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tv   U.S. House of Representatives  CSPAN  March 23, 2010 1:00pm-2:45pm EDT

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moments and insites about their lives. "who's buried in grant's tomb" now at your favorite book seller. or get a 25% discount at publicaffairsbooks.com. type in grantstomb at checkout. >> our commitment to israel's security and israel's future is rock solid, unwavering, unduring and forever. >> secretary of state, senator, first lady or attorney hillary clinton in 1991, you can search it, clip it, share it and more online at the new c-span video library with over 160,000 hours of video and 115,000 people, every c-span program since 1976. the c-span video library, cable's latest gift to america. . of the new
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benefits available. and this story from "the salt lake tribune." helped push average refunds from 2009 tax year up almost 10%, or $266 per household. how have they affected you? clyde on the independent line
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resolved, that the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1205.
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resolved, that upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill h.r. 4899, making emergency supplemental promingses for disaster relief and summer jobs for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2010 and for other purposes. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising clause 9 osh 10 of rule 21. the bill shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill to final passage without intervening motion except one, intervening motion except one, one hour of divided and controlled of the chair and ranking minority member. of the committee on ways and means. and, two, one motion to recommit with or -- without
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instructions. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for one hour. mr. cardoza: thank you, madam speaker. for the purpose of debate only i yield myself the customary -- i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from florida, mr. diaz-balart. all time is for debate only. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. . on house resolution 1205. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cardoza: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cardoza: madam speaker, house resolution 1205 provides for the consideration of the small business and infrastructure job tax act of 2010. the rule provides for one hour of general debate controlled by the committee on ways and means. the rule waives all points of order against consideration of the bill except for clause 9 and 10 of rule 21. the rule also provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute reported by the committee on ways and means,
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modified by the amendment printed in the rules committee report shall be considered as adopted. finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit with wore without instructions. -- with or without instructions. madam speaker, despite what you may hear, the fact that the recovery act has saved or created two million jobs and we have seen signs of that in our economy is starting to grow once again, in 2009 we saw a 2.8% g.d.p. growth in the third quarter. which represented the biggest six-month turn around in our economy since 1980. and the fourth quarter 5.9% growth is a dramatic change in the direction from when president obama took office and the economy was then that rinking by a minus 6.7% at the end of the bush administration. before president obama took office and passed the recovery act, we were losing on average 600,000 jobs per month.
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since passing the recovery act, job loss has slowed to an average ofed 0,000 per month. -- average of $90,000 per months after suffering through the worst economic crisis since the great depression, job loss has nearly leveled off in the past two months. we are almost back to par. this is clear that the economy is growing again. and employers are not shedding from their payrolls. but they are starting to hire once again. those are the economic facts and a clear sign that the actions taken by the obama administration and this democratic congress will in fact working to turn the economy around. however having said that, this does not mean we are out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination. in too many parts of the country, including my district in california, the recovery has been slow. unemployment is still high. and we continue to lose jobs by
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the thousands. few regions of the nation are suffering more from the recession than my san joaquin valley of california. the three biggest cities in my district, merced, stockton, and mow defendanto have some of the highest -- modesto have some of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. as i said before my district has been economically ravaged at the level equal to the devastation we have seen oftentimes in the aftermath of hurricanes. now is not the time to sit back and relax but to continue to give this economy a shot in the arm that it needs in so many areas like mine. and we will get the extra stimulus we need to overcome this recession once and for all by passing this and other measures that will be coming before us. this is why congress just passed and president obama just signed the higher act to help create jobs and strengthen our economy and to bring help to our communities like the ones i represent.
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it funds infrastructure projects and provides tax incentives and credits for businesses to hire unemployed workers to help small businesses invest and expand. that's also why we are bringing this bill, h.r. 4849, the small business and infrastructure jobs tax act of 2010 to the floor today with an additional provision, a proven measure to further stimulate the economy. the small businesss of -- businesses of america form the backbone of economic growth in our country. in fact they are responsible for creating three out of every four jobs in the united states. that's why with this bill we are continuing to foster their growth and entrepreneurial spirit by completely eliminating the capital gains taxation on stock investments made in small businesses through 2011. this provision will help encourage investments immediately and will help small
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businesses put more people on their payrolls, continuing to drive our economic recovery. h.r. 4849 also increases the deduction for start-up expenditures for small businesses, from $5,000 to $20,000. giving our building entrepreneurs a better opportunity to succeed. the bill provides substantial relief to small businesses who run afoul of certain tax rules. current law was intended to punish large corporate tax cheats but has had the unintended consequences of -- and effects of threatening countless small business was bankruptcy. this bill removes the stiff penalties for small businesses to ensure that they will keep their doors opened and continue creating jobs. h.r. 4849 makes an additional allocation of recovery zone bonds to ensure that each locality receives a minimum allocation and hardest hit areas of the country such as my district are not overlooked
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like they were in the initial allocations of the previous legislation. i'm especially thankful to the ways and means committee for addressing the concerning i raised regarding that issue. finally, this bill extends the recovery act's build america bond program. to tate state and local governments have financed well over $78 billion in infrastructure projects using this tool to create jobs and help improve water utilities, sewers, schools, hospitals, transit buses, and other public projects. financial experts have called build america bonds, quote, one of the economic recovery efforts' biggest successes. madam speaker, speaking for my own district, nowhere is this an other jobs bills more necessary than the san joaquin valley. we needed help last week. we needed it a year ago. economic relief from my constituents remains long overdue.
