WASHINGTON, April 5 – Sen. Bernie Sanders issued the following statement after the Department of the Treasury issued new rules that would curb the tax dodging practice known as corporate inversions:

“I am pleased that the Treasury has announced new rules to block profitable American companies from gaming the system to dodge U.S. taxes. While the full impact is still uncertain, the rules appear to eliminate the $35 billion in tax breaks that the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer would have received from its planned offshore merger.

“Multinational corporations cannot have it both ways. You can’t be a domestic company only when you want to enjoy the legal protections afforded to American businesses. You have also got to be an American company when it is time to pay your fair share of taxes.

“The Treasury’s new rules have put profitable corporations on notice that their greed will not be allowed to continue. Now, Congress must take the next step and pass comprehensive legislation to close these corporate tax loopholes once and for all, so that we can create the millions of jobs this country needs.”

Last month, Sanders wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew urging him to use the department’s untapped authority to prevent Pfizer’s planned maneuver to dodge taxes in the United States. The senator has also introduced legislation to prevent offshore corporate tax avoidance schemes, including inversions.