Posted on 06/17/2004 2:20:21 PM PDT by SmithPatterson
Collins Says New Jobs Creation Act Contains Good News for American Tobacco Industry
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 17) - The U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 4520, the American Jobs Creation Act, with a bipartisan vote of 251-178 Thursday. The bill provides tax relief for American businesses to further fuel economic growth and job creation in the United States. Georgia Republican Congressman Mac Collins says there is good news in the legislation for America's tobacco growers and manufacturers as well.
"Don't you just love it when a plan begins to come together," Collins told a Capitol Hill press conference after the vote. "Today we saw something on the floor of the House that we haven't seen since I have been here, that is both sides of the aisle competing for who had the best tax relief bill."
"The tobacco quota system has been drastically hurt because of domestic content and imports. So, today we passed the beginning of a plan to end the quota system. This legislation will totally rid American farmers and manufacturers of the tobacco quota system and will allow them to compete in a free and open market that will be free of government price controls, production limits and guarantees," Collins said.
The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 would replace the current Foreign Sales Corporation-Extraterritorial Income (FSC-ETI) benefit structure with a variety of tax relief measures designed to create new jobs and promote economic growth.
The legislation allows for a $9.6 billion dollar "buy-out" of quota for tobacco growers in order to end the antiquated government tobacco-quota program. Collins pushed for a reduction in the corporate tax rate. The legislation reduces the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 32 percent for domestic manufacturers and small corporations and other tax relief provisions for manufacturers, small businesses and farmers.
While Collins was happy with the legislation's corporation tax reduction, he insists that rates must be cut further in order to generate jobs and improve the American economy.
"Such tax relief is clearly needed. For some time now, to remain competitive in the global marketplace, our trading partners have been reducing tax rates on the businesses that employ their workers. Many countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Poland and Turkey, have cut their corporate tax rates drastically - some by 10 percent or more," Collins said.
The U.S. Senate passed its version of the bill on May 11, 2004. The Bush Administration has indicated that repealing FSC-ETI is a priority.
Puff.
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