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it's time to stop blaming, it's time to stop playing political games. it's time to just start providing the relief people so desperately need. it's important that we continue to keep our foot on the gas pedal and continue to give our economy the jolt it needs while it's starting to wake once again. madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i'd leak to thank my friend, the gentleman from california, for cardoza, for the time. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: over a year ago, madam speaker, the president promised that if congress passed the so-called stimulus bill, unemployment would not reach 8%. here we are today with unemployment just under 10%. it turns out that the stimulus bill was anything but a job creator.
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instead, it was a monumental waste of money that created tons of debt for the nation. since then the people have demanded that the majority stop their unbridled spending spree. they wanted congress to focus our work on commonsense job creation legislation that does in the spend away the nation's future. yet two days ago the majority ignored the american people and passed the so-called health care bill that costs over $1 trillion. a bill that just like the so-called stimulus does nothing to create jobs except for new i.r.s. agents in the case of the new legislation. it has over $500 billion in new taxes. and mandates on businesses that
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will inevitably lead them to lay off workers or forgo hiring new workers. knowing that the people have rejected their signature issues , that the majority has ignored the number one issue in this country, the lack of new jobs the majority puts for the hrt 4829, which is calls the small business and infrastructure jobs tax act, they desperately want to be seen by the people as doing something on jobs, anything on jobs. but just like calling a bill a stimulus does not mean it will stimulate job creation. this bill will not create jobs just because the majority has slapped jobs on to the title of the bill. this bill is nothing more than a hodgepodge of narrow tarring thed tax provisions that will not create new jobs--- narrow
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targeted tax provision that is will not create new jobs. it amounts to a net tax increase at a time when congress should be lowering taxes in order to encourage job growth. in this legislation the largest tax is a $7.7 billion one on foreign companies located in the united states employing american workers. a tax on companies employing american workers. already the u.s. is the only country in the world that taxes the overseas income of its businesses. every other country taxes the income obviously only that is earned within its borders. so we tax income anywhere in the world. now, higher taxes as called for in this legislation will further encourage those businesses to keep their income
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earned abroad in foreign countries and invest it there and create jobs there rather than in the united states. jobs will be moved. jobs that they would have created in the u.s. would be moved to other countries, reducing employment opportunities in the united states, depressing wages for current american workers. this is not a way to get americans back to work. madam speaker. . it is so small to the size of the economy and the degree of uncertainty is uncol could you labble of the aggregate --
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uncalculabe of the aggregate of the economy, end quote. now, this sounds like the stimulus that didn't stimulate. it's more of the same from tchonl majority. what is ironic is if the stimulus had worked as sold we wouldn't be here today. we told the majority, madam speaker, we told them that their stimulus would do little, if anything, to spur job growth. what is so unfortunate is the american people are having to pay the price for the majority's incompetition. one of the central tenants of the democrats' campaign in 2006 was that they would run congress in a more open and bipartisan manner. on december 6, 2006, the speaker reiterated her campaign promise. she said, and i quote, we promised the american public that we would have the most open, honest government and we will, end quote. the speaker laid out her
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promise in a document called "a new direction for america." in it she wrote we would have open committee markups with appropriate referrals to committees. bills should generally come to the floor under a procedure that allows open, full and fair debate, consisting of full amendment process allowing the minority to have amendments, including a substitute. this bill, madam speaker, like so many before, fails to meet that promise. contrary to it, the majority forbids ways and means ranking member camp from allowing the minority to have a substitute amendment. it blocks every member from both sides of the aisle from offering amendments. i it would make this violation of the speaker's -- what makes this violation of the speaker's promise is that on ways and means' bills, madam speaker, the houses a a long history of allowing the ranking member to offer minority substitutes.
quote
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we should defeat this rule and allow the house to proceed through regular order and allow members to participate in the legislative process. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. cardoza: thank you, madam speaker. in response of my friend and colleague from florida, i would just remind him that in this particular legislation we are paying for our tax cuts. we are not going to do like they did when they were in charge by cutting taxes and leaving it for their children to pay for. in bill pays for this fax cut by closing foreign tax loopholes that were given to special interests. i think that that's a trade the american people will accept every single day. madam speaker, i'd now like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from california -- the gentlewoman from california, ms. chu. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. chu: madam speaker, first i want to thank chairman levin and chairman mcdermott from including in the manager's
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amendment the extension of the jobs now program. i'd like to thank chairman larson and betty sutton and alcee hastings for their support of this bill and program. i rise today to support the manager's amendment to h.r. 4846, the jobs tax act which adds an extremely important jobs program called jobs now. it has created over 156,000 jobs in 29 states across the country. it is extraordinary for the fact that it has been able to create jobs so quickly. the model in el monte county created over 1,000 subsidized jobs in one year, jobs like park rangers, teacher's assistance. they got paid up to 40 hours per week. the employer provided 20% of the wage cost and the federal government provided the rest.
