Build Back Better Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
As we begin the proceeding here on the Ways and Means portion of the legislation, I want to begin by calling attention to the untimely and tragic loss of our colleague, Jackie Walorski, and two members of her staff.
Jackie was a force on the committee, as well as the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support. She led with deep commitment to children and families and was well regarded as a member of the community, a real humanitarian.
You couldn't miss her bright smile or her booming laugh. She embodied what it meant to serve.
When she called me ``Mr. Chairman,'' as she always did in the hallway, loudly, with a booming voice, I know she meant it.
We were all lucky to have had her as a colleague and even luckier to be able to call her a friend.
The families and loved ones of Congresswoman Walorski, Emma Thomson, and Zachery Potts remain in our thoughts and prayers. May they rest in peace, as valued Members of the Ways and Means family.
Madam Speaker, I rise in full support of the Inflation Reduction Act. I look forward, as I have in the past, to this moment, reciting the wisdom that is often referenced by me, because the words come from another son of Massachusetts, Mr. Webster.
Over the Speaker's rostrum that adorns this marvelous institution, which I love, the quote is simple: ``Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, and promote all its great interests and see whether we also in our day and generation may not perform something worthy to be remembered.''
The Inflation Reduction Act is something worthy of being remembered. This is substantive and transformative legislation, a reminder to all that in the legislative life and its rhythms, we generally pursue perfection but accept the possible. Part of that is what we are marking at this moment.
This is a historic win for family pocketbooks, for Americans' health, and for the future of climate security. We fund these gains by ensuring that large, profitable companies pay their fair share, just like all members of the American family are asked to do.
The Inflation Reduction Act will lower costs. For the first time, Medicare will negotiate drug prices, and there will be a cap on what comes out of seniors' pockets for their lifesaving prescriptions. No more rationing or forgoing necessary medicines.
We are lowering healthcare costs for millions of low-income and middle-income Americans by extending the Affordable Care Act's premium tax credit enhancements through 2025.
Let me give you a statistic that is compelling. Madam Speaker, 100 percent of the children in Massachusetts have health insurance, and 97 percent of the adults in Massachusetts have health insurance. It polls extraordinarily well in terms of its success ratios because we decided--labor, business, Democrat, and Republican--to make it work, and we did.
These enhanced premium credits, first enacted by the American Rescue Plan, have made way for record-low uninsured rates that have put hundreds of dollars back into the pockets of low- and middle-income Americans.
This legislation will also make the largest investment in tackling climate change that our Nation has ever witnessed. The investments in clean energy, energy efficiency, and clean manufacturing will generate 9 million good-paying jobs.
These historic wins are achieved with sensible and responsible multiyear investments in the IRS.
I have been a member of the Ways and Means Committee, Madam Speaker, for 30 years. Let me give our friends an interesting statistic about the American family. We have the highest voluntary compliance rate in the world. Eighty-six percent of the American people pay their taxes. This idea that we are creating 87,000 armed representatives of the Federal Government to go out and harass the American people is nonsensical. Retirements alone are going to require a substantive investment. The IRS has fewer than 20 percent of the employees that it once did.
What is important to remember here is this: We want to make sure with this investment in the IRS that we continue to have a high voluntary compliance rate and also to invest in the necessary technology that will allow the modeling to make sure compliance remains with us, as well.
These are historical investments and achievements, and they also are going to continue our quest on the Democratic side here for an element of tax fairness that will hold people at the very top as responsible as the other side likes to hold people who receive the EITC tax credit in terms of their request for audits. We do this simply by asking the most powerful among us to pay their fair share. This is what a full and fair tax administration is about.
The American people have been through an unthinkable hardship over the last 2\1/2\ years, but they entrusted Joe Biden and congressional Democrats to keep them safe and to rebuild our economy.
Here is a fact: On March 11, 2020, Dr. Fauci gave his warning. He warned us of what was coming. In April 2020, America had lost 22 million jobs. Here we are, 2 years later, in the Biden administration, and every job has been returned. There are 10.6 million jobs that go unanswered right now in the American economy.
We have bounced back faster than we imagined. Not only have all these jobs been returned, but for 51 straight days, gasoline prices have fallen.
That is an issue about supply and demand, by the way. It is about international events, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supply chains across the world. Those chains that I have just referenced have been shored up, and retailers are starting to realistically address some speculation as it relates to price.
Democrats shouldn't be asked to do this alone, but we are being asked to do it today alone.
We are going to hear a lot of Washington talk from folks on the other side that want to address the politics of the situation rather than cap the cost of insulin for their constituents. They want to protect the pocketbooks of those who would raise prescription drug prices unnecessarily and cut costs for workers and their families, which we intend to do.
You are going to hear a lot of spin on this bill that has received a lot of endorsements, even from bipartisan former Treasury Secretaries, but that is because the opponents are out of options.
The Inflation Reduction Act sets our Nation on a healthier, fairer, and more prosperous path. We have heard the calls of the American people, and with the Inflation Reduction Act, we continue to win this moment for them in its totality.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the very accomplished gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson).
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), who has had a profound influence on the renewable energy part of this legislation.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind), who is retiring but has made many valued contributions to our Nation and committee.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, the bill we are considering in the House today, the Inflation Reduction Act, started in the House of Representatives as the Build Back Better Act.
Three years ago, all Democratic Members of the Ways and Means Committee introduced the GREEN Act as the Committee's consensus legislation for tax priorities relating to climate, clean energy, and energy efficiency. The GREEN Act was reintroduced, again with all Ways and Means Democrats, in the 117th Congress.
The GREEN Act formed the base of the climate and energy subtitle of the Build Back Better Act, which the Ways and Means Committee marked up in September 2021 and passed out of the House, following significant input from the Senate, in November 2021. Many provisions of Subtitle D of the Inflation Reduction Act remain substantially similar to those that the House developed and passed.
As the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, I wish to offer additional detail on the legislative intent behind certain provisions included in this legislation.
This legislation provides long-term extensions of tax credits for renewable technologies such as solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower by extending section 45 and section 48 and enacting their successor credits under sec. 45Y and section 48E. These provisions were drafted with the goal of unleashing clean energy deployment, in line with President Biden's pledge of a 50-52 percent reduction from 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas pollution in 2030. Additionally, this legislation provides enhanced credit amounts for projects additional goals, such as those meeting domestic content requirements or located in energy communities.
Currently, these renewable energy tax credits often remain out of reach for low-income communities, which disproportionately bear the burden of pollution. The Committee believes that our renewable energy deployment should align with President Biden's Justice40 initiative, which aims to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of federal investments in climate and clean energy to disadvantaged communities. To achieve these goals, we must bring all resources to bear across all agencies--the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and more. For example, the Council on Environmental Quality has developed a tool to assist federal agencies with best targeting resources towards disadvantaged communities.
This goal is closely aligned with a provision that I am proud to have worked with Rep. Danny Davis to include in this legislation. H.R. 5183, provides an enhanced investment tax credit for projects in connection with low-income communities, and is included in new section 45(e) and section 48E(h) in this legislation. It draws on the success in California of a clean energy program that helps hundreds of thousands of low-income residents in multifamily housing enjoy the cost savings and environmental advantages of solar.
This program provides allocated bonus credits for projects benefiting low-income residents, including multifamily housing, community solar, and individual low-income residential homeowners. The Committee intends that the program prioritize low-income individuals and communities throughout the selection process. Low-income individuals can benefit from this legislation in multiple ways, including in the form of lower electricity bills, reduction in locally harmful air pollution, inclusive economic opportunities through training and employment on such projects, and benefits to the community proven through active engagement and outreach to community members. Thus, in selecting projects for allocation, the Committee intends for the Secretary to take into account which projects demonstrate the greatest health and economic benefits for disadvantaged individuals (including benefits related to the ability to withstand extreme weather events); the greatest employment and wages for such individuals; and the greatest engagement with and outreach to such individuals, including through partnerships with local governments, community-based organizations, and Indian tribal governments.
Additionally, this legislation is designed to provide maximum flexibility to the Secretary in designing an efficient application and allocation process to meet the needs of low-income residents. Specifically, the legislation is intended to allow residential rooftop providers to identify potential customers in qualifying census tracts and submit applications to serve these customers up-front, before these businesses have contractually engaged these customers. My understanding is that these businesses will need to know if they have received a credit allocation before they can offer the benefits of the credit to these customers so that businesses can provide customers accurate pricing information and cost savings to low-income customers.
This legislation also makes several important additions to the property eligible under the section 48 investment tax credit and its successor credit, section 48E.
The first is the addition of energy storage technologies. This provision originated as H.R. 1684, the Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment, as advanced by Representatives Mike Doyle and Earl Blumenauer, and included in the GREEN Act and the Build Back Better Act. It is the Committee's intent that the technologies included in H.R. 1684, such as pumped hydropower, are considered energy storage technologies for this legislation.
Pumped-storage hydroelectric facilities are sometimes called water batteries. Electricity is used to pump water from a lower to an upper reservoir. When needed, this water is then released and run through turbines to convert the stored energy back into electricity.
The definition of energy storage technologies includes ``property . . . which receives, stores, and delivers energy for conversion to electricity'' under new section 48(c)(6)(A)(i). Thus, it is the Committee's intent such property not only include the two reservoirs as well as the pipe and pump to move the water uphill, but also the turbines and step-up transformer to convert the stored energy back into electricity.
Additionally, relating to the coordination of the credit for energy storage technologies and the section 45 production tax credit, the Committee intends that a credit is allowed for energy storage technology under section 48 regardless of whether it is part of a facility for which a credit under section 45 is or has been allowed.
The second is the addition of electrochromatic glass, also known as dynamic glass, to section 48(a)(3)(A)(ii). It is the Committee's intent that the basis for such property should include the cost of the glass itself including the devices, the wiring and other components necessary for the glass to change its light transmittance properties, as well as the window frame and the capitalized costs for the installation of these and any other related components.
