Date: 2009-12-09
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank my friend. the gentleman from New York . for the time. and I yield myself such time as I may consume. The underlying legislation of H.R. 4213. the Tax Extenders Act of 2009. extends for 1 year a number of noncontroversial. temporary taxrelief provisions that are set to expire at the end of this year. These provisions will benefit individual taxpayers. students. teachers. small businesses. and other companies that invest in research and development. While I support these temporary taxrelief extensions. I believe that these tax provisions should be made permanent. or that at the very least they should be extended for more than 1 year. For example. the bill includes a 1year extension of the sales tax deduction. This provision is very important in Florida. the State that Im honored to represent. because without this deduction. Floridians would end up paying significantly more taxes to the Federal Government than the taxpayers with similar profiles in different States. These yeartoyear extensions. while better than no extension. fail to provide the predictability and the certainty that small businesses and families need to plan their budgets. Leaving these important taxrelief provisions to the last minute. also. I believe. is most unfortunate. It unnecessarily places an additional burden on families and small businesses that are already struggling in this economy. I also oppose the inclusion in this legislation of a permanent tax to pay for temporary tax relief. The bill would raise the tax rate on investment gains received from an investment services partnership interest. which is currently taxed at a rate of 15 percent. to a rate as high as 35 percent at the end of 2010. and then the tax will rise to 39 percent. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim that this is a tax on Wall Street venture funds. but as our friend. Congressman KEVIN BRADY. explained last night when he testified before the Rules Committee. about half of that tax will be paid by real estate partnerships that build apartments. homes and shopping centers in our communities. Those real estate partnerships invest in new infrastructure in our communities and they help create jobs in the construction industry. Yet once this tax hits those partnerships. they may very well reconsider their investment decisions and abandon their partnerships for other investments. further hurting our communities and hampering possible economic recovery. The construction industry has been hit very hard. Mr. Speaker. in the community that I am honored to represent. and too many jobs have been lost. What we need to be doing is providing incentives for job growth and investment in the construction industry. Unfortunately. we are doing the opposite with this legislation. During his first inaugural address. President Reagan said. It is not my intention to do away with government. It is. rather. to make it work. work for us. not over us. stand by our side. not right on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity. not smother it. foster productivity. not stifle it. The legislation being brought to the floor today will not do what President Reagan said we need to do. With unemployment at 10 percent and an economy struggling to recover. this is not the time to raise taxes. particularly a tax on capital investments that help create jobs. This new tax will discourage the entrepreneurial risktaking that our economy desperately needs right now in order to create new jobs. Mr. Speaker. for centuries the United States prospered because we have been the safest place in the world to invest. It was good for business to invest in the United States. to create new businesses. in other words. to create jobs in the United States. We are moving away from that philosophy that made this country the most prosperous Nation in the history of the world. Because of that. our economy will continue to suffer. We are moving away from that. Just yesterday the President. for example. called for increased capital investments in small businesses. Yet here we are today. ironically. increasing taxes on capital investments that could help small businesses grow and provide them the capital to hire new workers. During yesterdays Rules Committee hearing. we heard testimony from my friend and distinguished colleague from Louisiana regarding a proposed amendment that he wished to have the House debate today. His amendment would extend the time for making lowincome housing credit allocations under the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act by 2 years. According to Mr. CAO. this extension is needed to preserve the availability of financing for affordable housing projects in the Gulf States. This amendment is just another example of Mr. CAOS thoughtful efforts continuously on behalf of his constituents. Unfortunately. the majority on the Rules Committee decided that once again they would block all amendments from consideration. including