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the reason it succeeded is that it was a win-win for both small business and workers. main street businesses like armstrong ties in lyndon, tennessee, which uses this program to add 10 employees by, buy new equipment, increase production and expand their distribution, that's a big step forward for a little bakery. workers in this program can sleep better at night knowing they can put food on the table. i have a letter that i'd like inserted in the record. she says, it's been a little over three months since i began this job and i have to say it's changed my life so much in this little time. i've been able to get off cash aid and prove myself to an employer without being judgmental. i think it's important for my children to see me actively working and show my children that having good work ethic is key in life. i just can't be thankful enough for this opportunity and hope that we can get extended for one more year. the manager's amendment and
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bill will indeed extend this program. i strongly support the manager's amendment. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: madam speaker, it's my privilege to yield three minutes to my friend from washington, mr. reichert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized for three minutes. mr. reichert: thank you. i thank the gentleman for yielding and thank you, madam speaker. well, at least today we're talking about incentives for small businesses. that's a start. people are still asking, where are the jobs? we are still at close to 10% unemployment. small businesses, think, everyone knows is responsible for over 80% of our jobs in this country. and i'm standing here today because yesterday i submitted two amendments. in fact, this is the second time i've submitted these amendments.
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the first time was in the ways and means committee asking for the current tax laws governing small businesses, the capital gains tax and other tax it is on small businesses to stay the same, to not go up. but come january capital gains tax will increase by over 20%. we are going to ask businesses to try and hire new employees under a heavy burden of taxes. so we're talking about a bill that's $15 billion of incentives, limited incentives. hours after we've slapped them with hundreds of billions of dollars of tax increases under a health overhaul bill. 3.8% investment tax. other penalties, if you don't provide man indicated tax -- mandated tax health care, this doesn't include the $588
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billion in other tax hikes coming in december with -- when the current tax rates expire. because of that, 1/3 of all businesses and their activity would be taxed more. raising taxes is the last thing we should be doing to small businesses. where are the jobs, people keep asking. and i have to say i'm disappointed that my amendments weren't accepted in the ways and means committee. they were voted down. i am disappointed that they were once again voted down last night in the rules committee. the last thing we should be doing to small businesses is raising taxes. the last thing that congress should be doing is raising taxes. small businesses today need certainty about what's going to be happening to them in the future. small businesses today want to hire employees but they can't hire employees because they're being taxed too much. i think we have one question in
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this congress to ask and that is, do we want to raise taxes on small businesses or do we want to help small businesses by keeping their tax burdens low? i'm one of those that stand up and say, i want to keep the tax burdens on small businesses low so they can hire employees, so we can generate jobs, so we can generate this economy and get this country moving forward. thank you, madam speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. cardoza: thank you, madam speaker. i listen carefully to the comments of mr. reichert, the gentleman from washington, and typical of the other side of the aisle and his political party. my colleague's amendment that he offered violated pay-go. now, as i look back on the recent history of our country, as we've lowered faxes and we didn't pay for them, the
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deficit ballooned out of control. that's exactly what people are upset about, the deficits ballooning out of control, and it was their economic policies that got us into this mess. madam speaker, at this point i'd like to yield three minutes to the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for three minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you. i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in permitting me to speak on this and his leadership guiding the rule for it. this is important legislation for us to consider. it's ironic that our friends are saying that the solution they want is more tax cuts. you know, if you look at the jobs trajectory in the clinton administration where the tax levels were what we were talking about they're going to be reverting to under the law written by the republicans, by the way, compared to what happened in the bush administration where spending went up, taxes were cut, the
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economy collapsed and we lost -- we had the lowest rate of job creation even though we took their prescription and cut taxes for all sorts of special interests. it is important that we are moving forward from this point by paying for the things that we do. it's a hard lesson but it worked in the eight years of the clinton administration where we had deficits reduced every single year until at the end we were actually in surplus compared to what happened and had robust job creation. lower deficits, more jobs by having a balanced economy and focusing on what's important. what is important is being able to rebuild and renew this country. i am pleased that we have in here the build america bonds that will be able to extend a
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favored treatment to local governments, to be able to build infrastructure, to be able to fight congestion, fight pollution, be able to revitalize communities. these bonds have been very successful in the last program that we had. this extends it for three more years. i would hope, madam speaker, that at some point we will be able to return to the era where at least one area was not partisan. and that is infrastructure and rebuilding and renewing america. even ronald reagan supported user fees and for things like transportation. i hope we get to the point where infrastructure, roads, transit, clean water, clean air, cleaning up superfund sites, again, enjoys the bipartisan support that it has at home here on capitol hill. we have a wide arrange of groups from the chamber of
