OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Providing for Consideration of H.R. Save the Internet Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Investing for the People Act of and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

By: Neal Dunn
By: Neal Dunn
Date: April 9, 2019
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security Taxes

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Mr. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to demand that critical natural disaster relief be voted upon.

Tomorrow will be the 6-month anniversary of Hurricane Michael, 6 months with absolutely no disaster supplemental funding, no serious action on the part of Congress except the political farce in the House and two failed cloture votes in the Senate.

Both Chambers have refused to extend even routine tax relief to ensure that people have access to their money when they need it most. With tax day just around the corner, this is unacceptable.

Floridians are tough, but they need help and deserve help.

Six months ago, Hurricane Michael devastated the South, damaging more than 90 percent of the structures on Tyndall Air Force Base, decimating our agricultural industry, and destroying entire communities. Yet, here we are with only 1 day left in the legislative calendar before Easter and no tax relief in sight.

If the previous question is defeated, it will be a first step in making some meaningful progress for victims of all the 2018 disasters. It will bring the Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2019 to the floor. I am a proud cosponsor of that bill with Tom Rice and Austin Scott.

This bill includes a set of common, routine tax breaks victims of virtually every disaster over the last decade have been entitled to, things like access to retirement savings without penalty, a tax credit for employers who continue to pay employees while shut down, suspending tax limitations on charitable contributions for relief efforts, and allowing hardworking families to use earned income from the previous year to calculate their earned income tax credits and child tax credits.

It is a shame that we have to resort to a procedural trick to ask for a vote on this very bipartisan, commonsense legislation that we have passed many times before.

Mr. Speaker, it is time we take action to help those suffering from the 2018 disasters. For this reason, I urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question.

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