US Chamber of Commerce lobbied against 9/11 health bill to save foreign members on taxes

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Revealed: Chamber lobbied against 9/11 health bill to save foreign members on taxes



By Nathan Diebenow
Saturday, December 18th, 2010 -- 1:53 pm

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/chamber-commerce-lobbied-kill-911-responders-bill/

The US Chamber of Commerce lobbied to kill a bill that would have helped cover medical expenses and compensation for first responders and survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to documents available online.

The Chamber's aim was to keep open a tax loophole benefiting foreign corporations that the $7.4 billion bill would have closed to provide funding for the American emergency workers.

In a letter opposing the 9/11 bill, R. Bruce Josten, the Chamber's executive vice president for Government Affairs, cautioned that closing the tax loophole would harm US trade relationships and financial markets.

"In typical fashion, the Chamber has not revealed which of its foreign members had asked them to kill the 9/11 bill," Lee Fang of Alternet.org wrote.