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commerce, to a.g.c., to truckers who are willing to work with us to be able to provide this vital program going forward. i hope we've reached that point, but in the meantime, approving this legislation, jump-starting infrastructure for the next three years and not adding to the deficit but being deficit neutral in dealing with areas in fact, in some cases, recognized by the bush treasury that there was abuse of the tax system and needed to be changed. i hope we approve this rule. i hope we approve the legislation and we're able to get on to the business of continuing improving the economy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: madam speaker, i remember before the era of president obama and trillion to trillion and a half dollar deficits, $200 billion, i remember, used to be a lot of money. and president clinton, i
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remember, his budgets since the era of the 1990's was just mentioned called for at least $200 billion budgets add inif i night up. and i remember the -- ad infinitum. and i remember the clinton white house that finally led to a balanced budget. despite president clinton's submital of budgets with at least $200 billion of deficits indefinitely into the future. so that's setting the record straight. what's important to note at this point, i think, is that increasing taxes in a recession is the worst thing that we could do and the majority continues to -- the democratic majority continues to do it time and time again. i'd like to yield as much time as he may consume at this point to the distinguished ranking member of the rules committee,
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mr. dreier. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dreier: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my raveragets the speaker pro tempore: -- mr. dreier: revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dreier: madam speaker, let me thank my friend from miami, my rules committee seatmate for his very thoughtful remarks. and it was listening to him that led me come to the floor. he opened his remarks, madam speaker, by referring to the commitment that president obama made that if we were to pass the $1 trillion stimulus bill that the unemployment rate would not exceed 8%, and he very thoughtfully reminded me, mr. diaz-balart that is, in his statement that unfortunately we have an unemployment rate that is hovering around 10%. and as my friend from california regularly shares with us in the rules committee and here on the house floor, the unemployment in his congressional district in some areas exceeds 20%. and it's a very sad and tragic
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thing that we deal in our state of california, a statewide unemployment rate of 12.2%, the unemployment rate in some of the areas that i represent, 14.4%, and as i said, mr. cardoza has very tragically an unemployment rate that is in excess of 20%. and the course we continue to hear stories of people losing their homes, people losing their businesses. and we know how tough this is. we know how horrible the situation is for families. . and that's why i believe we should focus our attention on the best possible description for job creation and economic growth. one of the things we found, madam speaker, is the trillion dollars stimulus bill was not only not the answer, but we were promised the unemployment
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rate would exceed 8%, it's hovering about two points above that, we know that it not only has not been the answer to the problem, but i think every shred of evidence we have is that has exacerbated the problem. why? because it gets back to the remarks mr. diaz-balart just shared with us about the level of federal spending. as we look at the problems that are out there, job creation and economic growth, it's critical. but i continue to hear overwhelmingly from my constituents and from people with whom i speak across this country that the fact that we have seen now in the first 14 months of this administration an increase in the federal debt that is larger than the increase in the debt that everyone on both sides of the aisle decried during the entire eight years of the bush administration, is a sad commentary.
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let me repeat that, madam speaker. we have seen in the first 14 months of this administration an increase in the national debt that is larger than the entire increase in the debt during the eight years of the bush administration. now, the byproduct of that is an article that just appeared on march 22 in bloomberg. it points to the fact that there is less confidence in the bond market for the federal government than there is for private sector companies like berkshire hathaway, the lowe's company, and others. meaning that as we look at what has always been seen not only in the united states but around the world as the most stable and confident investment that people can look to, the most stable investment is now
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developing yields that are below those of private sector companies. there is less confidence in the future of the federal government. and there is a very simple reason for that. it is that we have seen this constant increase, an exaser bation of our deficit and our -- exaser bation of our deficit and debt. that's why everything we can do to rein that in needs to be our priority. what is it that happened? an hour ago the president of the united states signed a $1.2 trillion, what will be ultimately a $1. trillion bill to deal with -- $1.2 trillion bill to deal with the issue of health care. we all know that having every american have access to quality health insurance is an extraordinarily high priority for people on both sides of the aisle. as we look at some of the details of what this legislation that will end up, because of the doc fix, which
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everyone says will be included in that, totaling $1.2 trillion , we have gotten to a point where we will see the hiring of reportedly 18,000 new internal revenue service agents who are going to be through what will look like a new 1099 form that the provider of that insurance policy and the american citizen will have to ensure there is compliance with this new mandate, a dictate from the federal government that is going to be imposed on every american. and so as we look at dealing with this problem and everyone decries government spending, we just an hour ago saw a humongous new cost burden imposed on the american taxpayer. my friend from california, madam speaker, has just said that -- he did it in the rules committee yesterday, talked about the fact that he liked the notion of cutting the capital gains rate.
