As a revenue offset to S. 1269, “An original bill to reauthorize trade facilitation and trade enforcement functions and activities, and for other purposes”, which was introduced on Monday, Orrin Hatch (R-UT) includes the following unoriginal and tired proposal:
SEC. 7345. Revocation or denial of passport in case of certain tax delinquencies.
(a) In general.—If the Secretary receives certification by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue that any individual has a seriously delinquent tax debt in an amount in excess of $50,000, the Secretary shall transmit such certification to the Secretary of State for action with respect to denial, revocation, or limitation of a passport pursuant to section 1001(d) of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.
This proposal was previously discussed here in 2012, and made its most recent appearance in 2014. Due to the U.S.’ sharply harsher penalty structure on under-reporting of similar assets & items of income simply because they’re located in another country, it’s likely that a disproportionate number of victims of this bill would be U.S. citizens in other countries. Hatch is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the most prominent Republican supporter of Chuck Schumer (D-NY)’s Ex-PATRIOT Act, another well-known emigrant harassment proposal.
Another section of Hatch’s bill would deny U.S. passports to people without Social Security numbers, sharpening an existing law which requires the State Department to forward passport applicants’ details to the IRS. This would effectively require that U.S. citizens born in other countries obtain SSNs prior to visiting the United States. (Under current procedures, U.S. citizen without SSNs are simply instructed to enter all zeroes in the SSN field of their passport applications.) However, unregistered children of emigrants might just ignore the law requiring U.S. citizens to use a U.S. passport to enter the U.S., and instead use their non-U.S. passport.
” I’m pleased to say that we’ve reached an agreement that will allow us to consider, and hopefully pass, all four of the Finance Committee trade bills in relatively short order. Under the agreement, the Senate will vote tomorrow on both our customs bill as well as our trade preferences bill. ”
http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/chairman/release/?id=0de3d72e-94ba-4e70-8949-b6d0ec7bc3f6
@Mark Twain: Thanks. It looks like the four-in-one deal didn’t go through and now they’ll be voting on this separately
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/241950-senate-nears-deal-on-trade
Senate Republican Policy Committee says it’s up for a vote eleven hours from now:
http://www.rpc.senate.gov/legislative-notices/s-1269_trade-facilitation-and-trade-enforcement-act
Amendments
No amendments will be in order during consideration of this bill.
http://www.rpc.senate.gov/legislative-notices/s-1269_trade-facilitation-and-trade-enforcement-act
What Senator Hatch doesn’t under this measure will not stop tens of millions of Americans leaving the US because his clause stops them obtaining a US passport. Through family background, foreign born parents and grandparents, tens of millions of Americans are eligible for foreign passports.
He’ll have to go back to the drawing board and draft legislation that defies the last Supreme Court ruling regarding dual citizenship.
The harder he tries, the more people who will take up dual citizenship and probably ultimately renounce their US citizenship later.
Senator you’re on a loser.
Someone needs to bring this to the attention of Republicans Overseas and ask what the hell is Hatch doing!!!!
Hatch does not get it, so many WANT to be thrown into the briar patch of NOT losing the Passport but losing US Citizenship!!!
Please Mr. Hatch REVOKE US Citizenship thats what we want, we want to get off your damned plantation.
Is $50,000 a lot of money due?
ONE, ONE single failure to file a FBAR could burn that number up fast and thats for a minnow minding his/her own business living an ordinary and boring lower middle class life in Europe.
If you are an Ex-Pat and do not have other citizenship then it is a matter of pure survival to first obtain ANY other nationality and second to relinquish your USC.
Being a USA Ex-Pat is dangerous and the predator is the US homeland.
Cool! Does this mean that if I enter Canada to watch the Blue Jays game and decide to stay for the rest of my life, I can become delinquent on “my” taxes and they take away my U.S. Passport, such that I cannot re-enter U.S.A. and then Canada has to let me stay? Or would they make me camp out at the border the way Poland and Germany once did to certain persons?
Your passport is not your citizenship. It is only your proof of it.
They’re certainly not going to deny Edward Snowden entry into the US, simply because they’ve revoked his passport. However, they will certainly arrest him at the US border.
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