Transcripts For CSPAN Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20151218

Teachers, their police officers, firefighters and others. And yet with all that was done, all the acts of cow mission with agreement, ionplus we couldnt help the people of puerto rico by simply putting them in the same place to restructuring provisions in a manner that would give them the opportunity without a single cent of taxpayer expense to be in a better place . People of puerto rico participate in the military, die in foreign conflicts of the United States of america at a rate higher than those in the 50 states, yet theyre compensated from a medicaid reimbursement andpoint around 40 or 50 less. We dont have time to go through how policy set here in the United States congress has devastated the people of puerto rico economically for the last few decades. But it does seem to me we can find some way to deal with this issue. We found a way to give away billions and billions of dollars to Big Oil Companies as it relates to lifting the prohibition on the export of crude oil. But we couldnt find a way to help the hardworking people of puerto rico. Shame on us here in the United States congress. Now lastly, its my understanding that the speaker who i take to be a man of his word, said we are going to deal with this issue in the next 90 days. Heres the problem. On january 1, theres a significant amount of money that puerto rico owes that it cannot pay. And so the island cant wait until march 31 for the congress to try to work this out. The promissory note is not good enough. And as an africanamerican member of congress im reminded of a speech that dr. King gave in 1963 right outside these halls on the national mall. He talked about the fact that the magnificent words of the constitution and declaration of independence was a glorious promissory note. We hold these truths torn selfevident and all men are created equal endowed by their creator the ability to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But that century after century and decade after decade, that promise other note was handed over to the Africanamerican Community as a stamp, insufficient funds. I cant with any degree of confidence suggest that we can credibly say to the people of puerto rico and to those individuals of puerto rican december ept that i represent back home in brooklyn and queens that this socalled promissory note issued is going to take any action 90plus days. I hope there is a measure of resolution before we ultimately vote on this omnibus bill to deal in good faith with the people of puerto rico, United States citizens, who deserve our attention. And i yield back. And i thank the distinguished gentlelady for this time. Mrs. Watson coleman will my colleague yield for a question . You spoke about the impact of the omission of puerto rico in the omnibus bill and what it does to the territory of puerto rico and the citizens that are there. My colleague has spoken eloquently as to the proportionality question in this omnibus bill in general that would not only negatively impact puerto rico, but puerto rican and other citizens here in the United States of america. Whole communities, workingclass families. And would my colleague just use a little bit of his time to talk about that issue of fairness and proportionality that i heard you so eloquently speak. Mr. Jeffries thank you. The big question that we face here earlier today, we voted on 600plusender package, billion dollars. None of it was paid for at least as it relates to what was done today. But i think reasonable people understand that because making a se tax breaks permanent in way where they were not paid for ultimately is going to blow a tremendous hole in the deficit and that as we move forward, the people who will pay for the tax cuts that were passed out of this house earlier today hundreds of billions of dollars, notwithstanding the earned income tax credit and the child care tax credit that of course many of us support, the people who will pay for it will be the poor, the sick, the afflicted, working families, those who need assistance and so in good conditions there is no way i could support the tax extender package and go back home and say we just did a good thing. As it relates to the omnibus, we all have to ask the question, if the plusup is somewhere in the neighborhood of 32 billion in additional spending, yet we understand in the tax extender package, hundreds of billions of llars were unpaid for over a 10year period and ultimately someone is going to pay the price for that, thats one of the reasons we got Something Like sequestration, we got jammed as a result of tax cuts , at were not paid for in 2001 a failed war in iraq, a failed war in afghanistan, none of that was paid for and ultimately we find ourselves in fiscal difficulty. Who pays . The most vulnerable in america. Thats how we got sequestration. Im not convinced were not going to find ourselveses in a similar situation Going Forward as a result of what was tone with this tax extender package today. Im in the process of continuing to review the omnibus bill and trying to weigh and balance the equities. I will tell you, though, that the failure to do something anywhere people of puerto rico is greatly troubling. Because it doesnt cost the taxpayers anything. And the fact that some of the programs of importance to urban america, whether thats historically black colleges and universities, may not have received the resources some of us think they deserve and got concerns as it relates to some of the foreclosure prevention issues and some other areas, were all going to have to take a look at the equities, but it is clear that we should be able to do much better. For the American People, for those that weve come to the congress to represent, for those who have disproportionately born the burden of reckless and irresponsible fiscal policies over the past decade or so, and lets just hope that we can proceed to do things differently in a way that benefits those we represent here in america. So i thank the distinguished gentlelady for her opportunities to speak further on this issue and also want to acknowledge my good friend, Keith Ellison who is a tremendous champion for working families across the country. Mrs. Watson coleman thank you, i appreciate that. Thank you to my colleague and friend, i appreciate your perspective from the proportionality issue. Whos going to pay . Were going to pay. Who is going to pay when the bill comes due . It is the working famries and most vulnerable. Lets not get so excited about the 30 billion increase when we realize weve been under sequestration, for what does that mean . I thank you very much for sharing your time with us. Now, mr. Speaker, id like to yield to my colleague from minnesota, congressman ellison. Mr. Ellison let me thank the gentlelady. I just want to say, youve done an awesome job holding down the progress i special order hour. Its been to the benefit of everyone who listens. So Bonnie Watson coleman, thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, its important for all of us involved in this debate and every american to understand a concept known as starve the beast. Its a conservative concept and what it really means, and i would like everybody just to be clear, what it means is that the conservative wing in our country wants to shrink the size of government where a Big Multinational Oil company will never have to worry about an e. P. A. Regulator because the government will have so little money, they wont have an e. P. A. Regulator. The starve the beast concept means that a big bank wont ever have to worry about a Bank Regulator saying, hey, mr. Banker, you cannot do that with the American Peoples money, you have to be fair, you have to be proper and right with the peoples money, because well shrink the government to be so small and so weak that there wont ever be that regulator who will say to the big banks, you cannot do that. Starve the beast means that the largest private sector elements in our country cannest tape accountability that the government provides through the people who inspect the water, the people who inspect the meat, the people who inspect the air quality the people who inspect these things. And when the Public Interest runs afoul of the private gain, the private gain will prevail because the public wont have the wherewithal and resources to say, no, or you have to readjust this, or you have to operate at a higher standard of quality or anything like that. How do you get this starve the beast strategy in play . E thing you do is you have unpaid for tax cuts and you get these tax cuts in place, theyre all good you say, isnt this great, dont you want to stop paying taxs . Who likes paying taxes . Nobody. So people say, ok, good, were going to get out of having to pay taxes, how nice. But then you dont pay for them. But then what happens to the budget . Youve got a big hole in the budget because the revenue you were counting on is not there. Now, then, you use the Public Relations to say that raising taxes is just the worst thing anyone could ever do at any time in their life. They say this three letter word of tax, its really a four letter word, ill let your imagination go from there. Then, because they have been raising they made raising revenue utterly radioactive, all we can do is cut. So what do we do . We cut Education Funding. We cut meals on wheels. We cut National Institute of health. We cut, we cut, we cut. All this stuff that ordinary citizens relie on. Until we get to the next round of tax cuts. By the way, when it comes to tax cuts and conservatives, if the economy is doing really well they need a tax cut. If its doing really bad, of course the solution to that is what . A tax cut. And if were just doing average, well, why not have a tax cut. Almost always unpaid for. And if you look at it over time, theres this pattern of irresponsible tax cuts, deficits, cuts to fix it, more tax cuts, deficits, more cuts to fix it, never do we raise the revenue we need in order to meet the needs of our society. Who gets hurt . Not the country club set. People who need their government to function on their behalf. People who drink water every day. Who need some inspection of it. People who eat like to breathe clean air. People who might want to eat some meat thats been inspected. People who might, suffering from a serious disease like alzheimers or parkinsons, who might need the National Institute of health to put forth a grant which will help. And so what does that all have to do with this discussion . Today, we just passed a bill that gave 600 billion worth of unpaid for tax cuts and made them permanent. We created a structural deficit even worse. Now, are they going to now theyre going to give it back a little bit, a little bit. We give away 600 billion. They give us 30 billion. Voila, were supposed to be happy about that. Theres a concept also known as stockholm syndrome. They cut your captor holds you in control and you and then they, after theyve held you a little while they give you a few little chips. Then they make you think when they give you even a little drop of water, that theyre so benevolent. I will never forget that we never should have had sequester in the first place. We never should have had sequester. We had a hostage taking situation here where republicans were literally threatening to default and renege on the full faith and credit of the United States by not by busting the debt ceiling. If we did not give them back all kinds of cuts and concessions, they would bust the debt ceiling. So then we entered into this deal where we had some cuts in the beginning and then with they did is, they said, were going to set up a special committee three republicans in the house, three republicans in the