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and he was supportive of the general thrust of what mr. reichert was trying to do. mr. sessions offered that amendment up in the rules committee, he did say he was concerned about the fact that it's not paid for. i just listened to the remarks. it was not paid for. and, madam speaker, i think it's really important for us to look at this issue of paid for. now, i have stood in this well for a long period of time, frankly since i first got here, and talked about -- because i came here with ronald reagan, to talk about the bipartisan approach that needs to be taken towards getting our economy back on track. steve forbes in his great new book entitled "how capitalism will save us" refers to real world economics. we have to look at reality here. it is a pipe dream for people to believe that somehow if you reduce the top rate on capital gains that it's going to be a huge burden to the federal government when every shred of evidence that we have is that
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not only, not only will that kind of tax incentive be paid for, it will dramatically increase the revenues to the federal government. the best example, i don't think i need to appeal to our side of the aisle by pointing to ronald reagan, as i look to the other side of the aisle, i would appeal by making the argument that this is exactly what president john f. kennedy, one of our nation's greatest presidents, a democrat, did in 1961. madam speaker, what he did was he brought about broad congressional record -- across-the-board marginal tax rate reduction, including a large reduction of the capital gains tax rate. my friend says this need to be paid for. madam speaker,, madam speaker not only was the kennedy capital gains rate reduction paid for, it led to a doubling,
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a doubling of the flow of revenues to the federal treasury. similar, that's why i like to talk about this as a bipartisan proposal, in 1981 ronald reagan did the exact same thing. we saw across-the-board marginal rate reduction and at the same time we saw a reduction of the capital gains rate. what happened, madam speaker? not only, not only did that marginal rate reduction and capital gains reduction pay for itself, it actually doubled the flow of revenues to the federal treasury during the decade of the 1980's. now, we know that there are those who say that the tax reductions that we saw in the early part of this decade, the decade that we just have gone through, responsible for the
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increase in deficit that is we had. completely forgetting the fact that we had to see huge increases in spending on national defense, on veterans benefits, on homeland security. things that came about because of the tragedy of september 11 of 2001. we also have seen other increases in spending, but, madam speaker, we could have done better when the republicans were in the majority. i am the first to admit that. but if you look at the facts, again, as i said just a few moments ago, that the $2 trillion increase in the national debt that's taken place over the last 14 months is larger than the entire increase in the debt that took place during the eight years of the bush presidency. so that's why i think that what we need to do is take this bipartisan approach and since my friend from california, the manager of this rule here on
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the house floor, has argued that we should bring about capital gains reduction, but he says he wants it to be paid for, we need to look at the fact that that kind of reduction not only pays for itself, but will help us deal with the tremendous debt burden that we face today. and again the cost of that increased debt burden is hurting the united states of america in this country and in international markets around the world. that's what we need to do. not looking at a hodgepodge of ideas trying to pick out what incentive here for one part of the economy or another, we need to let real world economics actually be applied here. unfortunately we haven't been and this bill does not do that at all. i thank my friend for yielding and yield back the balance of my time.
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the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. cardoza: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, it never ceases to amaze me how the republicans use selective memory when they talk about american economic policy. on the very day that president obama was inaugurated into office, he came in with a $1.3 trillion bush hangover in a debt for that year. i will not yield, mr. dreier. madam speaker, the prescription that we are offering today reduces the national debt by closing foreign tax loopholes. there is plenty of things that we can do to start closing the tax cuts and loopholes that shouldn't be in the tax law to pay for tax cuts for honorable americans. i do support reducing capital gains fees. i think we can do that, but they need to be paid for. we put those pay-go rules in
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place in the mid 1990's and we left, the last time we had the white house, with a $5.4 trillion projected surplus. and in eight short years we saw that turned around to what we have been left with, the mess we have been left with now. that's not mr. obama's fault. that's not the democratic party's fault. this bill will reduce the deficit by $2.6 billion. we are paying for our tax cuts. we are going to stimulate the economy. we are going to rebuild america with investment bonds. and we are going to reduce the national debt. that's the way you do american and economic policy that works, madam speaker. i'd now like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from indiana, a tireless supporter of american and small business a. leading advocate for fixing the flawed i.r.s. penalty on transactions, mr. donnelly from
