S5940 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2012 

as the Great and Powerful Oz proclaims 

that every government program can be 

funded and every budget balanced simply by eliminating the so-called tax 

cuts for the rich. 

But the American people are not so 

easily duped. And they are showing up 

at Emerald City looking for real leadership and real answers, not just talking points. 

That is the real choice facing the 

American people today. They can 

choose the fiscal leadership of those 

such as Chairman RYAN who have put 

forth actual, real-world proposals to 

bring about reasonable restraints on 

entitlement spending and maintain 

taxation at its historic levels, or they 

can choose the President’s impersonation of fiscal leadership, which is 

built on a phantom budget and largescale attacks on anyone, such as Chairman RYAN, who offers a real, verifiable 

alternative. 

But let’s be clear. The phantom budget simply cannot translate into reality 

without collecting taxes that go far beyond those the President and congressional Democrats publicly support. 

Given the limitations on existing revenue streams, a value-added tax, even 

with all of its many drawbacks, is one 

of very few logical alternatives left to 

the other side. If they do not plan on 

instituting a VAT, they need to come 

clean with the American people and let 

everyone know how they plan to pay 

for their outsized spending. 

Regardless of who wins this election, 

Congress will have to do more than 

just click its heels and wish for enough 

money to pay all our bills. Therefore, I 

think it is fair to assume that, in lieu 

of a line item for ruby slippers, the 

Democrats’ phantom budget includes 

levels and forms of taxation heretofore 

unseen in the United States. You can 

be sure that if it is not a VAT, it will 

be something equally damaging to our 

economy. 

Let me end with one other thought; 

that is, that we all know, according to 

the Joint Committee on Taxation, of 

which I am a member—but it is a nonpartisan committee run by very good 

economists—the bottom 51 percent of 

all households—not just people; all 

households—do not pay a dime of income tax. 

We have brought that about out of 

compassion for them, I have to say, but 

it means the upper 49 percent are paying for just about everything. Well, my 

friend Treasury Secretary Geithner 

pointed out: But, yes, they pay payroll 

taxes. Well, we all do. That is Social 

Security. They do not pay a dime of income taxes. I was quick to point out to 

Mr. Geithner that 23 million of them, 

approximately, get refundable tax 

credits from the government that are 

more than they pay in payroll taxes, so 

they are really not paying payroll 

taxes. Almost 16 million of them get 

refundable tax credits from all of us 

others out there, from the government 

itself, which is more than they and 

their employers pay in payroll taxes. 

The fact is, I fail to understand why 

my friends on the other side are looking for ways to spread the base to an 

unsuspecting 51 percent who currently 

do not pay any real income taxes. I 

think there has to be a better way of 

spreading the base than doing it 

through a VAT, which in Europe has 

proven to be a ready way for politicians to increase spending over and 

over without really any inhibition or 

any real inhibition. 

So if what I am talking about today 

is prophetic, it means without question 

that our friends on the other side want 

to keep spending. They want the Federal Government to keep growing, all 

at a cost to individuals, and they want 

to do it because that is what has kept 

them in power all of these years, taking all of your money out there and 

claiming that they are compassionate 

with your money when they are unwilling to be compassionate enough to 

keep living within our means. 

I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland. 

f 

PROVIDING FOR A CONDITIONAL 

ADJOURNMENT OR RECESS OF 

THE SENATE AND AN ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the Senate 

proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 56, submitted earlier today. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will report the concurrent resolution by title. 

The assistant legislative clerk read 

as follows: 

A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 56) 

providing for a conditional adjournment or 

recess of the Senate and an adjournment of 

the House of Representatives. 

There being no objection, the Senate 

proceeded to consider the concurrent 

resolution. 

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 

table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related 

to the matter be printed in the RECORD

as if read. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

The concurrent resolution (S. Con. 

Res. 56) was agreed to, as follows: 

S. CON. RES. 56 

(Providing for a conditional adjournment or 

recess of the Senate and an adjournment of 

the House of Representatives) 

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That when the Senate recesses or adjourns on any day from 

Thursday, August 2, 2012, through Monday, 

August 6, 2012, on a motion offered pursuant 

to this concurrent resolution by its Majority 

Leader or his designee, it stand recessed or 

adjourned until 12:00 noon on Monday, September 10, 2012, or such other time on that 

day as may be specified by its Majority 

Leader or his designee in the motion to recess or adjourn, or until the time of any reassembly pursuant to section 2 of this concurrent resolution, whichever occurs first; 

and that when the House adjourns on any 

legislative day from Thursday, August 2, 

2012, through Monday, August 6, 2012, on a 

motion offered pursuant to this concurrent 

resolution by its Majority Leader or his designee, it stand adjourned until 2:00 p.m. on 

Monday, September 10, 2012, or until the 

time of any reassembly pursuant to section 2 

of this concurrent resolution, whichever occurs first. 

