CEOs of multinational companies pressed House lawmakers this week not to raise taxes on their firms' foreign profits in order to fund a $1.2 trillion overhaul of the health system.

CEOs that are members of the Business Roundtable, a trade group of Fortune 500 companies, held meetings with individual House Ways and Means Committee members to press their case on the international tax issues.

According to those present, CEOs that participated included John T. Chambers of Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), David M. Cote of Honeywell International Inc. (HON), Kenneth I. Chenault of American Express Co. (AXP) and Joseph M. Tucci of EMC Corp. (EMC).

They are fighting proposals by President Obama to curb a tax break known as deferral, which allows firms to postpone taxes on their foreign income as long as they do not repatriate it to the United States. And they are finding some allies among House Democrats.

"Deferral is not tax avoidance," said Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass. "If we want to engage in a conversation about making our companies internationally competitive, we need a full-fledged debate about the corporate tax code."

Neal said he told Obama, during a Tuesday meeting at the White House, that changes to treatment of firms' foreign income should be made only in the context of a broad revision of corporate taxation.

"He said his mind is open," Neal said of Obama.

The CEO visits were just one part of a deluge of lobbying on the foreign tax proposals, touched off by fears that Congress will tax foreign earnings to help underwrite the health-care bill. Tax directors of high-tech companies, including Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE), also blitzed the Capitol this week.

As Congress looks to advance the health-care legislation by the fall, there is growing concern at the largest U.S. firms. Neal, in an interview with Dow Jones, said there is a risk of bringing the lobbying power of corporations against the health-care bill, which is Obama's top domestic priority.

The House's top tax writer, Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has not ruled out taking some of those international tax breaks back to fund the health initiative.

But there are other Democrats besides Neal that say they don't favor that approach. "I'm reluctant," said Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., saying that the foreign profits issues "should be looked at in a broader review of corporate taxes."

Referring to the various revenue proposals being considered to pay for health-care legislation, some of which would involve tax increases, Schwartz said, "We don't really want to do any of these things, but we're determined to have [the bill] revenue-neutral over 10 years."

-By Martin Vaughan, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9244; martin.vaughan@dowjones.com