House Republicans should slow down their consideration of atax-overhaul bill after investigative reports Sunday allegedoffshore tax-avoidance by U.S. multinational companies includingApple Inc. and Nike Inc., congressional Democrats and tax-advocacygroups said.

But the Republican chairman of the House Ways and MeansCommittee indicated Sunday that the panel would stick to its plansto consider the bill this week. Representative Kevin Brady said hebelieves lawmakers “have a pretty good handle” on how to addressthe erosion to the U.S. tax base that results when corporationsshift profit offshore. House leaders want to pass the bill byThanksgiving, in roughly 2 1/2 weeks.

The bill that Brady released last week would impose a 20% excisetax on certain payments that U.S. companies make to overseasaffiliates—a potential source of profit-shifting to tax havens. Italso called for a tax of roughly 10% on some foreign profits forcorporations going forward. The excise tax measure has alreadydrawn opposition.