,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #bcic  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,june #ag1 #bjac ,mr4
 ,fattah introduced the following bill2 
which was referred to the ,committee on 
,ways and ,means  ,a ,,bill  ,to direct 
the ,secretary of the ,treasury to      
develop and present to ,congress a      
legislative proposal to establish a     
consumption tax4  #a4 ,short title ,this
 ,act may be cited as the ,american     
,growth  ,tax ,reform ,act of #bjac4    
#b4 ,findings ,congress finds the       
following3  7#a7 ,the ,united ,states1  
from its beginning in #agij to the      
present1 has been free of a national    
debt for only two years1 #ahcd and      
#ahce4  7#b7 ,after #aidf1 the national 
debt as a percentage of ,,gdp declined1 
reaching a low of #cb4e percent in      
#aiha4  7#c7 ,the large budget deficits 
of the #aihjs and #aiijs reversed this  
trend and pushed the percentage to      
another high of #di4e percent in #aiic4 
7#d7 ,the ,federal budget surpluses from

 fiscal year #aiih to fiscal year #bjja 
were used to retire a portion of the    
publicly held national debt4  7#e7      
,between fiscal year #aiig and fiscal   
year #bjja1 the publicly held portion of
 the national debt declined by more than
 #djj billion4  7#f7 ,since fiscal year 
#bjjb1 a return to budget deficits has  
caused the debt to grow again4  7#g7    
,the national debt has grown from #ge4e 
million in #agij to                     
#af1gha1ifg1gjb1dje4cg1 as of ,april    
#ai1 #bjac4  7#h7 ,congress must        
consider innovative tax strategies to   
meet this fiscal challenge4  7#i7 ,a    
consumption tax will assist in          
decreasing the total public debt        
outstanding by broadening the tax base  
to include revenue from untapped        
sources3 foreign tourists1 undocumented 
immigrants1 the underground economy1 and
 multi-million dollar business          
transactions4  7#aj7 ,implementing a    
consumption tax would simplify the      
current tax system4  7#aa7 ,at least #hd

 countries subscribe to some form of    
consumption taxation1 including         
,afghanistan1 ,albania1 ,australia1     
,austria1 ,azerbaijan1 ,bahamas1        
,bangladesh1 ,barbados1 ,belgium1       
,benin1 ,brazil1 ,brunei ,darussalam1   
,burundi1 ,cameroon1 ,canada1 ,cape     
,verde1 ,chile1 ,china1 ,comoros1 ,congo
 7,,drc71 ,croatia1 ,cyprus1 ,denmark1  
,egypt1 ,ethiopia1 ,finland1 ,france1   
,ghana1 ,germany1 ,greece1              
,guinea-,bissau1 ,indonesia1 ,ireland1  
,iran1 ,italy1 ,jamaica1 ,japan1 ,kenya1
 ,korea1 ,kosovo1 ,kuwait1 ,laos1       
,latvia1 ,liberia1 ,lithuania1          
,luxemburg1 ,macedonia1 ,madagascar1    
,malaysia1 ,malta1 ,mexico1 ,morocco1   
,netherlands1 ,new ,zealand1 ,norway1   
,pakistan1 ,poland1 ,portugal1 ,qatar1  
,russian ,federation1 ,saudi ,arabia1   
,senegal1 ,serbia1 ,singapore1 ,slovak  
,republic1 ,slovenia1 ,south ,africa1   
,spain1 ,sri ,lanka1 ,sudan1 ,sweden1   
,switzerland1 ,tanzania1 ,thailand1     
,trinidad  ,tobago1 ,tunisia1 ,turkey1  

,uganda1 ,ukraine1 ,uruguay1 ,united    
,kingdom1 ,vietnam1 ,zambia1 and        
,zimbabwe4  7#ab7 ,under a consumption  
tax1 personal savings are excluded from 
the taxable base thereby rewarding      
taxpayers for saving4  #c4 ,consumption 
tax legislative proposal  7a7 ,in       
general ,not later than #a year after   
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 
the ,secretary of the ,treasury shall   
develop and submit to ,congress a       
legislative proposal to establish a     
consumption tax that is broad-based and 
progressive in nature4  7b7 ,proposal   
requirements  7#a7 ,in general ,such    
proposal shall set forth the details of 
such a consumption tax and the rates    
that the ,secretary estimates would     
eliminate the total public debt         
outstanding in #aj years1 #bj years1 and
 #cj years1 respectively1 under each of 
the following scenarios3  7,a7 ,the     
consumption tax would be in addition to 
all ,federal taxes in effect on the date
 of the enactment of this ,act4  7,b7   

,the consumption tax would replace the  
individual income tax imposed by section
 #a of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of  
#aihf on earned income 7as defined in   
section #cb7;c77#b7 of such ,code74     
7,c7 ,the consumption tax would replace 
the corporate income tax imposed by     
section #aa of such ,code4  7#b7        
,feasibility and comparative analysis   
,such proposal shall also include--     
7,a7 an analysis of the feasibility of1 
any barriers to1 and any advantages or  
disadvantages of1 a ,federal consumption
 tax1 and  7,b7 a comparative analysis  
of the function and character of        
consumption taxes in other countries    
that impose a consumption tax4