SEC. 2. The Majority Leader of the Senate 

and the Speaker of the House, or their respective designees, acting jointly after consultation with the Minority Leader of the 

Senate and the Minority Leader of the 

House, shall notify the Members of the Senate and House, respectively, to reassemble at 

such place and time as they may designate 

if, in their opinion, the public interest shall 

warrant it. 

f 

STOCK ACT AMENDMENTS 

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the Senate 

proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 3510, introduced earlier 

today 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will report the bill by title. 

The legislative clerk read as follows: 

A bill (S. 3510) to prevent harm to the national security or endangering the military 

officers and civilian employees to whom 

internet publication of certain information 

applies, and for other purposes. 

There being no objection, the Senate 

proceeded to consider the bill. 

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the bill be 

read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 

table, and that any statements relating 

to the bill be printed in the RECORD. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

The bill (S. 3510) was ordered to a 

third reading, read the third time, and 

passed, as follows: 

S. 3510 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in 

Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. EFFECTIVE DATE DELAY. 

The STOCK Act (Public Law 112-105) is 

amended— 

(1) in section 8(a)(1), by striking ‘‘August 

31, 2012’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2012’’; 

and 

(2) in section 11(a)(1), by striking ‘‘August 

31, 2012’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2012’’. 

SEC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION OF PTR REQUIREMENTS UNDER STOCK ACT. 

Effective September 30, 2012, for purposes 

of implementing subsection (l) of section 103 

of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (as 

added by section 6 of the STOCK Act, Public 

Law 112–105) for reporting individuals whose 

reports under section 101 of such Act (5 

U.S.C. App. 101) are required to be filed with 

the Clerk of the House of Representatives, 

section 102(e) of such Act (5 U.S.C. App. 

102(e)) shall apply as if the report under such 

subsection (l) were a report under such section 101 but only with respect to the transaction information required under such subsection (l). 

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent to speak for up to 

10 minutes as in morning business. 


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August 2, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5941 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

VETERANS JOBS CORPS ACT OF 

2012 MOTION TO PROCEED—continued 

MINERAL INDUSTRY TRANSPARENCY

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, it has 

been 2 years since Congress passed legislation that provided for transparency 

in the mineral industry. It was a provision that was included in the DoddFrank bill. It was included as an 

amendment on which Senator LUGAR

and I worked. I wish to thank Senator 

LUGAR for his incredible leadership on 

this issue—transparency—as well as so 

many other issues that affect the security of not only America but global security. 

The provision is something we 

worked on to provide transparency in 

developing countries. It provided a 

visible sign of U.S. leadership, that we 

are going to do everything we can to 

promote good governance around the 

world; to demonstrate that we understand that for the stability of America, 

we need countries that have good governance. 

The United States spends more 

money than any other country in the 

world on our national security budget. 

In fact, we spend more than most of 

the other countries combined spend on 

national defense. We have the ability 

to use our military for our national defense, but it is much better if we can 

develop stable countries around the 

world. The way to develop stable countries is to help them build a stable 

economy, to help them build wealth, 

and to help them have good governance. 

It is impossible to see the type of 

progress we want in the developing 

countries unless they have good governance. I might say that the more we 

can help in this regard, the more we 

promote good governance and economic growth, the better off we will be. 

Our direct security burdens will be reduced, and we will have new markets, 

which will create economic opportunities for America. 

As the Presiding Officer knows, this 

is the guiding principle of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 

Europe. We used the Helsinki Commission as our implementing arm. The 

Helsinki Accords that were signed in 

1975 between Europe—all of the countries of Europe—the United States, and 

Canada recognized that it was in our 

national security interests to support 

stable countries that respect human 

rights and have good governance. 

This is the reason the Cardin-Lugar 

amendment was so important in the 

Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform legislation. Let me explain what it does. It requires mineral companies to list the 

payments they make to extract the 

minerals they take out of a country. 

Whether we are talking about gas or 

oil, whether it is diamonds or copper— 

the companies need to divulge their individual payments to foreign countries 

in their reports to the Securities and 

Exchange Commission, SEC. 

We did that for many reasons. 

