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March 22, 2002

The Honorable Paul O'Neill
Secretary of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20220

Dear Mr. Secretary,

I write to express my strong support for the stance you and the Administration have taken in opposing recent international tax harmonization proposals. Tax competition is vital for the success of the global economy and I urge you to continue to resist calls to relinquish American sovereignty over our tax policies.

Unfortunately, some high-tax governments want to stop tax competition. Using the United Nations and other international institutions as their vehicles, they are pursuing a tax harmonization agenda that would rewrite the rules of international taxation.

A tax cartel is not in America's interests, and I applaud you for resisting Europe's so-called "harmful tax competition" agenda. Tax harmonization is bad tax policy, but it also is bad foreign policy. Although the U.S. can benefit from participating in certain international organizations and activities, these must be consistent with our national security interests and reflect the goals of the American people. Clearly, the creation of an international tax bureaucracy would serve only to create conflict between low-tax and high-tax nations.

Sincerely,

Michael D. Crapo

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