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indiana. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized for two minutes. mr. donnelly: thank you, madam speaker. today i rise in support of the rule for h.r. 4849, the small business and infrastructure jobs act. because it provides crucial tax breaks to america's small businesses and will fix an i.r.s. penalty that is unintentionally threatening to bankrupt small business owners at a time when we badly need their contributions to economic recovery. madam speaker, a lot of my colleagues in the house may be unaffair of the unintended consequences of section 6707-a of the internal revenue code. designed to crack down on large corporate tax cheats, this law has too frequently had the unintended effect of levying huge mandatory penalties on small business owners who make simple mistakes. two years ago i learned that a small business owner who employs four people in my district was assessed $600,000
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in mandatory penalties for unintentionally failing to notify the i.r.s. that he had purchased a type of insurance policy that resulted in a total tax savings of only $38,000. over two years. this hoosier business owner was not trying to avoid paying taxes, and he has repaid his back taxes. however the flawed law requires the i.r.s. to enforce these massive penalties even if the result would mean instant bankruptcy for civil filing error. so, madam speaker, we support the rule for h.r. 4849, and i urge my colleagues to vote yes on the rule and yes on the passage of the bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: i yield an additional minute to mr. dreier. mr. dreier: thank you, madam speaker. i would like to engage in a discussion if i might to my friend from california. he didn't want to yield to me but i'm happy to yield to him and i look forward to that to say that the $1. trillion --
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$1.3 trillion deficit that was increased -- inherited by president obama on the day he came into office has actually been dramatically eclipsed by, as i said, the $2 trillion increase that we have seen in the debt take place, and i want to also argue that i'm not pointing the finger of blame at the democratic party. when president bush came into office we had just seen the bubble burst and he inherited an economy that was actually on a downward slope at that juncture. so there's plenty of finger pointing that can go around. it is. my friends from california, did the bubble not burst? i'm happy to yield to my friend. mr. cardoza: the bubble burst when mr. bush got to office. mr. dreier: madam speaker, if i may reclaim my time. the election was held in 2000. the election was november of 2000. that bubble burst in 1999. .e3
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i'd love to have my friend -- the speaker pro tempore: additional minute. mr. dreier: i'm also happy to engage with my friend. mr. cardoza: i'd be happy to talk -- mr. dreier: i control the time. i'll yield to my friend. mr. cardoza: i'll yield in my own time so i won't be cut off. mr. dreier: simply putting forth things about finging pointing and all when i'm trying to in a bipartisan way a vision that was put forth by j.f. kennedy and ronald reagan saying we have issues that we need to address together. i yield to my friend. mr. cardoza: i have time i tried to answer him he's cut me off. i'll answer in my own time. mr. dreier: i'm happy to further yield to my friend. mr. cardoza: mr. dreier, you can yield until hell freezes over. i'll answer in my own time.
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the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. cardoza: thank you, madam speaker. when mr. clinton left office, he left the next administration a budget surplus for the year that mr. bush took office. and a projection for $5.6 trillion in surpluses. that balance was squandered by mr. bush and the republicans in congress at that time. and we got left with an aftermath where we had to bail out the banks, where we had to bail out the economy. mr. obama was left with a $1.6 trillion deficit on the day he took office. those are undisputable facts. and i am proud to stand on the democratic record on economic policy and i'm proud to stand on this bill where we're going to reduce the deficit while rebuilding america and cutting taxes for taxpayers that live in the united states and not for foreign corporations. i'll take that record to the bank every single day, madam speaker. madam speaker, at this point
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i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas -- the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for two minutes. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the distinguished gentleman from texas and i thank his good friend from florida for managing this bill and their leadership on these issues as well as the ways and means committee. just a few minutes ago the president of the united states signed a health care bill that many thought would not pass, that will save us $1.3 trillion over the next decade. today we come to the floor and address the concerns of many americans representing to america that this majority is both sensitive and able to address issues that are hurting the american people and the american economy. this bill does just that.
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and i'm very pleased to rise to support legislation that addresses the question of providing incentives for small businesses to hire people and to give them an incentive to do so. i'm very pleased that we will have the opportunity in our local jurisdictions to rebuild and to issue bonds dealing with bonds and sewage. the fact i was a former houston councilmember, i know where sometimes the rubber hits the road, to allow state and local governments to be able to save money through the alternative minimum tax, to be able to allow low-income housing, to take money over low-income tax credits to hopefully use it effectively. i want to join with the chairwoman of the congressional black caucus as i thank this legislation for having the extension of the emergency fund on tanf. that means my state of texas can actually have provisions that will allow people to be hired for one year.
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even a conservative policy person, kevin hasett, said given the state of the labor market, it's hard to imagine how any sensible person could oppose extending the emergency fund. let's see how this congress votes on this rule. i am supporting this rule because not only have we extended and provided health care for 32 million americans, we're now addressing the question of jobs, jobs, jobs for america. this bill will help our small businesses, our local municipalities and the people who have been chronically unemployed. it's time to pass this rule and to pass this bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i'd ask my friend in addition to himself if he has any additional speakers. mr. cardoza: i do. i believe i have two additional speakers. mr. diaz-balart: i reserve at this time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. cardoza: thank you, madam speaker. at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from
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new york, mr. rangel. the speaker pro tempore: the distinguished gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. mr. rangel: i thank the gentleman and the speaker. i rise in support of this rule because it will give the american people an opportunity to ease some of the pain that's been caused to millions of people because of this recession. having a job means more than just income and coverage of health insurance. it means the dignity and the pride in knowing that you are taking care of your family, being able to pay your mortgage, your rent, keeping the kids' tuition for school. and this type of legislation that the ways and means committee was able to put together provides incentives for people to invest in small businesses where 80% of our jobs are created. it allows for recovery bonds and tanf, to allow governors
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and mayors to invest in infrastructure and determine just where the work is needed. this is a dignity that really is a quality that caused america to be as great as she is. putting america back to work is what the majority's all about, and i cannot per receive that we cannot have bipartisan -- perceive that we cannot have bipartisan support on issues that build a better america, a healthier america, an educated america and a working america. that is how we'll maintain our competitive edge throughout the world, and we have to do this just not as democrats but we have to do this in a bipartisan way. the governors want this, the mayors want this, and our communities demand it. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida continues to reserve. the gentleman from california. mr. cardoza: thank you, madam speaker. i'd like to inquire how much time is remaining on both sides . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california has 9
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1/2 minutes. the gentleman from florida has 6 1/2 minutes. mr. cardoza: thank you, madam speaker. at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, a member of the committee on ways and means, mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. doggett: for eight years our republican colleagues told us that we could borrow our way to greatness. they told us that our -- that their tax cuts would pay for themselves. and then after they drove our country into an economic ditch, some of their own economic experts indicated that in fact none of those tax cuts had paid for themselves. they'd only driven us deeper into debt. and then as the gentleman from california, mr. cardoza, has ablely explained, we came forward with a number of proposals that were designed to try to get our economy moving again and they have worked. but we've also came forward with a commitment to fiscal responsibility that we would pay as we go. and that is precisely what we have just done this past sunday
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with the approval of the health care legislation. not only paid for it but adopted a proposal that would actually result in many billions of dollars, over $1 trillion in the second decade of deficit reduction as a result of our plan. that brings us to today, recognizing that small business is the economic engine of our country. we come forward with some specific proposals designed to encourage more economic growth, but we don't do it the old-fashioned republican way of borrowing all the money to do it. we pay for every dime in this bill, and therein lies their complaint. they like the benefits that goes out, they just don't want to pay for any of them. they come forward today and their principled complaint is a provision in this bill that deals with tax shopping. who does it affect? it doesn't affect any company
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that is headquartered in america. it doesn't affect any foreign corporation that has a subsidiary here if they are in one of the many jurisdictions around the world that have a tax treaty, a tax treaty designed to protect american companies from being double taxed. it doesn't affect them. even china has a tax treaty. in fact, over 90% of the foreign investment in this country comes from tax treaty companies. the -- may i have an additional minute? mr. cardoza: the gentleman is yielded an additional 30 seconds. mr. doggett: the only people it effects is those that go to nontax treaty companies, mainly tax havens, those who have avoided paying for their fair share and foreign-owned corporations. and those foreign-owned corporations now have a voice in addition to their lobbyists in this congress and it's the republican party. they are defending those companies that have not paid their fair share and will not
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approve using resources drawn from them that they have not paid fairly in order to support our small american businesses. i urge approval of the rule and rejection of the argument that these foreign businesses ought not to have to play by the same rules as american companies. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: madam speaker, what i attempted to point out is that we disagree when foreign companies hire workers in the united states. we disagree with raising their taxes. we think it's a good idea for foreign companies to be encouraged to hire workers in the united states. and what this bill is doing is exactly the opposite. i'd reserve our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. cardoza: yes, madam speaker. i say in response to the gentleman from florida, we welcome investment in this country. we welcome it with a treaty. we welcome it when they pay our
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taxes and don't try to cheat american workers. madam speaker, at this time i yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from california, ms. lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for three minutes. ms. lee: thank you, madam speaker. i'd like to thank my colleague for yielding and for his tremendous leadership on this bill. i rise in support of the rule and, of course, of the bill, h.r. 4849, the small business and fracks jobs tax act of 2010. i want to especially thank speaker pelosi, chairman levin, chairman rangel, chairman mcdermott and the staff of the ways and means committee and our staff for working with my colleagues in the congressional black caucus to ensure that this legislation targets those hardest hit by the recession. the members of the congressional black caucus has been laser focused on stimulating our economy and creating jobs, especially for the chronically unemployed. as my colleagues know, we are in the midst of a five-week campaign launched at the beginning of this month to seek
