I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1804

To raise revenue and reduce large and increasing Federal budget deficits 

due to the cost of the war in Iraq. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 11, 2003

Mr. OWENS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To raise revenue and reduce large and increasing Federal 

budget deficits due to the cost of the war in Iraq.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Domestic Budget Pro5 tection Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds: 

8 (1) The Congress, after review of Congressional 

9 Budget Office estimates and other expert opinions, 

10 finds that for a prolonged period the amount of reve-
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1 nues collected will be substantially less than the pro2 jected Federal expenditures thereby placing burdens 

3 and constraints on the budget and appropriations 

4 decision-making process. 

5 (2) The Congress finds that the budget/appro6 priations for Defense, driven by the war and occupa7 tion of Iraq, is likely to grow rapidly and uncontrol8 lably. These obligations will place intense strains on 

9 the Budget/Appropriations process. 

10 (3) The Congress finds that already certain 

11 vital federally funded programs are experiencing dev12 astating federal financial assistance cuts. More spe13 cifically, assistance for Education, Public Housing, 

14 Medicaid, Medicare and Temporary Aid to Needy 

15 Families (TANF) are being subjected to unaccept16 able cuts. 

17 (4) The Congress finds that there is an estab18 lished precedent for the long-term financing of a 

19 U.S. War effort. A special tax on the profits of the 

20 nation’s largest corporations would be in accordance 

21 with previous precedents: World War I, World War 

22 II, Korea and Vietnam. 

23 (5) The Congress finds that in the last 25 years 

24 corporations have steadily borne less and less of the 

25 overall tax burden. The corporate share of the tax 
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1 burden has dropped from a high of 35 percent in 

2 1945 to a level of less than 3 percent in the year 

3 2000. At the same time the individual income share 

4 of the tax burden has grown from 41 percent in 

5 1945 to 50 percent in 2000. 

6 (6) The Congress finds that it is necessary to 

7 suspend further reductions in assistance to domestic 

8 programs. It is also imperative that any increases in 

9 basic revenue be utilized to increase assistance to 

10 vital domestic programs. 

11 SEC. 3. CORPORATE TAX SURCHARGE TO FUND WAR IN 

12 IRAQ. 

13 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Subchapter A of chapter 1 of 

14 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to determina15 tion of tax liability) is amended by adding at the end 

16 thereof the following new part:

17 ‘‘PART VIII—CORPORATE TAX SURCHARGE TO 

18 FUND WAR IN IRAQ

‘‘Sec. 59B. Imposition of surtax.

19 ‘‘SEC. 59B. IMPOSITION OF SURTAX. 

20 ‘‘(a) NORMAL TAX.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a specified 

22 corporation, the amount of the tax imposed under 

23 section 11 for any taxable year shall be increased by 

24 the applicable surtax percentage of the amount of 
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1 the tax imposed under section 11 for such taxable 

2 year (determined without regard to this section). 

3 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TAXES.—For 

4 purposes of paragraph (1), a tax shall be treated as 

5 imposed under section 11 if the amount of such tax 

6 is determined by reference to the provisions of sec7 tion 11 (or by reference to any rate contained there8 in). 

9 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM TAX.—In the case of a specified cor10 poration, the amount of the tentative minimum tax deter11 mined under section 55 for any taxable year shall be in12 creased by the applicable surtax percentage of the amount 

13 of the tentative minimum tax for such taxable year (deter14 mined without regard to this section). 

15 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

16 ‘‘(1) SPECIFIED CORPORATION.—The term 

17 ‘specified corporation’ means any corporation if the 

18 aggregate gross assets of the corporation (as defined 

19 in section 1202(d)) (or any predecessor thereof) at 

20 any time during the taxable year or any prior tax21 able year after the date of the enactment of this sec22 tion exceeds $10,000,000. 

23 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE SURTAX PERCENTAGE.—The 

24 term ‘applicable surtax percentage’ means, with re25 spect to a taxable year beginning in a calendar year, 
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1 percentage specified by the Secretary as the amount 

2 necessary to fund the war in Iraq for such calendar 

3 year. 

4 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH OTHER PROVISIONS.—

5 The provisions of this section shall be applied—

6 ‘‘(1) after the application of section 1201 and 

7 801(a)(2), but 

8 ‘‘(2) before the application of any other provi9 sion of this title which refers to the amount of tax 

10 imposed by section 11 or 55, as the case may be. 

11 No penalty shall be imposed by section 6655 by reason 

12 of amounts imposed by this section. 

13 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—For purposes of 

14 subsection (c)(2), there shall not be taken into account—

15 ‘‘(1) expenditures before March 1, 2003, and 

16 ‘‘(2) expenditures after the earliest date that no 

17 member of the Armed Forces of the United States 

18 is serving on active duty in Iraq.’’

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of parts for 

20 subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by 

21 adding at the end thereof the following new item:

‘‘Part VIII. Corporate tax surcharge to reduce deficit.’’

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

24 December 31, 2002.

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