Additionally, this legislation creates new section 45W, the credit for qualified commercial clean vehicles, to incentivize clean vehicles and mobile machinery. In including mobile machinery, the Committee intends to incentivize cleaner farm equipment, construction equipment, and other equipment. As the Secretary develops regulations or other guidance to carry out the purposes of this section, the Committee believes it is appropriate to consider industry standards when applying rules in the section that reference vehicles. For example, the Secretary may look established methods of determining equipment weight for purposes of determining credit limits based upon gross vehicle weights and may allow, as a substitute, other commonly used identification or serial numbers when administering the vehicle identification number requIrements.
This legislation is historic, and I look forward to seeing the impact these, and the many other clean energy incentives contained in this bill, have on our carbon reduction goals in the coming years.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), who is always pleased to let us know what he is thinking.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis), one of the most talented members of the committee.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I associate myself with the remarks made by my colleagues relative to our tragic loss of Representative Walorski who was the ranking member of the subcommittee that I chair.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. This is the most transformative piece of legislation that I have seen. It lowers family healthcare costs, reduces drug and energy costs, makes the largest investment in addressing climate change in the history of this country, and cuts carbon emissions by 40 percent.
This bill would create millions of good-paying, union jobs and stimulate economic growth and development across the Nation. It incentivizes manufacturing and reduces our reliance upon foreign-made products.
This bill does what we have been trying to do for years, and that is, it empowers Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. Millions of seniors and disabled individuals will benefit from this provision alone, not to mention what the monthly cap on the price of insulin would do for millions of others.
Madam Speaker, this bill would cut the deficit and lower inflation, will not cost the average taxpayer one additional cent, unless they earn $400,000 annually or more. One feature of this bill that I am especially proud of is the enhanced tax credit to bring solar and wind energy to low-income communities. This tax credit will assist these communities.
Madam Speaker, this is a great bill, and I urge its passage.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, this is misinformation about the IRS. They need the funding to better serve the American people. The idea that, all of a sudden, there is an army of IRS agents that is coming after the American family doesn't stand up under the magnifying glass of critical analysis.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Higgins), a really capable member of the Ways and Means Committee.
Mr. HIGGINS of New York. Madam Speaker, the 1970 Clean Air Act was passed by a Democratic-led Congress and a Republican President after millions of Americans demanded change. Five decades later, a new generation of Americans is calling on Congress to act on our Nation's biggest challenges. The Inflation Reduction Act is not just a good climate bill; it is also a major achievement.
To address the climate crisis, it makes a $369 billion investment toward decarbonizing our Nation. The bill addresses environmental justice. Everyone should benefit from a cleaner environment, especially those who are vulnerable to disease because of where they live.
The bill finally helps Medicare negotiate a better deal on drug prices. This provision will save lives and help seniors enjoy their retirement without fear of poverty due to the cost of their medications.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, which is vital to our Nation's future.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, a reminder that there are, I believe, almost 600,425 Medicare beneficiaries who have diabetes in Pennsylvania. It is important that the bill that we have caps insulin costs.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell), a terrific member of the committee.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. DelBene), who is well known for her work in the renewable energy field.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu), whose work in the arena of renewable energy is well known.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), the majority whip of the Democratic Caucus, whose district I have visited.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brendan F. Boyle).
Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, the word ``historic'' is probably overused at times. Really, it is a day like today when the word ``historic'' is warranted.
For decades, politicians of both parties talked about giving Medicare the ability to negotiate prescription drugs to bring down the costs for seniors. Today, in this bill, we are doing it.
For decades, politicians talked about capping the amount of money seniors paid every year on prescription drugs. Some in my district in Philadelphia pay $5,000 a year, $10,000 a year. This bill caps it at no more than $2,000 a year.
Again, for decades, politicians talked about the need to address climate change and to make a large investment, so that we can finally tackle this existential challenge for America and for the world. Here in this bill we are doing it: the largest single investment to address climate change in our Nation's history.
I know that on social media and on TV, it tends to be the performative politics that get most of the attention, that helps breed cynicism within our constituents. It is legislation like this that makes a difference in people's lives. This is why we are here as lawmakers: to do the people's business.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Beyer), who has had a profound influence on this legislation and knows it inside and out.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider), who is a very valued member of the Ways and Means Committee.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the very capable gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez).
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Mr. NEAL. I will be the first to acknowledge that, Madam Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
This is a big day, and this is a big deal. We are putting people out front and making good on the promises we have made, lowering drug prices and investing in our climate.
A mountain-high pile of legislative achievements have we: the American Rescue Plan, the CHIPS and Science Act, and now this achievement for the American people.
Lyndon Johnson was right: ``Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.''
With the Inflation Reduction Act headed to the President's desk--and give Joe Biden credit--we stand here assured that tomorrow is ours to win.
We have had bold dreams in this Congress, and we have delivered big on those dreams. None of this would have been possible without the dedication and expertise of the staff of the Ways and Means Committee, the best in the business. They have worked nonstop for 2 years for the American people, and today, their hard work is on display for the world to witness and await the President's signature.
The Inflation Reduction Act sets our Nation on a healthier, fairer, and more prosperous path.
Madam Speaker, I urge our colleagues to support this critical legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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