mr. neal from massachusetts, be allowed to control the time for our side. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. neal: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. neal: madam speaker, i rise in support of the debt limit legislation we are considering today, and i want to thank mr. rangel for his hard work on the bill in the waning days of the congress in this first session. let me talk about what this bill does. this bill is simply about continuing operations for the federal government. that's the title of the legislation. continuing operations means getting the social security checks out on time, an almost sacred duty that we have. this means providing support for our troops and keeping our museums and our parks open. that is what an increase in the debt limit will allow. simply stated, this is about bills that have already been incurred. n

mr. neal: mr. speaker, we're trying to just assess how much time is here if you could give me just a second. mr. speaker, i'd like to recognize the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for three minutes. mr. levin: i think it's important that we look at the facts here, the gentleman from texas and others who have raised issues on real estate. and these are the figures that's been compiled by our staff based on i.r.s. data. less than 10% of all of the income earned in real estate construction and development is earned by partnerships that might be involved here. at less than 5% of all wages earned by employees in real estate construction and real estate development are earned by employees or partnerships. 9% of the wages in real estate construction is earned by c corporations or s corporations. let me just say in terms of corporations who are involved in real estate when they give stock options, when those are exerc

mr. nealf massachusetts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. neal: i believe this issue should be taken up in the context of tax reform which the ways and means committee of the house should revisit next year. but it is what it is. the most important reminder here today for all of us is this -- this is not the house of lords. this is not about peerage. this is not about in america being born to any class or any race that offers superiority. this is not permanent wealth. this is not the argument that because of your last name, that you ought to be entitled to a special privilege in what is the most egalitarian society that the world has known. but the truth is that the extension that we're offering today takes us on the path to reform. and that's where i hope we end up. we need the certainty as to estate tax rules comian 1. -- come january 1. if we let the current rules expire there will be a step up in basis, this pits the super rich against the moderately rich, which is