costs, Section 809 suspension, and enhancement of the NOL carryback period, just to name a few.
The Chamber remains concerned about some of the revenue raisers in the bill. These include restrictions on corporate inversions; disallowance of certain tax deductions for fines, penalties and punitive damages; tax shelter initiatives; and restrictions on deferred compensation packages.
We also oppose Title V of the substitute amendment, which incorporates the language of the amendment offered by Senator Dodd. Not only is this bad policy as it relates to state and federal contracting, but it is unrelated to the FSC/ETI debate and does not belong in this bill.
The Chamber applauds the effort to date by the Senate to address the FSC/ETI issue in a timely manner. To preclude an unacceptable delay of consideration of S. 1637, we urge Senators to support the cloture motion and move to final action on the bill. Because of the importance of this vote to the business community, we will consider votes on or related to the motion to invoke cloture on S. 1637 in the Chamber's annual "How They Voted" rankings.
Sincerely,
R. Bruce Josten