McCaskill-Thune Bill Jumpstarts Post-Election Work Period with Overwhelming Support in U.S. House

The U.S. House of Representatives today overwhelmingly approved a plan by U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill and John Thune, which would protect Missouri consumers and American jobs from a European Union tax on the U.S. airline industry. The legislation now heads to President Obama’s desk.  

“All that’s left to prevent the European Union from unfairly taxing American citizens is the President’s signature, and I urge him to support this commonsense measure,” McCaskill said. “European governments taxing air travel in the United States has never made a bit of sense, and it’s refreshing to be able to work across the aisle to protect American consumers from this kind of nonsense.”

With McCaskill and Thune’s legislation advancing in Congress, the European Union announced yesterday that it will delay the E.U. Emissions Trading System (E.U. ETS) for one year to allow time for an international agreement.

Responding to the announcement McCaskill said, “It's good that the E.U. has seen the writing on the wall, but it’s important for the United States to act and show European governments that we oppose this misguided proposal.”

ETS is an emissions trading program that levies a tax on U.S. airline carriers’ flights into and out of E.U. countries. It is related to European countries’ interest in reaching their own internal goals for carbon emissions. The E.U. program applies a “cap-and-trade” carbon tax system to all flights originating or landing in Europe—taxing even those emissions that occur over the United States, international waters and elsewhere outside Europe. Remarkably, these taxes are not set aside for a specific purpose, and could be used as part of the general fund of any European Union government for virtually any purpose.  

McCaskill, along with Thune (R-S.D.), led the effort to protect U.S. airlines from being forced to participate in the emissions trading program established by the E.U.  The McCaskill-Thune legislation has the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as well as unions representing airline employees.