Renewable Energy and Job Creation Tax Act of 2008

Floor Speech

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Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume, and I want to thank Chairman Rangel.

Let me stand in support of this energy and tax extenders legislation we are considering today. I have been here for 20 years. This is a good piece of work. I want to thank Charlie Rangel for his hard work on this legislation again and again and again.

This is the sixth time we are going to send this energy package over to the other body. But they keep moving the goalpost. And every time they move the goalpost a few yards farther, we still pass the bill. We keep meeting their demands, and they keep saying it's not good enough. A clean AMT patch is on the way to the Senate. It's already been declared dead on arrival. It seems in the other body they can't take "yes'' for an answer.

As my colleagues here know, this bill contains extensions of popular tax incentives that expired at the end of last year. This has to be done. This needs to get under way.

I want to thank Chairman Rangel for asserting the constitutional responsibility of the House of Representatives in moving this legislation and within this body, the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over this matter.

In my home State, 94,000 teachers will get a deduction for their out-of-pocket expenses for classroom supplies, 1,000 businesses in Massachusetts will get some credit for the millions they spend on research here in the U.S.

The R&D tax credit is important. Without this bill, 121,000 families in Massachusetts cannot take a deduction on their college tuition expenses.

This bill includes a number of popular and forward-thinking incentives for energy efficiency. There are many well-crafted positions and provisions in this bill. There is not enough time to mention them all this morning.

Let me conclude by simply saying that Chairman Rangel has crafted a very balanced bill which does no harm to the Federal Treasury. It asks that hedge fund managers pay a bit more, and it delays an international tax break that hasn't gone into effect yet. It is responsible legislation.

I urge support of this bill, and let's send a strong message to the Senate and to the President. We want this tax relief bill done now, and we can do it in a fiscally responsible way.

Madam Speaker, with that I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, the provisions of H.R. 7060, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008, provides tax relief by extending generally for 2 years various energy tax incentives and other temporary tax provisions. I have asked the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation to make available to the public a technical explanation of the bill, JCX75-08. The technical explanation expresses the committee's understanding and legislative intent behind this important legislation. It is available on the Joint Committee's Web site at www.jct.gov.

Madam Speaker, the Senate has not sent a bill over to us. None of us got elected here to defer to what the other body happens to think on any given day. We have repeatedly sent them good legislation over the course of the last year and a half, only to have it summarily rejected.

I want to submit today, I bet you during the course of Mr. Camp's career, along with mine, that will be the last time he quotes the majority leader of the United States Senate on a piece of legislation.

This is a responsible bill, and it is the constitutional prerogative of the House of Representatives to originate this legislation. What is the sense of being on the Ways and Means Committee if you defer to the other body on these matters? We have separate responsibilities for good reason, and that's what we are entertaining today.

A reminder--there is no Senate bill to consider. They have not sent one over. How about the idea that they have said if they don't have the paperwork by 11 o'clock, they're not going to consider this bill. Why be on the Ways and Means Committee? Why be a member of the House of Representatives?

We have done a good job with these legislative matters and sent them back to them responsibly. We have rules here, and we adhere to them. That is the fundamental difference.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of our time.

Mr. Speaker, I have been here for 20 years. I want to tell you something today. This is a good piece of legislation. This deals with the energy needs of the country, and I want to say to my friend, Mr. Camp, I consulted with him on major portions of this legislation. There are provisions in this legislation that Mr. Camp and I worked hand-in-glove on.

We are here this morning where the minority side says, "Well, we have to check with the President.'' We didn't get elected to be members of the executive branch; we got elected to be Members of the legislative branch. Every school child in America knows that. