Date: 2012-08-01
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I will submit into the RECORD. Madam Speaker. a letter from small businesses of the Main Street Alliance opposing H.R. 8 and supporting this legislation the Democrats are offering. This is a celebration for women. This vote today will enhance opportunities for women. small businesses. and families across America. Madam Speaker. I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 8 and H.R. 6169. and ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come together in support of regular order for any proposed tax legislation. whether it comes to the House Floor today. tomorrow. or next year. The Rule before us is structured and I note that is titled H. Res. 747. but unlike the jetliners that we Americans use every day. this bill and the Rule are not yet ready for takeoff. House Republicans released a proposal. H.R. 6169. that would relax some of Congresss normal procedural rules in order to enact an overhaul of the tax codeso long as the tax overhaul meets the objectives laid out in the House budget plan authored by House Budget Committee Chairman PAUL RYAN. Their proposal states: "The United States tax code is far too complex and bloated. It forces American citizens and small business owners to focus on filling out tax forms instead of tending to their families and businesses. It is clear to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle that real. fundamental reforms to our tax code are long overdue. In fact. our revenue laws have not been substantially reformed in 50 years." Chairman DREIER said. I couldnt agree more with Chairman DREIER but by putting a stranglehold on the tax reform process before we even begin is tantamount to forcing debate on any tax reform bill while potentially limiting input. H.R. 6169 lays out several components that the tax overhaul legislation must have in order to be passed through the easier legislative procedure. All of these components seem identical to those laid out in the Ryan Plan that we witnessed in the Springits like a bad B movie rerun. The required components of the tax overhaul include: replacing the personal income tax rates with just two rates. 10 percent and 25 percent (or less) repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax. AMT reducing the statutory corporate income tax rate to 25 percent (or less) adoption of a "territorial" tax system (exempting offshore profits of corporations from U.S. taxes) collecting revenue equal to between 18 and 19 percent of GDP The "findings" section of the bill states that revenue will "rise to 21.2 percent of GDP under current law." meaning its proposed revenue target of between 18 and 19 percent of GDP is an explicit cut in revenue. Like the Republican Plan. the bill introduced by my colleagues Ways and Means Chairman CAMP and Rules Committee Chair DREIER. does not say which tax loopholes and tax subsidies should be closed to ensure that the tax system still collects revenue equaling between 18 and 19 percent of GDP even after the plans steep rate reductions and the repeal of the AMT are in effect. My sense is that even if those with incomes exceeding $1 million were forced to give up all the tax expenditures RYAN could possibly want to take away from themall their itemized deductions. tax credits. the exclusion for employerprovided health insurance and the deduction for health insurance for the selfemployedeven then the net result for these taxpayers would be an average income tax cut of $187.000 in 2014. Thats because the income tax rate reductions RYAN proposed are so deep that they would far outweigh the loss of all these tax loopholes and tax subsidies. I have consistently supported and voted for middle class tax cuts. as I did two years ago when I voted for the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010. and the extension of unemployment benefits. I am deeply saddened that the fate of unemployed. low and middle income Americans has been held hostage by the insistence by Republicans that this legislation include a giveaway to the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans that is going to irresponsibly expand the already large deficit. I have spoken to and heard from many fine. patriotic. hardworking middle income Americans from Houston. from the great state of Texas. and all across the nation. Middle class American families and small businesses are deeply concerned about our troubled economy. the skyrocketing national deficit. high unemployment rates. job creation. and sorely needed extension of the tax relief and unemployment benefits set to expire at the end of this month. The Republican bill temporarily extends for one year. through 2013. all the reduced tax rates and other tax benefits enacted in 2001 and 2003 that are scheduled to expire on Dec. 31. The measure maintains the maximum estate tax rate of 35 percent while retaining the exemption amount of $5 million. provides a twoyear "patch" to prevent the alternative minimum tax. AMT. from hitting over 27 million taxpayers and allows small businesses to deduct an increased amount of their capital expenditures for another year. I feel like we have been down this path before and I recall many of my colleagues staking a claim to fiscal responsibility. Well. I ask in all sincerity. which bill is more fiscally responsible: H.R. 8. which blows a hole in the deficit. or H.R. 15. the Democratic alternative which keeps the Bush Tax rates in place for the people who truly need tax relief. This is the same Republican Congress which has asked for a balanced budget amendment. It has codified the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. which is possibly unconstitutional. and has had no impact on jobs and the unemployment problem. Yet today they want us to vote on a tax increase for the top 2 percent. This illustrates what happens when Congress does not work together in a bipartisan manner. laboring for the American people. We must work together and compromise. The Senate gave us a layup by producing a bill last week which is virtually identical to the Democratic Substitute. All we have to do is act like Olympians and pass it. The American people are asking the President and Members of Congress to move swiftly and take decisive action to help restore our economy in a fiscally responsible manner. I am disappointed that Republicans have insisted on holding tax cuts for working and middle class families hostage in order to benefit the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans. I would like to thank President Obama for his determined leadership. support and commitment to protecting important tax relief issues for middleincome Americans and the nations small businesses and farmers during these challenging economic times. I would also like to thank all the Members and their staff who worked diligently to bring this essential legislation to the House floor today in an attempt to do all that we can to protect the American people and move this nation toward fiscally responsible economic recovery. I support those provisions of H.R. 8 which provide relief for middleclass families and small businesses who will see their taxes go down and get much needed certainty. But I cannot in good conscience support tax relief for millionaires and billionaires at a time when others need help just to make ends meet. Unlike those provisions of H.R. 8 which benefit Americas struggling middle class. I do not support the provisions of this legislation which condition that desperately needed relief upon the unconscionably high cost of providing an unnecessary. expensive giveaway to the wealthiest Americans by providing a 2year extension of Bushera tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans while keeping their estate tax rate at 35 percent on estates valued at more than $5 Million for individuals and more than $10 Million for couples. These giveaways to the wealthiest Americans during these dire economic times needlessly add billions of dollars to our skyrocketing deficit yet create no value for our ailing economy since these tax cuts are not tied to job creation and preservation.