House Curbs Loans for Offshoring Firms (Go, Bernie, go!)

[GreenPartyVoter]

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House is taking an election-year swipe at U.S. companies that have lowered their tax bills by moving offshore, voting to bar them from receiving some lower-cost federal loans.

The Republican-led chamber voted 270-132 to add the provision to a $19.4 billion foreign aid bill. In a long day of voting, the chamber also added provisions to the measure trimming aid to Saudi Arabia and penalizing countries that would hand over Americans to a permanent international court for war crimes.

The foreign aid bill passed easily, 365-41. But the votes blocking Export-Import Bank loans to companies that moved their offices to other countries and cutting Saudi aid were setbacks to the Bush administration and the House's GOP leaders.

The tallies, however, were not the final word on the issues, with the Senate yet to craft its version of the overall legislation and the administration still to decide how much muscle to flex before signing the package into law.

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20040716/D83RNI1O0.html