Date: 2010-12-16
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I ask that we send this bill back to the drawing board. work with the President. so that we can really help the unemployed. the 99ers. and not just grow the deficit. Where are the good Samaritans? We have voted over and over for tax cuts. I believe in them. The House voted for tax cuts 2 weeks ago. but this tax bill is a budget buster and just growing the deficit. the same deficit that were going to be called upon to do something about. I want America to thrive. So they cannot be giving tax cuts to billionaires who do not want them. We cannot cut into the Social Security. costing us $120 billion and impacting firefighters. teachers. and police who do not get a benefit from the payroll tax holiday. I want middle class tax cuts. but I want the Republicans to stop holding us hostage for hardworking Americans to get a dime from this country. They work hard. I offered an amendment to ensure that the corporations that are getting the tax cuts really do save a job or hire the people who are unemployed. With billions being spent and trillions in the deficit. it is time now to work for middle class Americans. Mr. Chair. I have deep reservations with portions of this bill. especially as it relates to the estate tax and tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans. Nevertheless. I do support portions of H.R. 4853. to extend vital tax cuts for Americas middle and working class and extending unemployment insurance benefits that will otherwise expire at the end of this month. I have consistently supported and voted for middle class tax cuts. as I did two weeks 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% 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 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 unemployment benefits and tax cuts for working and middle class families hostage in order to benefit the wealthiest 2% of Americans. I also have some serious concerns that the temporary payroll tax cut included in this legislation could jeopardize Social Security. Although this is a temporary tax cut. there will inevitably be debate in the future about extending it before its expiration. which could create substantial shortfalls in Social Securitys long term viability. Future extensions of this payroll tax at the expense of Social Security could force hardearned retirement benefits to compete with other government programs for funding rather than remaining selfsufficient. Tax cuts must be instituted without compromising Social Security. 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. 4853 as amended by Senate Amendment 4753 that provide necessary tax relief to struggling middle income Americans. Under the Tax Relief. Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act. Senate Amendment 4753. middleclass families and small businesses will see their taxes go down. This measure contains jobcreating tax incentives. including incentives to create clean energy jobs. energyefficient homes. and investments in renewable energy. It also ensures that millions of Americans still looking for work continue to have access to an emergency safety net to afford basic necessities. without extending the amount of time these benefits can be claimed for any given household. The specific ways that this bill will benefit middleclass families and aid the economic recovery include the following: It preserves the current income tax rate for middleclass families (2 years). It reauthorizes the current emergency unemployment insurance program (13 months. or through the end of 2011). It continues vital middleclass tax credits. including the American Opportunity Tax Credit to help families pay for college. the Child Tax Credit. and the Earned Income Tax Credit (two years). It helps businesses by allowing them to deduct 100 percent of certain investments in 2011 and 50 percent in 2012. It extends the state and local sales tax deduction. which is particularly important for states. like Texas. which have no state income tax (2 years). It extends Alternative Minimum Tax relief through 2011 (2 years). I have already voted for all of the above benefits. Unlike those provisions of H.R. 4853 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 twoyear extension of Bushera tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans while lowering their estate tax rate to 35% 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. I offered an amendment that would require all large businesses and corporations who received a tax benefit under this legislation to report how their tax savings are being used to create or save jobs. Tax cuts for Americas largest corporations must be tied to job creation or preservation. which is why I offered my amendment. Failing to tie tax cuts to job creation is irresponsible since it exacerbates our growing deficit without bolstering job creation. I would like to add my support for the Amendment to H.R. 4853 introduced by my colleague. Mr. POMEROY of North Dakota. This amendment would strike Title III of the Senate amendment to H.R. 4583 and amend the bill to provide two years of estate tax relief at 2009 levels. In calendar years 2011 and 2012. the estate tax exemption amount would be $3.5 million ($7 million total for a married couple) and the maximum tax rate on estates would be 45%. Additionally. the amendment would provide estates from decedents in 2010 with the ability to elect to be treated under the 2009 levels or to be treated under current law for tax purposes. This election will allow estates to receive a step up in basis on inherited property rather than the 2010 carryover basis rules. The exemption level and rate are consistent with the estate tax proposal included in the Presidents FY2010 and FY2011 budgets. While I am opposed to the portions of H.R. 4853 that amount to an expensive giveaway to the wealthiest 2% of Americans. I want to emphasize that I fully support President Obamas vision for change. I share his commitment to fighting for low and middleincome Americans who are the backbone of this country and our economy. However. this legislation. especially as it pertains to tax cuts for the top 2% of Americans and estate tax provisions that are regressive and inflate the deficit. does not comport with this vision. I have serious misgivings about extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans at the expense of our deficit. especially if these tax cuts are not targeted towards job creation. I strongly support the tax and unemployment insurance relief that H.R. 4853 provides to middleincome families. small businesses and farmers. But. my friends. I must express my concern that this legislation does not provide extension of unemployment benefits for those unfortunate unemployed Americans who have run up against a brick wall. These socalled "99ers" have been sincerely looking for work for a very long time and have run out of resources to provide for their families and pay their mortgages. pay their bills and buy food. They simply want and need a job to pay for these obligations. H.R. 4853 proposes to give tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans. yet fails to provide for the socalled "99ers."