Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today voted against a Republican bill that would give U.S. multinational corporations more incentives to ship jobs overseas. The legislation, which was approved by the Republican majority of the House of Representatives, will add approximately $34 billion to the deficit and includes billions of dollars in tax breaks for special interests, including a provision that would provide a $10 billion windfall for tobacco companies.

"Now is not the time for more unnecessary corporate tax break schemes. Instead, we need to create jobs here at home, not in foreign destinations. The Republicans have once again shown that to them, providing tax breaks to wealthy business owners is more important than providing jobs for middle class families," said Nadler.

Since the beginning of the Bush Administration, 2.7 million manufacturing jobs have been lost, and the European Union is currently levying up to $4 billion in sanctions on struggling American manufacturers. Rather than consider Democratic legislation that would stop the sanctions and create American jobs by closing loopholes and providing tax relief for small manufacturers and farmers, the Republican leadership forced through the House its legislation that includes $30 billion in tax incentives for companies to move overseas.

The legislation includes a large loophole that allows corporations to outsource almost all of the work needed to make a product and still reap most of the benefits from a tax break for "domestic production." It also includes several special interest tax breaks for manufacturers of bows and arrows, electronic fish finders, bait containers, and beer and liquor wholesalers.

"Congress should crack down on offshore tax cheats, not reward them," said Nadler. "Working families deserve much more than Republican lip service and a bill that only seeks to help multinational corporations."