WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered an opening statement at this morning’s Business Meeting. The agenda included consideration of various nominees and the Convention between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Chile for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and Capital—otherwise known as the “Chile Tax Treaty.”
Find a copy of the Chairman’s remarks as prepared below.
“This business meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will come to order.
Today, we are considering a handful of nominations and one treaty, the United States-Chile Tax Treaty.
Before going further, I want to note for the record that I received a request for a holdover of the entire agenda: all nominations and the Chile Tax Treaty.
While I have always respected holdover requests, I have also repeatedly shared with the Committee my view that blanket holdovers are an abusive and obstructive practice, out of line with Committee norms and precedent.
In fact, early in this Congress, at a markup on March 8 of this year, I informed members in exceedingly clear terms that I would no longer accept blanket holdovers.
The same Senator who has made today’s blanket holdover request was present at that meeting.
As such, we will debate and vote on the entire agenda noticed for this business meeting.
Turning first to nominations.
We have a number critical ones on the agenda: Peru, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Jordan, Lebanon, and others.
We also have a number of important nominations that the Ranking Member did not agree to include on today’s agenda.
I hope all of you support the nominations before us today, and I urge the Ranking Member to move forward on the other nominations expeditiously.
Turning to the Chile Tax Treaty, I am very pleased that we are taking up this critical agreement today.
We have considered this Treaty on three previous occasions, including last Congress.
I appreciate the work of the Ranking Member and his staff in getting to this point, and I look forward to working together to get it approved by the Senate.
Chile is one of our strongest democratic partners in the Americas, and this treaty will help protect and grow U.S. foreign direct investment, facilitate U.S. economic engagement in the region, and strengthen the hand of U.S. companies operating in Chile.
We have received an outpouring of support for this treaty from the business community, including letters from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of businesses.
I ask for unanimous consent that these letters be added to the record.
We all know that China has entered into a tax treaty with Chile, and Chinese companies are taking advantage.
They are investing in Chilean companies and expanding their position in Chile’s markets and economy.
We need to level the playing field and give our companies the tools they need to compete.
Additionally, Chile is the world’s second largest producer of lithium, a critical mineral that is the building block for many modern technologies.
And global demand will skyrocket in the coming years by as much as 4,000 percent.
But the absence of a tax treaty makes it harder for U.S. businesses to be competitive in Chile’s lithium sector.
We need this treaty to advance U.S. interests in this critical mineral and build partnerships that will position our country, our economy, and our manufacturing sector for the future.
As we work to secure Senate approval of the Chile Treaty, I must note that the Biden administration last year withdrew from the Hungary Tax Treaty without consulting this Committee or providing notice, much less seeking Senate or congressional approval.
Presidents of both parties have advanced these types of unilateral actions and omissions, which are completely inconsistent with our constitutional structure.
Treaties are, of course, a shared responsibility of the Senate and the Executive Branch.
I have asked the President to commit, at minimum, to meaningful consultations with this Committee prior to terminating any treaty.
Absent such a commitment, I will work address this matter in future resolutions of advice and consent, as well as in legislation.
I look forward to working with all of you to ensure that the Committee and the Senate protect our constitutional prerogatives.
With that, I’ll turn to Ranking Member Risch for his opening remarks."
Remarks as prepared.
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