Congressional Record: February 28, 2005 (Senate)
Page S1796-S1810




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS


      By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Mr. Lott, Mr. Roberts, Ms.
        Snowe, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Chambliss, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Corzine, Mr.
        Levin, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Bond, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr.
        Hagel, and Mr. Hatch):
  S. 469. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude
from gross income the gain from the sale of a principal residence by
certain employees of the intelligence community; to the Committee on
Finance.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation to
extend an important tax benefit to the men and women of the United
States Intelligence Community. I am pleased that in keeping with the
bipartisan traditions of the Intelligence Committee, every member,
Republican and Democrat, is listed as an original cosponsor.
  Two years ago, on Veterans Day, President Bush signed into law an
important modification to our tax code to ensure that it does not
punish those who serve our country in the military and in the U.S.
foreign service. Unfortunately, that legislation did not extend to
intelligence officers, who serve alongside their military and
diplomatic colleagues all around the world and who often face the same
tax issues encountered by those individuals. The legislation I am
introducing today makes a common sense modification to the capital
gains tax exclusion rules to ensure that when selling their homes,
intelligence officers do not pay more tax than they would if they did
not serve their country.
  The men and women of the Intelligence Community, serve with the
military in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, and numerous other locations
where we have U.S. forces deployed. They also serve in U.S. Embassies
around the world. Often times they carry an added burden because they
must serve undercover. Their families and friends don't know what they
do. They live their cover story by day and perform their critical
intelligence work by night. They work for all fifteen of the agencies
included in the intelligence community and they do a remarkable job.
These people are dedicated to their mission and to this country.
  These patriotic individuals sacrifice a great deal on behalf of the
rest of us. They uproot and relocate their families every few years.
They often live in places most of us wouldn't even visit. And they
rarely have the quality of life with access to modern luxuries that the
rest of us take for granted. To then say that they are going to be
penalized by our tax code is unacceptable.
  Since 1997, our tax code has allowed Americans to sell their homes
without paying taxes on up to $250,000 of capital gains. Married
couples can exclude $500,000 in capital gains from taxation. This
provision is specifically intended only for principle residences, and
therefore, sellers are required to have lived in the homes for at least
2 of the 5 years prior to sale.
  In 2003, Congress recognized that this residency requirement was
often difficult for members of the armed forces and foreign service to
satisfy. If they had been stationed away from home while serving their
country, they were essentially punished with higher taxes on the sales
of their homes. Congress addressed this injustice by allowing service
personnel and foreign service officers who were stationed away from
home to suspend the residency requirement for as many as ten years.
This change allows, for example, a soldier who spent the last 7 years
stationed in Germany to exclude from taxes the capital gains on the
sale of his former home in the U.S., as long as he had lived in it for
at least 2 of the 5 years prior to his service overseas. The change is
effective on all sales after 1997, when the capital gains tax exclusion
for home sales was provided to all Americans.
  Fairness demands that Congress apply the same rules to intelligence
officers serving their country away from home. My legislation simply
inserts intelligence officers into the list of those allowed to suspend
the 5 year residency test period for up to 10 years while they are
stationed away from home.
  I intend to work with my colleagues on the Intelligence Committee and
the Finance Committee to ensure that this provision is enacted this
year.
                                 ______

S 469 IS

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 469

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income the gain from the sale of a principal residence by certain employees of the intelligence community.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

February 28, 2005

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Mr. LOTT, Mr. ROBERTS, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. BAYH, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. CORZINE, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BOND, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. HAGEL, and Mr. HATCH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income the gain from the sale of a principal residence by certain employees of the intelligence community.

SECTION 1. EXCLUSION OF GAIN FROM SALE OF A PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE BY CERTAIN EMPLOYEES OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.

END