Providing for Consideration of H.R. 7060, Renewable Energy and Job Creation Tax Act of 2008

Floor Speech

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 7060, RENEWABLE ENERGY AND JOB CREATION TAX ACT OF 2008

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Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise in strong support of this rule and strong support of this bill.

I want to say to my friend, I am mindful of the issue he raises. I think that ought to be addressed and I certainly will look forward to working with him and others in addressing this as we move along; and before, hopefully, we leave here because he makes a good point.

I support this bill for two reasons. First, because it provides essential tax relief to American families and businesses. And secondly, just as importantly, because it is paid for.

The tax credits extended by this bill, some of the most necessary, are those that support renewable energy and energy efficiency. Business and political leaders agree. This summer, 51 State governors sent us a letter which read in part: "Extending tax incentives for energy efficiency and conservation will slow the growth of future energy needs, minimize ratepayers' costs, and lessen potential environmental impacts.''

New energy technologies may not end the pain of $4 a gallon gas in the short term, but those technologies which this bill helps to support are the only long-term solutions to our energy crunch. In the meantime, alternative energy tax credits will create tens of thousands of American jobs. We must pass this legislation.

Now, I was proud of the fact that the House passed a bill expanding domestic production of oil just this month. But a country that controls less than 3 percent of the world's oil supply, while using more than a quarter, cannot drill its way out of the fundamental problem. Boone Pickens has made that very clear to all of us.

That is why I am glad to see the House consider farsighted legislation like this. But I don't just support the goals of this bill, I support it because its tax credits are not financed by even more debt. We are going to incur a lot of debt, we are going to incur a lot of debt in this week. We did so yesterday. Almost all of the Members of this House voted to so-called fix the alternative minimum tax. I voted against that. I voted against it because it wasn't paid for.

The means used to pay for this legislation are not controversial. They include a provision to close a loophole that allows hedge fund managers and other high-income corporate executives to defer taxes through offshore tax havens. What does that mean, the rest of us pay more.

A large majority of the business community agrees that we should close that loophole. So do majorities in the House and Senate. Only a Republican minority in the Senate, frankly, is putting high-income tax loopholes above fiscal sanity. They are insisting, instead, that we pay for this bill with borrowed money.

I understand that bind, the bind that presents for principled Senate Democrats. But fiscal responsibility is not something we can compromise on, especially now. We have a crisis. This economy is in the worse shape it has been in half a century, notwithstanding the protestations that were made in 2001 and 2002 and 2003 and 2004 and 2005 and 2006 about how good this economy was, and the fact that the tax and economic policies being pursued by this administration were making our economy grow and expand and create jobs. The fact of the matter is, we have lost jobs this year; 500,000 jobs. Bill Clinton in the same period of time in his administration created 1.4 million new jobs. That is a net turnaround of 2 million jobs.

But fiscal responsibility is not something that we can compromise on, especially now. In crisis, we need to act. But in time of financial crisis brought on, in part, by massive fiscal irresponsibility and regulatory neglect, Mr. Speaker, no matter how much we value this extenders bill, it is simply wrong to pay for it by once more whipping out the national credit card. We don't need to do that. We have not done it, and I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will support this bill. They support the policies. All we are asking is to pay for it, and the pay-fors in this bill are not controversial. That is the kind of thinking that swung the Clinton surplus deep into record debt under President Bush and led to more foreign borrowing by this administration than by the first 42 administrations combined. In other words, we have had to borrow more money from foreign governments during the last 90 months than we borrowed in the previous 219 years.

We helped to create a crisis of confidence in our financial system which we are being asked to pay for, dearly. Charging our children and grandchildren for our priorities is deeply unwise, and I would suggest immoral.

This year, Senator Bob Corker, a Republican, was one of the few Republicans to bravely break with his party and insist that this bill be paid for. He said, and I call my Republican colleagues' attention to what Bob Corker had to say: "It is the first time in a long time I thought we had something that was intellectually honest,'' and that is paying for this bill. "And I have to tell you, my big fear is our tremendous lack of fiscal discipline.'' So said Bob Corker, Republican from Tennessee, when calling upon his body to pay for this bill.

That fear of more debt is entirely reasonable. I am glad more and more Members of Congress are coming to share it.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, not because they are Republicans or Democrats, but because they love our country, they want to see our fiscal ship of state righted, realizing we are in a crisis time, and they have an opportunity to act in a fiscally responsible way today. Take that opportunity. Show America that we have the courage to pay for what we buy while at the same time giving tax relief to people who need it, to businesses who will expand and create jobs, and to an energy independence that is so critical for our Nation.

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