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policy solutions for the chronically unemployed. we are working together with president obama, speaker pelosi, mr. -- our senate majority leader reid and all of our leadership and members of congress and our coalition partners on a strategy to put america back to work. one of the key components of our proposed jobs package was to seek an extension of tanf emergency contingency fund for one year with an appropriation of $2.5 billion. this valuable program was originally authorized in the american recovery and relief acts of -- for a total of $5 billion to help tanf related expenditures, including basic assistance, nonrecurring, short-term benefits. put simply, the tanf fund allows states to leverage federal dollars to subsidize private company wages by providing states with an 85% reimbursement rate for their increased tanf expenditures in these categories. now, back in december we
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communicated with president obama and our speaker and raised the importance of extending the tanf emergency contingency fund. earlier this month, chairman mcdermott held a meeting will be his committee. this was another important moment that reinforced the congressional black caucus' call for an extension and helped generate the momentum we needed to move this important provision forward. i was also pleased of having the opportunity to be before this rules committee yesterday and testify with chairman levin in support of the manager's amendment and the tanf extension. in addition to the extension, the manager's amendment also allows tanf money to be used for subsidized jobs for people who have run out of unemployment insurance benefits. ultimately, the tanf emergency contingency fund will create jobs by helping businesses hire, manage and train new employees by paying part of
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wages and their costs. as the chair of the congressional black caucus, i am pleased that we could move this critical bill forward. taken together, this provision and the bill overall is another important step towards spurring economic growth and creating jobs. particularly for the chronically unemployed. business tax cuts alone won't work. we have a sustained -- may i have an additional 15 seconds? thank you very much. the congressional black caucus has a very sustained and focused effort to create jobs and economic opportunities, and this is the one step forward in our efforts. i yield the balance of my time and once again thank you for the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: i'd ask my friends if he has any more speakers besides himself. mr. cardoza: madam speaker, i am the final remaining speaker on my side of the aisle. mr. diaz-balart: madam speaker, i think it's important to keep in mind the seriousness of the
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fiscal situation the nation's facing. . for the current fiscal year, president obama submitted a $3.5 -- i'm sorry $3.6 trillion budget. remember a trillion is a million millions. that's a lot of money. $3.6 trillion budget. but our revenues, the revenues of the federal government total $2.4 trillion. for this -- for the following fiscal year the president submitted a $3.8 trillion budget, but our revenues, the federal government's revenues, are $2.6 trillion. that situation's not sustainable.
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that's why we are facing a situation that was alluded to earlier by mr. dreier that our triple-a rating, bond rating is at risk already. obviously there are few issues that are more serious than the ones we are discussing today. madam speaker, i will be asking for a no vote on the previous question. so that we can amend this rule and allow a vote on the ranking member, mr. camp's, substitute amendment to the bill. the camp substitute would provide a meaningful tax benefit for small businesses that would, unlike the majority's bill, create new jobs. small businesses employ about half of all private sector jobs, and they have created nearly 80% of the new jobs in the nation in recent years. they are the engine of economic
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growth and job creation in the nation, and they must be the key to our economic recovery. it's unfortunate that the majority on the rule committee blocked mr. camp, despite the tradition of allowing ways and means bills a substitute amendment. the rules committee blocked mr. camp from offering his amendment. obviously there are always exceptions to tradition and precedent. in this case the exception is this majority, the majority that continually blocks members from both parties from offering amendments to all legislation. i urge my colleagues to return to regular order and allow mr. camp to offer his substitute amendment and vote no on the previous question now so that we can have a full and open debate on the rt minority substitute. madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment and stroorls immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
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and -- extraneous materials immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. cardoza: thank you, madam speaker. i'm proud today to stand here advocating for a stimulative tax cut to small business that is not only going to be good for the economy but is paid for. and reduces the national debt. madam speaker, the bottom line is that this commonsense legislation will invest in infrastructure, it will invest in our budding entrepreneurs, it will help give countless of unemployed americans back on the job, back on company payrolls, and continue to give a much needed jolt to the american economy. i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this american jobs bill on the floor today. i urge a yes vote on the rule and on the previous question. i yield back the balance of my
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time. and i move the previous question on the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. mr. diaz-balart: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: we request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 -- pursuant to clause 8 and clause 9 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on ordering the previous question on house resolution 1205 will be followed by five-minute votes on adoption of house resolution 1205 and on suspend the rules and passing house joint resolution 80. this will be a 15-minute vote. v @
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the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 240. the nays are 179. the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the resolution is adopted. mr. diaz-balart: mr. speaker, request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the
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gentleman is recognized. the house will be in order. mr. diaz-balart: i didn't hear if you call -- we are requesting the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic deviduhu h#h ( s)s
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the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 233. the nays are 187. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the resolution is adopted. the unfinished business is the question on suspend the rules and passing house resolution 80, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: house joint resolution 80. the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. the clerk: house joint resolution 80, joint resolution recognizing and honoring the blinded veterans association on its 65th anniversary of
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representing blinded veterans and their families. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the joint resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules -- mrs. halvorson: i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote has been requested. those favoring a recorded vote, please rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote. -- recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning the nati )u $,hd6apaptt)si! !t$v
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