senate, three republicans in the three democrats in the house, three democrats in the senate. This committee was supposed to come up with some cuts, targeted cuts to reduce the deficit. Which they said then was the worst thing in the world to ever have a deficit. And then they got in that committee and instead of holding their pledge to protect and defend the United States, they upheld their pledge to not raise taxes to serb political figures in our landscape. The whole committee failed and this was contemplated that if this committee cannot come up with targeted cuts, then there will be across the board cuts on both sides, also known as sequester. You know what . That Committee Really never had a chance. I wish we would have known then that that committee was always a sucker deal. Because they were clicking clinking the champagne glasses when that committee fail. They knew it was going to be across the brd cuts. They said, its going to be domestic discretionary, which you liberals like, and theres going to be cuts to the military which u. S. Conservatives like, which is a gross overgeneralization and not exactly accurate, but what we never accounted for is that in 2001, the u. S. Military budget was already was about 290 billion. By the time we got to sequester, it was about 700 billion. They could stand some cuts but the programs that the average citizen needed that were going to be ravaged could not. So you know, no sooner than the sequester went into effect, we had people say, we cant do these military cuts, cant happen, wont happen. They had their friends and advocates even though theyve been getting fats for years. What about meals on wheels and Education Funding and Environmental Protection . That was attacked. So what does that mean about today . What it means about today is this. Things een more tax given away, i definitely think some of the things made permanent today are good tax treatments treatments. Im for research and development. Im certainly for child credit and eitc. But they should be paid for because if theyre not paid for theyre going to come out of another part of the budget next year. Tax d by the way, how come doesnt have to be paid for but anything regular people need must be paid for. Why do we have to find offsets for Unemployment Insurance but not things big business needs. Utter hypocrisy. I want to tell you, for the folks listening, that there is a very important thing that Speaker John Boehner said when the republicans took over a few years ago. He they came up with this big, ugly budget, to cut things americans relie on to prosper and grow and they said, we wouldnt pass their house file one system of mr. Boehner, Speaker Boehner said, if they wont take it one big leif loaf at a time, theyll take it one slice at a time. Boy if that promise is not being kept. We have to turn around and say no to this starve the beast philosophy. We have to turn it around and start meeting the needs of the American People. Taxes are the price we pay to live in a civilized society. If you dont like taxes, move to so mall ark you wont have to pay any. Good luck. But in america, where we pay some taxes that pays for schools that pays for clean water, pays for highways, pays for police, pays for fire, weve got to stop and stand against this false claim that there is something wrong with taxation. Let me just wrap up on one point. The gentlelady, i know we have to move on, we have other great speakers i want to hear from myself, but i want to make one quick comment as i listen to my colleagues and prepare to take my seat and that is one of the things well be dealing with tomorrow. Now you know, we talk about this tax extender thing and the omnibus as if its two different things. Its one big thing. Thats truth. One of the elements of the omnibus tomorrow which is pretty ugly, is lifting the Oil Export Ban on crude oil. According to the Energy Information administration, lifting the ban will increase oil industry profits by more than 20 billion annually. The Big Companies that make all these extra profits, i think that they have their favorites in the house of representatives and not too many of them sit over here. Probably a lot of them sit over there. I will also say that it will cut refinery jobs, it will make us more dependent upon foreign oil and it will increase more fossil fuel. This is absolutely the wrong thing, the only virtue of it is that a small, tiny, select number of people are going to get 20 billion. And im disgusted by it. By the oil industrys own expectations that this will lead to more than 7,600 wells being drilled each year, more fossil fuel the largest report from the center for American Progress says it will result in an additional 500 metric tons of Carbon Pollution each year, egive lit to 108 million more passenger cars or 138 more coalfired power plants. It will cost jobs in refineries, it will do real damage to americans, but this is on the docket tomorrow. Are there good things on the docket tomorrow . Yes, there are. Ill leave it to other people to decide whether its worth toyota pass a monstrosity like this. So i will say, always know that sometimes when youre in the game, somebody else playing has an overall longterm strategy and if youre just playing minute to minute, you are going to be no match for them. Ection resolution 566. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to House Resolution 566, the question shall be divided among the two house amendments. Pursuant to section 2a of House Resolution 566, the portion of the divided question comprising the amendment specified in section 3b of House Resolution 566 shall be considered first. This portion shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on ways and means. The gentleman from texas, mr. Brady, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. Levin, each will ontrol 30 minutes. The house will be in order. Members will please remove their conversations from the house floor. He house will be in order. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. Mr. Brady mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and tend their remarks on h. R. 2029. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. Mr. Brady mr. Speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady after months of negotiations, im honored today to talk to americans about the protecting americans from tax hikes bill, also known as the path act. The most important thing for the American People to know is that this bill prevents their taxes from increasing, helps create more jobs in their communities and makes it easier for them to do their taxes. It also reins in the i. R. S. And protects taxpayers from waste and fraud within the large tax credit programs administered by the i. R. S. And now id like to take a moment to talk about the six specific ways this bill helps american taxpayers. First the speaker pro tempore the gentleman will suspend. The house is not in order. The house will be in order. He house will be in order. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady thank you. First, this bill provides 629 billion of tax relief to families and businesses that families and businesses can rely on. Its financially responsible because preventing a tax increase is never a cost. Republicans have always worked to stop washington from taking more money from the hardworking americans who earned it. This is not washingtons money. Its the taxpayers. We shouldnt have to raise taxes on some people to prevent taxes on other people from going up. Secondly, by making a number of temporary tax provisions permanent, this will deliver predictability, clarity and certainty for individual taxpayers. As well as people managing businesses and trying to invest for the future. And as we know all too well, how our country manages its tax code makes absolutely no sense. How can families and local businesses count on tax relief each year as long as congress cant decide whats permanent and whats not . That confusion ends with this bill. With this bill in place, americans will no longer have to worry each december if congress will take action to extend certain tax relief measures that theyve come to rely upon, including allowing state and local sales Tax Deductions for families, providing Small Business tax relief and offering incentives, true incentives for innovation, including the research and Development Tax credit. Third, this is a progrowth bill. This will make it easier for employees to plan ahead, hire new workers, grow their businesses and invest in the community. Fourth, americans who are frustrated by Washington Waste will be pleased to know our bill contains strong measures to fight fraud and abuse in these tax credit programs. While these provisions are significant, they are only a down payment on republican efforts to make these tax programs, which are far too prone to error, abuse and waste today more accountable. Fifth, our bill reins in the i. R. S. And protects taxpayers. Delivers the power to fire i. R. S. Employees who take politically motivated actions against taxpayers, require i. R. S. Employees to respect the taxpayer bill of rights and prohibits i. R. S. Employees from using personal email accounts for official business. After witnessing years of abuse at the i. R. S. , we can all agree that these provisions are important taxpayer victories. And finally, this bill serves as a path forward to progrowth tax reform by ensuring that we will no longer have to spend months each year debating temporary tax extensions. Instead, congress can focus on delivering a simpler, fairer and flatter tax code thats built for growth. Im proud of this legislation and grateful for all the members of congress who helped throughout the course of the negotiations. This bill includes literally dozens of provisions drawn from bills, marked up by the ways and Means Committee this past year. Thats a reflection of the regular order that i am committed to extending and expanding next year as the committee digs in on tax reform and other critical measures. Theres a lot in this bill, but those are the key principles. The bottom line is this legislation prevents tax increases, creates more Job Opportunities and makes it easier for americans to do their taxes. Thats a great gift, an overdue gift for american taxpayers and people who want and deserve a stronger u. S. Economy. Mr. Speaker, with that i would reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Levin i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Levin this bill adds 622 billion. 