One reason, quite frankly, is that although many countries in the world 

have vast sums of mineral wealth, 

these are some of the poorest countries 

in the world. We call it the ‘‘resource 

curse’’ because the natural resource 

wealth of the country isn’t just being 

denied to the people for their economic 

growth, it is being used to fuel corruption within their own country. So one 

of the reasons for the provision we incorporated in the Dodd-Frank bill was 

to provide transparency so that the 

people of the country, along with the 

international community, will know 

exactly where payments are being 

made for the extraction of mineral 

wealth in a country. 

Senator LUGAR and I also thought 

that such information would be important for U.S. investors, too. If someone 

is going to invest in a mineral company, he or she has a right to know 

where that company is signing contracts and paying money for access to 

the natural resource(s). 

It is also important for U.S. interests. We need stable mineral reserves. 

As the Presiding Officer knows, we 

have gone to war over the need for oil. 

We need stable markets so that we do 

not jeopardize our own economic 

progress. 

So the Cardin-Lugar provision gives 

us a chance to follow the money, as the 

saying goes, in a particular country. 

For all of these reasons, Mr. President, we passed a provision as part of 

the Dodd-Frank legislation that requires every company that is involved 

in extracting minerals to list those 

payments specifically by project in 

their SEC filings. 

It was pretty clear as to what needed 

to be done. We gave the authority to 

the SEC to issue the necessary regulations. Well, we have been waiting 2 

years for these regulations—2 years. 

We are now well beyond the time limit 

that was spelled out in the legislation 

for the SEC to issue its regulations. 

Yet the SEC still hasn’t issued final 

regulations. 

I have read the statute over and over 

again. I helped write the statute. Senator LUGAR has read the statute. We do 

not understand the difficulty. It was 

not a complicated provision. It said exactly what the companies have to do. 

So we are somewhat puzzled why it has 

taken this length of time for the SEC 

to issue its final regulations. In the 

meantime, we are being denied the benefit of this law. We are being denied the 

opportunity to protect our investors. 

We are being denied the opportunity to 

follow the money, to help promote 

good governance abroad. All that has 

been delayed as a result of the SEC’s 

failure to issue regulations. 

I must say that it also jeopardizes 

U.S. leadership. Yes, there are other 

countries interested in following what 

the United States is doing. We have 

heard from Europe, and we have heard 

from Asia. They want to adopt similar 

laws. They do not know what to pass 

because they are still waiting for the 

SEC to act. So the failure to act isn’t 

just affecting our ability; it is also affecting other countries. Collectively, 

between Asia, Europe, and the United 

States, we can pretty much cover all of 

the international extractive companies 

and therefore have a real, major impact on transparency on this issue. 

I might say that one of the criticisms 

I have heard is about why we have a 

separate bill. We already have what is 

known as the Extractive Industries 

Transparency Initiative, or EITI. There 

is an international organization that is 

voluntary. Countries can join. The 

United States has participated in the 

EITI. EITI participants help countries 

with best practices for developing the 

governance to deal with how they handle their mineral wealth. EITI is an important program. It is a voluntary program. It works well. 

The Cardin-Lugar provision in the 

Dodd-Frank legislation complement 

the EITI. The two work together. Between the two, the EITI and our legislation, there’s a way that we can really 

require companies to make the information available in an open way. The 

EITI gives developing countries the 

technical assistance they need to manage their mineral wealth in the most 

effective way for the benefit of their 

own people, to elevate their wealth and 

to have a more sustainable economy. 

This delay has caused a great deal of 

concern to many of us. Quite frankly, 

Oxfam, for example, has filed suit 

against the SEC for its failure to issue 

regulations, and I am very sympathetic 

to that lawsuit. 

I wish to inform Senators that we 

have now been told the SEC will finally 

issue its regulations on August 22, in 

just a few weeks. SEC officials have 

formally responded to the Oxfam lawsuit, saying the agency will issue regulations on August 22. I have received a 

letter from the SEC indicating the 

same thing. It is long overdue. 

I am looking forward to seeing the 

regulations from the SEC. I hope the 

SEC follows the letter and spirit of the 

legislation. It is up to Congress to pass 

the laws. SEC needs to implement the 

laws under direction and guidance from 

Congress. We have made it clear that 

we want openness and transparency. I 

know some oil companies may not like 

that, but they do not write the laws, 

we do. It is up to the SEC now to promulgate the regulations that carry out 

the intent of our law and help us move 

forward so that the resource wealth of 

countries in the developing world become a real asset, a real benefit, as 

they develop sustainable economies 

and good governance, which helps global stability and helps the global economy. 

We will be watching the SEC. I know 

we will be in recess on the 22nd, but we 

will be watching the SEC. I hope that 

Congress and the SEC will be working 


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