622 billion to the deficit. The vast majority of which is through permanent tax provisions. For those who propose to have the increase in the deficit continue to drive down defense domestic spending, this bill will almost certainly accomplish this. Nondefense Discretionary Spending will fall to its lowest level as a share of the economy since 1962. These cuts seriously threaten programs that assist the middle class. Those striving to reach the middle class. Programs like head start and pell grants and job training and basic health research. For those who want to make tax breaks permanent so they dont have to be offset in a revenue neutral tax reform, this will leave more room to cut taxes for the very wealthy which they say will pay for thellses. For those who want to continue tax cuts that were only intended for a specific period, whose purpose is to ease recovery from the recession and lose effectiveness otherwise, this bill will help do that. R those who want to continue International Tax proposals, often serving as a loophole and helping to move resources overseas, this bill will help do that. The ack the act made permanent in this bill at a cost of 78 billion and the extension of the c. F. C. Lookthrough provision for five years at the cost of 8 billion, which often promotes tax havens should be examined as part of comprehensive tax reform and the sooner the better. This bill is a piecemeal approach to tax reform and it was the opposite of what was done by former chairman dave camp, who kept some provisions, changed some and ended bonus appreciation and paid for his revenueneutral proposals. These must be weighed against the priorities, the Child Tax Credit and the earned income tax credit and the opportunity tax credit. But the longterm negative dangers of this legislation make the price too high. Therefore, i oppose this legislation. And i reserve the balance of our time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from michigan reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady i have asked that the nonpartisan joint committee on taxation make available to the public a technical explanation of protecting americans from tax hikes act of 2015 which the house is considering today. Joint committee has issued that technical explanation as j. C. X. 144 and expresses the ways and Means Committee understanding and legislative intent behind this legislation. It is available on the joint committees website. Mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from louisiana, who leads the tax policy subcommittee for the ways and means. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from louisiana is recognized. I thank the chairman for the fine work they have done. Speaker ryan has talked about restoring confidence in america. Mr. Boustany things we need to do to achieve that is restoring leadership abroad, protecting our American Values and very importantly, restoring american prosperity. And we cant do that until we reform the tax code. That is at the center of all efforts to restore american prosperity through economic growth. What this bill does and i rise in vigorous support of it, it stops the cycle of just extending these provisions without vetting them year after year in the late hours of the year. Its time to stop that and we are doing that. We are making some of these provisions permanent, creating certainty for American Families and businesses at a time of economic uncertainty. This is real tax relief that sets the stage for tax reform. There are a number of important provisions in this. Mr. Paulsen has worked very hard to repeal the medical device tax. We are going to stop the Health Insurance tax for one year, which is causing premium hikes for American Families by some estimates 350 a year for families. This is wrong. R d tax credit made permanent, American Innovation, thats what we want to see to get growth. It has a whole bunch of other provisions that helps Small Businesses and families. We do work very hard to create Program Integrity and Child Tax Credits. I believe this is a very important step forward for tax reform and sets the stage. We have broken the disastrous cycle of kneejerk extensions of these provisions and we vetted a lot of these tax provisions to be made permanent. We have had hearings, markups, taken them to the floor. We are trying to restore restore regular order. This will be seen as a first step in restoring american confidence. Im confident of that. Lets pass this package and move on. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Levin i yield three minutes to the democratic whip. Mr. Hoyer i thank the gentleman for yielding. The last speaker, i have heard that speech in 1981, i heard it in 2001 and heard it in 2003. The certainty of this bill is that we will explode further deficits and provide for disinvestment. Thats the certainty of this bill and i rise in strong opposition to it. This package will raise deficits by approximately 622 billion over the next 10 years and to that, an additional 58 billion in unpaidfor tax provision in the omnibus bill. And when you add to that interest, almost 800 billion in additional debt, mr. And mrs. America. I came to this floor on tuesday and spoke in greater detail about my opposition to this package. I want to highlight again one major issue. And that is how enacting this legislation will set the stage for the next round of painful sequester cuts, otherwise known as disinvestment in growing our economy and jobs. To my colleagues not see the tragic similar met try of this packages almost 800 billion in new deficit and the see questions terse, 813 billion. Republicans will again insist on hundreds of billions of cuts from domestic discretionary investment, i. E. Growing jobs and the economy in order to make up for the budget shortfall incurred by the extension of these tax credits, some of which are made permanent. There are certainly good reasons to make a number of these tax credits and deductions permanent. I support making many of these permanent. But we ought to pay for it in the process as your predecessor did, mr. Camp. It was a tough decision he made, and it was dismissed out of hand, because it was hard to do. This is easy to do. No courage required to vote for this bill. All you have to do is suspend common sense. This legislation flies in the face of the basic budgeting principle which hardworking families all across our nation understand and have to live with every month. The president of the committee for responsible federal budget wrote in the Washington Post last week, and i quote, how do e explain to our children that we board more than 1 trillion, counting interest, not because it was a National Emergency or to make critical investments in the future, but because we just dont like paying our bills. Republicans would answer as they always do, that tax cuts somehow magicically pay for themselves. I have been here 35 years. It has never happened. But we have seen the notion disproven several times over and the results of experimenting with the idea have been higher deficits and a ballooning debt 30 seconds. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for an additional 30 seconds. Hire hire the results have been higher looming debt that fuel republican efforts to disinvest in our future and dismantle medicare, Social Security and safety net programs. Lets not make this same mistake again. We ought not to be we ought to be voting on a straightforward twoyear extension and then commit ourselves to a meaningful tax reform as david camp did. Its tough to do. I understand that. But its the right thing to do. Let us show that we have courage as well as common sense. Defeat this bill. And let us move on to meaningful tax reform and growing our economy. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from nish reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady i introduce one of our key leaders, two minutes to the gentleman from ohio. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from ohio is recognized. Thank you for your leadership d to the previous gentleman, mr. And mrs. America would be stunned to understand that to keep current policy in place, we have to raise taxes to keep tax cuts that have been in place some, for 30 years. Mr. Tiberi the r d tax credit has been around for 30 years and the horrible way we make policy here on a retroactive basis or one year forward and well address it again is changing today. So tom and judy price, farmers in my district, who have been thinking about buying a loader this year can now actually buy one and can actually plan for the next 10 years on how to operate their farm and make investments or that Small Business guy who wants to expense or that person whose r and dmp is so important but they werent sure what we were going to do with the r d tax credit. It has been around for decades, decades. So current policy has been for decades the r d tax credit and yet to make that permanent which is being argued by some on the other side is that we have to raise taxes to pay for this policy, this current policy. No wonder americans shake their heads. This is a good bill. This is an amazing bill. Go talk to your Small Business owners and go talk to the accountant at the ymca who puts together tax filings for people who care about the child tax permanent tax credit, things that have an amazing community, the lowincome tax credit. Section 179 is unbelievable and going to Impact Communities from coast to coast including in my district in ohio and farmers as well. This is going to provide amazing certainty. I have been so pleased to work on a number of my issues and this, ladies and gentlemen, is a wonderful bridge to comprehensive tax reform. Thank you chairman brady. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Levin i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from new york, mr. Rangel. Mr. Rangel i dont know how proud we can be as legislators to say at the end of the year, instead of legislating and having hearings, instead of that, we are proud of the fact that we are negotiating. And 180 billion of tax cuts, and yet we know when we get home nobody in the world is going to think their pockets, jobs, their education is going to be better. What the world should be screaming for is that we have a system based on the tax code that we can depend. Yes, we shouldnt have to extend these every year but we should bring this together so we know whats going on. People have talked about earned income tax credit and im one of the people to go against loopholes and i have tried to get more loopholes in it for poor people to get more justice out of the tax system. But what we are saying is because of the disparity of incomes and people work hard every day, we are going to use the tax code in order to say well give them a refundable tax credit. No. What this is going to do is remove the ability for this great country of ours to have the discretionary funds to do the right thing that is really conditioned on what we call the pursuit of happiness. We should not be using the tax code for social welfare, nor should we be using the tax code in order to have Certain Companies thats going to benefit from it. What we should be doing is reforming the entire tax code so america would know where we are going and where we should be going. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from michigan reserves. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Brady i yield two minutes to a very key member of our committee, the the gentlewoman from kansas is recognized. Two minutes. Ms. Jenkins as i visit with folks at home in kansas, they express their frustration with washington. Uncertainty is the enemy, whether in tax policy, regulatory policy or health policy, folks simply need to know what the rules will be so they can plan accordingly. As a former c. P. A. Who worked in the tax area and a former state treasurer, ive seen firsthand how uncertain tax policies that expire every year negatively impacts our hardworking businesses and families. So im pleased weve secured a tax package that will bring much more certainty to families and businesses across the country fighting to create jobs in our stillstruggling economy. This legislation will help bring us closer to the stable tax policies our economy desperately needs. This bill is another step in the right direction towards a confident america built on our principles and values that hard work should equal success. This legislation will grow our economy, put more money back in the had folks pockets and rein in the i. R. S. With these foundations, we can continue to make strides towards a progrowth agenda that helps businesses succeed, creates more jobs and stimulates the economy. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Levin i now yield one minute to our very distinguished leader, nancy pelosi. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. Ms. Pelosi i thank the gentleman for yielding. Thank him for his leadership for paychecks for americas working families. Mr. Levin, thank you for your leadership. Congratulations, chairman brady, for assuming your new position. We look forward to your success and look forward to working with you. The bill before us today is a very causes for a serious discussion. We in this body have a very big responsibility to make decisions as architects of our childrens future. Architects of our childrens future where we are making decisions that strengthen the middle class and that takes us to our responsibility to be custodians of our democracy. The middle class is the backbone of our democracy, and this legislation undermines the success of the middle class. In terms of children, their education, the Financial Security of their families, the Pension Security of their grandparents, the health of the environment in which they live, all of that is seriously affected by this legislation. But lets put it in perspective. Because this is part of a grand scheme that started after president clinton left office. In his term of office, because of the budget act of 1993, which passed with democratic support, it unleashed a remarkable era of job creation and it took us on a path to deficit reduction. In fact, five of his last five even ere in surplus or in surplus, and that was taking us on a path to reducing not only the deficit of course, it would be eliminated but the national debt. Along came tax cuts for the middle class, and in just a few years, all of the progress in reducing the deficit that occurred during the Clinton Administration were reversed by he bush tax cuts, unpaid for for the wealthiest. And that unpaid for is really what my problem is here today because there are many provisions in this bill that we, democrats, take ownership of and i personally take some personal pride in having worked on. For example, the eitc, the earned income tax credit, the childcare tax credit, those we negotiated with president bush to take them to the place where they are and they are a stimulus. They were debated and passed at the time as part of president bushs stimulus package. When it comes to some of the initiatives, like r d, weve all been talking about modernizing and making permanent the r d tax the research and Development Tax credit, maim them permanent. But the problem make them permanent. But the problem is unpaid for. When we talk about 179, that is a creation that democrats were very much a part of, the initiative to help Small Businesses. We fully subscribe to that, but when we make them permanent and that might be a good idea and they are unpaid for, it also hurts our ability to do something broader in the tax code and take advantage of that opportunity. So low Income Housing tax credits, again, i dont think im second to none except maybe mr. Rangel in this body in my advocacy for this. Its important theyre in this legislation. And they should be permanent but they should my problem with it all is, why are these things this is an engine to nd jobs overseas with the with some of the provisions that are in the legislation. Its like a trojan horse. There are many good things and then all of a sudden you find ut, sudden you find out whats in the belly of them. Bonus depreciation and things like that, people will take advantage of it, we get the boost in our economy and our treasury from that. But heres what it comes down to. Ou go down this path of 600 billionplus of permanent unpaid for tax extenders, largely benefiting corporate america, and say that doesnt have to be paid for oh, but by the way, you want to do 7 billion to honor the work of 9 11 first responders, you have to pay for every penny of it. Find a way to do it by cuts or some other way. So what is it the symmetry in all of this . Tax cuts for businesses to send jobs overseas unpaid for and permanent . 9 11 which is an emergency, would you not agree . If there was be a emergency, it was 9 11 and the costs related to honoring our commitments both in health and compensation should be held up because we didnt kind payfors and now we have and thats good. What really is i question very seriously, what are the costs in the outyears . Its hard to determine, but they are there. And what they are going to do is take such a serious increase the deficit with such seriousness. Our country will have to borrow from the Social Security trust fund to stay afloat. Seriously undermining Social Security. As steny our distinguished whip said, Social Security and medicare and the rest. Seriously affecting this legislation this seriously affects our investments in the education of our children, promotion of growth and the rest of there. So i think and the rest of that. So i think what it comes down to is we support them. We dont care if some of them is permanent. Its the unpaid for part of it thats mortgaging our childrens future, that is threatening Social Security, that undermines our ability to reduce the deficit and reduce the Interest Payments on the national debt. And, again, walking away from what president clinton did so successfully with a very difficult vote, we lost the congress after that because it was a very challenging for that and other reasons, but some members did but they said, i did the right thing. It took us on a path to fiscal soundness. It took us on the path of economic growth. This, of course, was reversed in the bush years. 5. 5 trillion of deficit reduction was 11 trillion reversal. One of the biggest up until that time of a reversal. So, my colleagues, i sympathize with some who say, ive always been for r d tax credits and others who say, well, it has to do with the tax stuff in my state and all that. I appreciate that and i respect your judgment on it, but there is a Bigger Picture here. Nd the Bigger Picture is our responsibility to the future and the chickens will come home to roost on this. We will have to pay. You know whos going to pay . Our children, their families, the Social Security system and the rest. So for that reason i urge my i will not be supporting this, and i join my distinguished whip, mr. Hoyer, in urging our colleagues to vote against it as well. I know it sounds good, but as i say, its a trojan horse and we should not be fooled. With that i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from california yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from michigan reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady mr. Speaker, im pleased to yield two minutes to the house leader of the efforts to stop the medical device tax, the gentleman from michigan, mr. Paulsen. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from minnesota is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Paulsen thank you, mr. Speaker. I thank the chairman for his leadership on this issue. You know, mr. Speaker, members, the United States is the only country in the world that lets important parts of its tax code expire each and every year, and we are changing that here today. This bipartisan tax package prioritizes permanent tax relief for families and businesses so they can keep more of their own money, they can hire new workers and they can invest in new equipment. It also includes the repeal of the medical device tax thats been in place and stops it for the next two years. A tax thats cost our economy jobs and has also reduced innovation. Because of this tax, whats been the result . You know, one Small Business i spoke with said its pretty simple. Instead of having 10 projects ill have six. That means two fewer engineers and two fewer technicians. Another company i spoke to says because its a tax on sales, ot on profit, they testified a 79 effective tax rate they have. 79 . How can anyone justify a 79 effective tax rate . Another company said theyre borrowing money from the bank every single money just to pay the tax and the hopes and risk they will actually become profitable. Of course, a constituent i spoke to, jim, he told a story of losing his job at a medical Device Company he had for 21 years to be laid off. He eventually was rehired but his job paid 40,000 less. His Vacation Time was half and his health cost skyrocketed. Of course, patients are suffering also because we have fewer lifesaving and lifeimproving technologies here developed in the United States. Mr. Speaker, this tax package helps our economy, it gets us back on frack with a progrowth tax code and ill say that our local businesses are really excited about ending the guessing game of sixmonth, oneyear retroactive tax policy and instead giving predictability and certainty so they can invest in their people and their equipment. I ask my colleagues to support this legislation and thank the chairman for his leadership. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from minnesota yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Levin its now my pleasure to yield three minutes to a gentleman from minnesota, mr. Neal. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Neal thank you, mr. Levin. The bill we have before us today is the universal legislators dilemma, the possible versus the perfect. I rise in support of this legislation today. I stand with president obama in support of this legislation today. I rise to prevent 18 million americans, including eight million children, from falling deeper into poverty. I rise to ensure that during this special time of the year, nonprofits will continue their important work to improve the lives of millions of americans through charitable activity. I rise to unleash billions of dollars in Economic Development to rebuild, to rehab, to refurbish our neighborhoods and our communities. I rise to incentivize American Innovation and the millions of jobs that it creates. At this bills core is a modest progrowth jobs bill, one that given the current head windwinds of our economy is sorely needed. I spent the better part of my career in congress as a champion headwinds of our economy is sorely needed. I spent the better part of my career in congress as a champion of the earned income tax credit and expanding it, as a champion of the Child Tax Credit and expanding it, as a champion of the lowIncome Housing credit and expanding it and the expansion of the new markets tax credit program, which my d. N. A. Is clearly on. Taken together, these credits will go a long way toward improving the lives of millions of americans across the country in our typically overlooked communities. This is not the easiest way to accomplish an end. We should be very critical of ourselves now for the backup manner in which we do these undertakings. Voting on 12 legislative Appropriations Bills tomorrow wrapped into one, tax policy that is done in this shape and manner, but i would also Say Something else we need to remind ourselves of, the breakdown of the Committee Structure in congress and what has happened to the procedures we all used to vet controversial legislation. Amendments could be offered and people could speak their minds. So today were taking up issues that should have been vetted over the course of the last three years and a gentle rebuke to my colleagues on the other side, chairman camp had the backbone to put out a decent piece of legislation. Didnt mean we were going to embrace it or endorse it, but it was a courageous act and it was his own side that shot it down. In cambridge, massachusetts, Kendall Square has the highest concentration of research and development in the world. Making any r d tax credit permanent is going to enhance that. I have worked on that credit and worked for a more aggressive r d credit. This is not perfect what we are doing today. Its far from it, but it represents a compromise or as the New York Times called it an acceptable compromise that is necessary to move the country forward and i urge its adoption. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady i yield two minutes to the former leader of our tax policy subcommittee, mr. Reichert. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Reichert thank you, mr. Chairman, for your hard work on this bill. We come back and we are here in washington d. C. And throwing around tax terms like bonus depreciation and research and development and on and on and on. People for the most part dont get all of that talk, but they do understand when we are talking about reducing their taxes and creating an environment where businesses can thrive and reinvest their capital back into their hard work, their Small Businesses, create jobs and sell their products and hire more people. Thats what this bill is about. And just three quick examples of constituencies that im hearing from. One the teachers in Washington State. They really appreciate the fact that there is certainty now that they can deduct the amount of money they spend up to 500 on School Equipment to help our children learn. Every year we go through this exercise or two years, exercise of deciding whether or not we are going to support our teachers. They have certainty. This isnt about big businesses. These are teachers. Two, Small Businesses, scorporations, they can now, with certainty, have access to revenue rather than waiting for 10 years, they can have it in five. They can sell equipment. They can sell that equipment and buy new equipment creating more jobs and three, for Washington State especially, the sales tax is a big deal. The permanency in our ability in Washington State to deduct our sales tax from our federal income tax creates certainty for ery taxpaying citizen in Washington State. This is a big deal. These three small little provisions are big deals for the average american across this country in Washington State and in the 8th district of Washington State that i serve. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Levin i yield two minutes to the gentleman from, two minutes. Mr. Doggett the Nonpartisan Committee for responsible federal budget has said that over two decades, this very bill will add over 2 trillion to the national debt. And for anyone who hides behind poor kids to justify that 2 trillion in debt understand that there is no poor child in america who will get a dime out of this bill next year. Their tax credits do not expire. We avoid another year to resolve that matter. This isnt about poor children. It is about big gifts. Indeed, in the holiday spirit, the biggest bow of all has been put on a special gift for wall street. The Worlds Largest financial institutions, the ones that brought america to its economic knee with the debacle over finances and came forward and got a majority of this congress to vote for a taxpayer bail out and they are getting a reward. They are getting a tax subsidy that is made permanent. It happens to be a tax subsidy that was removed from our tax code originally in a bill that Ronald Reagan signed into law and when it got put back in on a temporary basis, bill clinton sought to veto the provision because it was so unjustified. And christmas, of course, its not cheap. This bill, this gift to wall street costs 78 billion, not paid for, borrowed from the saudis and chinese to give wall street 78 billion, with a b. How much money is that . Well, the same amount about is included in the bill this will be a part of and it funds all the medical research at the National Institutes of health, centers for disease control, head start, all of the education for the disabled and disadvantaged that is provided, all of that combined is 78 billion, but you can be sure that wall street is never disadvantaged in this capitol building. This 78 billion tax subsidy is called the exception and these bankers have been active. They may have been very naughty to the American People and may have been naughty to the merican economy but oh so nice to members of congress. Republicans are helping keep a provision in here that will only lead to shipping jobs overseas and borrowing from overseas to put this burden on the American People. This is the kind of provision that causes americans to be so concerned about their government and a feeling that its run away from them because these provisions are run away our debt and providing the support that we need. I urge the rejection of this pack acknowledge that will do so much harm to our country. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from michigan reserves. Mr. Brady i ask unanimous consent that members may have five legislative days to include extraneous material. I yield to a big fighter who serves on the ways of and mr. Smith. Tee, the speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. U. S. Congress owes the American People better tax policy than we currently have. We have so many temporary provisions that so Many Americans are wondering and trying to predict what the tax policy will be at the end of the year. We should be about establishing permanent tax policy. Mr. Smith i appreciate the bipartisan interest in todays bill because i know a lot of work has gone into this and i know constituents in nebraskas 3rd district can appreciate what permanent tax policy can deliver especially as it sets us on a trajectory to comprehensive tax reform. We hear from both sides we need comprehensive tax reform. I agree. This is a great way to move the ball down the field and end up with better tax policy as a result of this legislation and i urge my colleagues to adopt this legislation. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas reserves. Mr. Levin could i ask how much time is remaining. The speaker pro tempore 15 nf minutes remaining. The gentleman from texas has 15 minutes remaining. Mr. Levin i yield to the gentleman from california. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Thompson i thank the gentleman for yielding and i stand in support for many of the provisions that are in this bill. And i believe that we need to bring nerm nancy to our tax policy. And one of the pieces of this legislation we are debating today is near and dear to my heart. And thats the conservation easement provision which has helped all of our districts a great deal. That, too, needs to be made permanent. But im standing in opposition to the bill the overall bill. Not because its bad policy. A lot of the provisions in this bill are good public policy. We should pass them. We should make them permanent. But sadly this bill is fiscally reckless. We are going to pass this policy and send the nearly 700 billion bill onto the taxpayers of this country. My friend, the gentleman from louisiana, in his comments, said that every piece of legislation in here has had hearings, they have had markups and they have taken these to the floor. He is absolutely correct. We have done everything except make sure this bill is paid for. And that is the responsibility that all of us should take seriously and we should not pass tax expenditures without paying for them. I urge a no vote on the bill. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady im pleased to yield one minute to a champion of state and local sales Tax Deduction, the gentlelady, mrs. Black. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized. I rise in strong support of protecting americans from tax hikes act which includes a permanent extension of the Tax Deduction which is so critical for tennessee. We are proud of one of nine states without an income tax on wages. Taxpayers are able to deduct their state income tax on their federal return and only makes sense that a similar deduction would be made available in states like mine that exercise our right not to pile on additional income tax on our own. As the only member of the ways and Means Committee from the state of tennessee, i was proud to work with chairman brady to ensure the inclusion of this much needed provision in todays bill. Im pleased this legislation combats educational tax fraud, specifically this bill requires an individual claiming the American Opportunity tax credit provide the employer Identification Number of the Educational Institution they are attending. In turn, saving our tax system of 837 million in fraudulent payments. I urge passage. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Levin i now yield to mr. Blumenauer 2 1 2 minutes. The gentleman from oregon is ecognized for 2 1 2 minutes. Mr. Blumenauer i appreciate the gentlemans courtesy. I, too, have been deeply concerned about the longterm trends of our failing to come forward with revenue to pay for americas priorities. I found the bush tax credits a disaster and i have repeatedly brought before my friends in congress proposals to actually fund our priorities. And i look forward to doing so again, either standalone or in kept of comprehensive tax reform. Im prepared, however, today, to support the provisions before us. First of all, i think the costs ought to be put in perspective, because these items are ones that have been routinely approved year in and year out, not particularly paid for, and they are ones that will be approved again. My friend, the distinguished minority whip talked about better to just do two years. Doing it on an ongoing basis as two years, continues to have the same costs but provides uncertainty for people who depend upon it. There are a number of provisions here that we all worked on, wind, solar, new markets, short line, transit party, cyber acts. These are items people deserve to have some clarity moving forward and numerous provisions that ultimately would pass but we hold people in suspense until the end. But i want to speak to one particular item here. My good friend from tech as said you dont have to worry about the earned income tax credit or the Child Tax Credit because they dont expire until next year. Well, i would respectfully suggest that if we follow that path and waited until 2017, not in the context of this total package, i think we are putting at risk significant tax relief for working lowincome americans and their families. Left alone, there would be a huge price to be extracted from some in congress who arent particularly supportive of this democratic priority. It would put at risk the support for these 16 million americans, half of whom are children, 164,000 residents of oregon. I think adopting it in this package and making it permanent is a far superior approach to guarantee that. Then roll up our sleeves and work on the provisions together and there will be lots to argue about, but in the meantime i feel comfortable supporting those priorities and particularly for low and moderate americans. Mr. Brady i would like to yield to mr. Reed. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york is recognized for 1 1 2 minute. Mr. Reed i thank the gentleman for jackson lee and the folks on the other side of the aisle that have come together to support this legislation as i do today, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Hardworking Taxpayers across america deserve a fair, simpler tax code. A tax code that allows them to be keep more of their hard earned dollars. Thats why i support this legislation as it is a step in the right direction along that path. The other important aspect of this legislation is it brings certainty to our manufacturers. The energy sector. In regards to these provision that is are tome paragraph requirely extened each and every year as my colleagues have recognized over and over again and now to large extent we make permanent. That allows them to plap for tomorrow. That allows them to make the i vestments investments with their hardearned dollars in the places they choose to put money. They can lee on a tax code that is certain, simpler, and fairer on their behalf. We also in this bill take care of hardworking families. We also take care of people like our bill with the mortgage forgiveness act, the america gives more act, where we talk about charitable donation of food inventories. That is the right policy for American People. That is the right policy for Hardworking Taxpayers across america. And i am glad that we have on the floor today an opportunity to semdem straight to our Hardworking Taxpayers that we care about them and we are going to put their interest first and foremost rather than washington, d. C. s and those of the elected officials here. With that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york yields back the balance of his time of the the gentleman from texas reserves. Gentleman from michigan reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady im very pleased to yield two minutes to another key member of our committee who brings such local business sense to the issue of taxes, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Kelly. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Kelly i thank the chairman. Mr. Speaker, i rise in strong support. This is one of the things that i think really makes us a little different. It is about certainty. Where im from theres an old saying if you dont know where youre going any road will get you there. People that run business vs. To know where they are going before they start. So this does bring some honesty to what it is we need to do. Pu in a time where people talk about i and me, i want to talk about all the other people, the wes that got together. This is truly a joint effort between a lot of staff members, not just members of congress, but staff members. So if i could just for a second i want to thank the committees team, george, mark, harold, john, aaron, and den i ever. They have and jennifer. They have put in unbelievable amounts of time on this to get this done not for the Republican Party but the American People. At this hing it is time of the year to actually give back and do something for others and do it in a way that just makes common sense to everybody out there who has to know where it is that they are going. Theres something about certainty that gives us the confidence to go forward. That gives us that assuredness that we can actually get there. This is an incredible opportunity. This is really historical. So i want to thank members on both sides and i think for the American People theyll sit back and say this is the place where these guys get together or girls cant get together on anything. This is truly bipartisan. Its taken a lot of work by a lot of people. I want to thank you for what you did. You incredible people, great patriots. Thanks so much. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from pennsylvania yields back the balance of his time of the the gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Levin i yield two minutes to another distinguished member of our committee, mr. Kind from wisconsin. The speaker pro tempore gentleman from wisconsin is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Kind i thank my friend for yielding. Mr. Speaker, i am all for certainty. Im all for predictibility. Im all for a lot of the policy initiatives contained in this legislation before us. But what i am not in favor of is the fact that this bill is not paid for. Not a nickel of it is offset. When i go home to wisconsin i constantly hear from folks back home for congress to pay our bills. To get our fiscal house in order. This legislation doesnt do t its 700 billion over the first 10 years that explodes to 2 trillion in the second 10 years. There is nothing more dangerous for the longterm success of Social Security and medicare or our childrens future than these end of the year large tax cut packages that are not paid for, that are not offset. Its a missed opportunity. We should be doing this within the context of comprehensive reform. I submit that by Going Forward and making permanent many of these provisions in the legislation today, it takes the wind out of the sails of tax reform in the future. Theres been an impliesity agreement when we do comprehensive reform is that we are going to do it in a way that builds uncertainty, encourages investments, makes us more competitive globally. But we dont blow a hole in the deficit in our childrens future at the same time. Chairman camp recognized that with his discussion draft. Hard choices he made. The lowering of rates and broadening of the base. We are ducking that responsibility here today. The irony is that for every bipartisan Deficit Reduction Commission thats been asked to try to come up with plan to get our fiscal house in order have reached the same conclusion. We are going to need some additional revenue in the future and longterm spending reforms in order to accomplish it. This legislation fails on both of those fronts. I would encourage my colleagues to vote no on this legislation. We can continue temporarily to extend many of these important provisions today but lets keep the pressure on comprehensive reform by doing this now, i submit, we are punting on the opportunity in the very short future to take on a tax code thats been long overdue for reform since 1987. I encourage my colleagues to vote no and i yield back the remarne of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from michigan reserves. The gentleman from texas virginia tech. Mr. Brady i am pleased to yield a minute and a half to a key member of our committee who has extensive business experience, the gentleman from ohio, mr. Renacci. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from ohio is recognized for 1 1 2 minutes. Mr. Renacci thank you, mr. Chairman i want to thank you and your staff for the hard work. Mr. Speaker, i rise today in the support protecting americans from tax hike act, the path act. I came to washington as a Business Owner and c. P. A. To reform our broken tax code and really protect hardworking american taxpayers. Many of those taxpayers came to my office on an annual basis looking at many of these extenders and not understanding whether they were permanent or not permanent. Whether they had the them or would have the opportunity to use these credits. This package here makes many of these credits permanent. The path act is an important first step forward. I say a first step forward in allowing us to reform our broken tax code. This legislation will make several tax policies permanent such as the r d credit and the Small Business expensing. It will provide certainty and predictibility to our businesses and individuals. And most important, it will help open the door to economic growth. This legislation also removes unnecessary Tax Compliance burdens. The path act includes a bill i introduced with many of my colleagues, including many on the Bipartisan Working Group that i formed many years ago. This information reporting simplification act of 2015 is in the bill. This bipartisan commonsense legislation provides a safe harbor to eliminate the need to correct minor errors on tax forms that have de minimus impact on the Tax Liability outcome. And helps avoid the waste and time dollars for businesses and individuals that would otherwise have to refile their tax returns. Mr. Speaker, the path act is an important first step in fixing our tax code and i urge my colleagues to join me in support. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the entlemans time has expired. The gentleman from texas eserves. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Levin its now my pleasure to yield 2 1 2 minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. Becerra. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california is recognized for 2 1 2 minutes. Mr. Becerra i thank the gentleman for yielding. There are pockets of americans who might like the tax break here for corporations or the tax break there for wealthy folks who want to donate some of their i. R. A. For the 320 million americans in the country and particularly for the 147 million americans who file federal tax returns, my guess is they are more concerned about their security and that of their children. Their personal security, our national security, and our economic security. After san bernardino, colorado springs, charleston, it newtown where americans were senselessly gunned down in our schools, at our work, and in our places of worship the American People want job one of this congress to be security. Personal, national, and economic. So why two weeks after 32 americans were terrorized, 14 of them killed, in san bernardino, would we make this massive 600 billion tax break give away charged to the Government Credit card, because remember, its not paid for. Charged to the Government Credit card, why would we make that the first major legislation to come before this house for a vote . We can all agree that the f. B. I. Does important work keeping us safe. Tracking down terrorists. We all agree that they need to do more. So why we be voting for this bill which would rob funding for everything from the f. B. I. , food safety, to college pell grants. This bill costs the the costs just of this bill by themselves, the cost of this bill would fund the f. B. I. For the next 73 years. Because remember, niece tax breaks are not paid for. We have to these tax breaks are not paid for. We have to pay for them somehow. If you add up the tax breaks, 73 funding for the f. B. I. Why would we use the credit card to give people who could give up the i. R. A. S when most americans cant put enough money into one basic i. R. A. This is wrongheaded. These are not the American Peoples priorities. We could reform the tax code, but this is not the reform the American People are asking us for. Asking us first and foremost keep our eye on the prize, our security, my kids security, your kids security. Our national security. And our economic security. You give a away this money to corporation and wealthy folks, guess what, can that guy who has to think about the job and whether shes safe at the job or hes safe at the job or worship safely, can they send their kids to college, buy that home, and retire in security . I urge my colleagues to vote no. The speaker pro tempore the entleman from michigan reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady im pleased to yield one minute to a member of our ways and Means Committee that has focused op making American Companies competitive here around the world, the gentleman from North Carolina, mr. Holding. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from North Carolina is recognized for one minute. Mr. Holding the path act will provide much needed certainty to our nations families and Small Businesses. Most importantly lay the foundation for comprehensive tax reform. For far too long folks in North Carolina had to face the burden of trying to grow their businesses and plan for foot ture while being forced to operate under a tax system comprised of temporary tax provisions whose fate are unpredictibility. Unpredictable. With this bill farmers m my district can purchase a new tractor without having to gamble whether congress will extend the provision. The Research Triangle park, Innovative Companies will finall be able to access r d considered as read to the further support their groundbreaking Research Without being concerned as to whether congress will extend the credit or not. Mr. Speaker, importantly it is imperative that we continue to build on this progress. This bill is an important First Step Towards comprehensive tax reform that simplifies the tax code, lowers the rate, and makes america competitive around the world. I urge my colleagues to support the path act and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Levin its my pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, distinguished member of our committee, mr. Pascrell. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Pascrell mr. Speaker, lets cut to the chase. I support this legislation. It wasnt an easy decision. But i believe that democrats were able to get a lot of policy into the bill thats good for middle class. Its going to help 16 million americans out of poverty. N new jersey, 435,000 children and 219,000 families will lose some or all of their working family tax credits if we dont do this. This package includes a bill introduced by my friend, tom reed, and myself, to help put people back to work. Our tax credit for businesses who hire longterm unemployed americans, and we have abandoned them, lets face it, that will help those families who havent yet felt the effects of our economic recovery. Another bill, mr. Likert from washington reichert from washington, calls it support our nations hardworking teachers. You heard hem speak about it several minutes ago. Mr. Blumenauer from oregon said, these things pass routinely any way. Who the heck are we kidding . The enemy of the good is the perfect over and over again we have proved that here on this floor. An important provision allowing Public Safety officers to withdraw from their pensions when they retire early without a tax penalty is included in this package. There are provisions that support mass transit commuters, Small Businesses, lowIncome Housing, families paying college. And the earned income tax credit Child Tax Credit is are the Biggest Forces against poverty. I cant say enough about making these permanent. When faced between the choice of facing these priorities, i simply cant vote against them to prove a point that not everything is in there including the kitchen sink. The bill is far from perfect. And let me say this, mr. Chairman, i think this has been a civil debate and thats healthy for us, all of us regardless of what happens. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from michigan reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady i yield a minute and half, the gentleman from illinois, mr. Dold. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Dold i thank the chairman. We are voting on a historic bill, a bill as a Small Business owner wheng i came to when i came to congress, it was making it harder for me. And they should be making it easier for me to open up my business. I hear from Small Businesses that they need more certainty. If they had the certainty they would be able to move forward, and instead they sit on their hands. These tax policies we are voting on today and what a difference a year makes. A year ago, we were extending these tax extenders and we made it for one year, which was retroactive. Retroactive tax policy, i cant ne. Ine anything so assasi we want to talk about moving our country forward, this r d tax credit is vital. For Small Businesses, we are jump starting our economy and growing more american jobs. Its not just for the businesses. We are also protecting families and helping families pay for higher education. We have incentives for charitable giving. Some that say the government should determine where the dollars go. Putting that choice in the hands of the American People where they can put those dollars, those dollars will go so much further. Thats the type of Bipartisan Legislation that the American People not only want but expect from this body. So as we also have so many other i at things in this package, urge my colleagues to come in a bipartisan way and pass this package. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Levin its my pleasure to yield two minutes to an active member of our committee, mr. Davis. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Davis i have been told that all that admitters is not gold. And there isnt much that is absolutely perfect. And this extender package certainly is not. However, im pleased to note that it does make the Child Tax Credit permanent. The American Opportunity tax credit permanent. The earned income tax credit permanent. Expands deductions for expenses for elementary and secondary school teachers, expands deductions for state and local sales tax, extends deductions for research activity, which helps to create jobs. The new market tax credit has been beneficial to districts like mine, all over the country. And im indeed pleased to see it extended. The work opportunity tax credit is a god send, longterm unemployed. I have worked on an issue called work colleges and im pleased to note the exemption for students who worked under this provision. Im pleased to note the elimination of residency requirktse for disabled individuals who are eligible. Im pleased to note the exclusion for wrongfully incarcerated individuals. Mr. Speaker, these extensions are good. Im not sure that theyre going to do enough. Theyre not paid for. And im not sure that theyre going to do as much for low and moderateincome families as i had hoped, but im convinced that they will do good. But im not sure that they will do enough. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan reserves. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Brady i yield one minute to the one of the members of the ways and Means Committee, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Meehan. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Meehan let me express my support on this. I try to think how it makes a difference in their lives, for a person looking for a job and jobs are created for Small Business and this is the kind of a program which we have given certainty to the entrepreneurs that will create new jobs and therefore, new revenue by somebody who is back to work. We appreciate teachers taking money out of their own pocket. Its not a big dollar amount but we say thank you for making a commitment to our children. We have conservation easements that will allow us to protect beauty in which open space continues to be an issue. In the issue of health care, families struggling with diseases that we have the research and development to make a change and then ultimately when we have the products that we can bring to market, we are not taxing them and driving them further away. I urge my colleagues to be supportive. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from pennsylvania yields back. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Levin i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady i yield to the gentleman from illinois, mr. Roskham. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for 1 1 2 minutes. Mr. Roskam you know, not long ago the Internal Revenue Service Reached out its long arm and ried to get between donors and 501 c4, 5 and 6 organizations and the i. R. S. Did something. They created a false impression and sent letters to donors that had a Chilling Effect and said that we know you made this contribution, but we think we may have a Tax Liability for you there. You can imagine how this had a shuddering effect all throughout these areas. Unless people think that this is a leftright issue, its not. Its left and right that were both under a threat here. Im pleased in this extenders package is something that has had broad bipartisan support and bicameral support and support from both the political left and the political right and that is c 4, 5 hat gifts to 501 and 6 organizations should be tax exempt and the i. R. S. Ought not be manipulating, intimidating and so forth. What this does is make sure that the i. R. S. Is boxed in and that there is no gift Tax Liability. I strongly support this package. I thank chairman brady and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Levin reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady i yield one minute to the gentlelady from indiana who has been a key proponent of tax relief for families and Small Businesses. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from indiana is recognized. Mrs. Walorski mr. Speaker, i rise in strong support of protecting americans from tax hikes act. I want to highlight two that will highlight indianas economy. The research and Development Tax credit has relied on shortterm extensions leaving innovators incomplete limbo. Today we are making it permanent giving Innovative Industries the confidence to make investments here in the United States. Indiana is also home to 300 medical Device Companies employing over 20,000 people and stands to benefit greatly from this certainty. Im also thrilled today that we are delaying the damaging medical device tax for two years. This misguided tax will cost jobs, harm patients and i look forward to the day that we can fully repeal it. Mr. Speaker, our tax code is a mess, but today, we have an opportunity to give certainty to individuals to families, charities and job creators. And we can take another step forward toward comprehensive tax reform. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from michigan reserves. Mr. Levin reserve. Mr. Brady i yield one minute to the gentleman from South Carolina who is a strong proponent of pro growth tax reform, mr. Sanford. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for one minute. I rise as a fiscal hawk and one who believes passionately in the issue of the debt debt and deficit and Government Spending but we cant pretend our way to fixing those problems and first part of fixing the problem is recognizing that you have a problem. Yet, the reality is for the last 30 years or so, we have pretended that which was permanent was not permanent which makes overall this notion of tax recorm incredibly difficult. Its true with regard to tax policy as well. I just applaud the committee for the way they moved us to a place where we can move to a fair tax, flat tax, change in the tax code that would make the system fair and flatter and more equitable for all and get rid some of the provisions that dont belong in the tax code. With that, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Levin is the chairman ready to close . I will do so. I yield myself the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from michigan is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Levin well, here we go again. 621 billion added to the ficit and when you include interest on the deficit, far more. No hard choices. Were making a bad choice. Theres been lots of talk here about certainty. What is certain with this bill is that it will lead to further starving at what the republicans call the beast, adequate, domestic spending for education, or health, for job training, for nutrition programs. And what is also certain is that is its going to make it easier for republicans to cut taxes for the very wealthy. That has always been one of the major purposes of all these bills that have come all these months these last couple years, adding up to even more than this for king permanent unpaid tax cuts. Its also certain with this bill that we will keep loopholes that need to be closed. For all of these reasons, i think the cost is much too high, much too high. There are some important provisions here, but their significance, i think is really overwhelmed by the fact that were going to add money to the deficit and have the consequences for the longterm. I urge opposition to this bill. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from michigan yields back. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized for 2 1 2 minutes. Mr. Brady i thank the ways and means members who have for years and years worked on making these important tax relief provisions permanent, who continued with me to stay at the table to work through an agreement that finally provides tax relief to families and businesses can count on. It wouldnt have been possible without an extremely talented professional staff, our tax team led by george and did remarkable work in crafting this tax relief a permanent measure and for that, i say thank you. This is a historical day. Today is business as usual in congress and we take an important first step in progrowth tax reform. This provides tax relief for families and businesses. It reins the i. R. S. To protect taxpayers and includes the first antifraud provisions in the tax credit programs since the 1990s. It spends no more than what we spend each year as congress lurches december to december trying to decide whats pem, whats temporary. What can people count on . Today we heard arguments that these tax savings advances terrorism, starves children, apparently responsible for the breakup of the beatles. The truth of the matter is, extending these provisions year by year is no less the the math is no different than simply acknowledging thats going to be done and doing it permanently so that we can actually create tax relief our families and businesses can count on. This is not the end of tax reform. This is a serious first step to progrowth tax reform thats built for growth. Built for the growth of families paychecks. Built for the growth of our local businesses. Built for the growth of america. Weve got work to do. Today we start that a fine vote take friday. If the measure passes in the house it will move to the senate. Mr. Rogers i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Rogers i rise today to present amendment number 1 to the Senate Amendment to h. R. 2029, the fiscal year 2016 consolidated appropriations act, legislation that will fund the federal government for the rest of this fiscal year. This funding measure provides 1. 149 trillion for critical Government Programs and services. This is the level agreed to in the bipartisan budget act of 2015, which was enacted last month. This funding meets the 548 billion defense and 518 billion nondefense base budget caps. The omnibus contains full year appropriations for each of the 12 annual Appropriations Bills. Weighing priorities and funding levels carefully to prevent waste and promote an effective federal government. The bill targets funding toward our national security, protecting against cuts that would damage our military readiness and securing our homeland by strengthening our borders and prioritizing law enforcement. The legislation also focuses funding on our veterans, providing nearly a 10 increase for the department of Veterans Affairs while addressing v. A. s problems with construction mismanagement and disability claims backlog and shores up other critical priorities such as the National Institutes of health and the center for disease control, Agricultural Research and infrastructure. The legislation also includes many policy items that will help rein bureaucratic overreach, protecting the rights of americans and encouraging economic growth. The legislation blocks administrations proposals to impose new fees on ranchers, air passengers and the oil and gas industries. And the legislation protects free speech by ensuring that the i. R. S. Does not suppress the ivic participation of 501c4 organizations. The bill preserves the sanctity of life by carrying all existing prolife policy provisions from previous Appropriations Bills. It adds new provision prohibiting jeanetting editing of human embryos and reduces funding by 7 . To prevent wasteful or questionable spending, the bill halts improper behavior at federal agencies, like making sure the i. R. S. Doesnt spend any money on frivolous videos or conferences. Within the labor, health and Human Services portion of the omnibus alone, the legislation eliminates 17 duplicative and unnecessary programs, zero on 17. And the bill provides no new funding for expanded e. P. A. Regulatory programs, insisting holding e. P. A. To its lowest funding level since 2008. Finally this bill includes a number of legislative provisions , the James Zadroga health and compensation act, the visa waiver program, improvement and terrorist prevention act and the intelligence authorizing act, among others. An importantly it includes legislation to lift the 40year ban on crude oil exports, a huge win for our economy and job creation. The package reflects a hardfought, fair compromise and i believe my colleagues on both sides of the aisle should support it. The road to this final bill has been without its bumps and obstacles. But im proud we have finally come to a solution. Its been a long, hard odd icy. Although one big catchall bill is not the ideal way to conduct business in this house, the legislation will do the important work of funding our federal government and preventing a shutdown. Let me add that it would be enormously helpful if in the other body, they would change their procedures and rules so that on an appropriations bill funding the basic level of government, the senate would act in a expeditious way to allow these bills to come up over there without the 60vote requirement. Before i close, mr. Speaker, i want to thank my entire committee and in particular the hardworking staff. Their tireless efforts on this legislation, most of these people, mr. Speaker, have not d a day off since before thanksgiving. They have sacrificed their family time, their holiday dinners, countless hours of no sleep in order to bring this bill to the floor. Their hard work has resulted in a good bill and im proud to support it today. I also want to thank my counterpart, the Ranking Member of this committee, mrs. Lowey, for her commitment to getting this done. Es been fair and been conscientious and a good partner and i look forward than continuing to Work Together this coming year. And lastly, i want to take a moment to commemorate one of our dearest staff, chuck turner and his decades of service to the Appropriations Committee and to this house. Chuck sadly passed away on december 8, but he leaves his final mark on this institution in the form of the legislative Branch Appropriations bill that is a part of this bill. His presence will be deeply missed in the halls of this capitol and in our rose of friends. With that, mr. Speaker, i look forward to putting to bed our fiscal 2016 appropriations work and turning toward our next year which will any luck will come in under regular order. I urge my colleagues to support this bill and reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, first i also wish to join my chairman in mourning the loss of one of our Majority Committee staffers, chuck turner, who died earlier this month. Chucks passing is a true loss for our committee. And in the final hours of session for this year, we may finally be concluding this years appropriations process. It hasnt been an easy year, but i do want to thank chairman rogers, my partner in this effort, and the staff for their hard work to put together spending bills following the two years budget agreement. Im disappointed, however, that the majority attached a repeal of the Oil Export Ban to this omnibus spending bill. Such a major policy change should not be added at the last minute on a mustpass bill to keep government opened. It is especially disappointing that we could lift the Oil Export Ban in this bill and yet we dont address the urgent bankruptcy crisis facing puerto rico. It remains a priority to me and my democratic colleagues and we must continue all efforts to reach an agreement as soon as possible. Im pleased that this bill drops more than 150 extraneous policy provisions, many of which would have caused a white house veto. Gone are dozens of attacks on womens health, labor protections, Consumer Financial protection, the clean air act, and the clean water act. I was, however, disappointed that we were unable to reverse a 19yearold prohibition on federal funding for the reresearch of gun violence. It should have been removed from the laborhhs appropriations bill years ago. The budget agreement enacted in november provided additional funding, allowing us to make critical investments reflecting democratic values. Increases, mangor increase have been made to national inopportunities of health, head start, energy research, Infrastructure Investments through the army corps of engineers, cops hiring, nutrition funding, and many more important priorities. We also are able to prevent steep cuts to the Environmental Protection agency, another agency frequently targeted by some in the house majority. Also of great importance the omnibus package carries the 9 11 health and Compensation Fund to ensure we care for those who responded bravely on that tragic day and are now sick as a result. I appreciate the bipartisan efforts of all those involved to make sure this legislation was included. Date ition, on this foreign operations of this bill, while there are many provisions that i do support, i am frustrated by the punitive cut of 2. 5 million to unfpa and the continued attack on womens health. Im pleased that this bill sustains our commitment to embassy and diplomatic security, continues the unwavering support and robust funding for our close allies and partners, israel and jordan. We also reaffirm our commitment to basic education and investments in global health, including pepfar, the global fund, the Global Alliance for vaccine initiative, nutrition, maternal and child health, as well as programs to combat tuberculosis, malaria, and pandemic threats. In closing, i would have to call this package a mixed bag. While it fails to address several key priorities and wrongly includes a give away to the oil industry, it advances important investments that make our communities safer, improves access for Early Childhood education and childcare, increases funding for k through 12 education and pell grants, and invests in job creation by supporting Biomedical Research and Small Businesses. Our country will be stronger as a result of these investments. I support this compromise legislation. And i also, in closing, want to thank the staff. The staff has worked day and night to put this bill together. David, lesley, and the entire minority appropriations staff, will and jim on the majority staff, and dick on the leaders staff. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore does the gentlewoman reserve . The gentlewoman reserves. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i yield three minutes to the chairman of our defense subcommittee, mr. Frelinghuysen. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Frelinghuysen mr. Chairman, thank you for the time and for your leadership and support and that of ms. Pelosi for our men and women in uniform wherever they serve. In the wake of paris and san bernardino, the American People are deeply concerned about their security. They wonder how and where the next attack will occur and they are turning to us to protect them. In an increasingly dangerous world, the defense and intelligence portions of this act proride funding for our armed force provide funding for our armed forces in our Intelligence Community to confront multiple threats we face across the world. What some have described as a long war against extremism. This measure includes a global war on terrorism title, overseas Contingency Operations to ensure our military is agile, lethal, and ready to address these threats and theft strength and capability to defeat the rise of many Islamic Terrorist Groups worldwide and deter potential gressors like russia, china, north korea, and iran. Mr. Chairman, we share the concern of the army, navy, air force, and marines about the erosion of overall readiness in the force. To begin this reinvestment, this bill provides 168 billion to fully Fund Programs to prepare our forces for combat and other missions. Within this funding, an additional 609 million over the president s budget will help the services, particularly the guard and reserve. In summary, mr. Chairman, this package provide our troops and looks after their families and for those and those who have been wounded in service to our nation. I would also add this package offers the department of defense, our Intelligence Community, and our defense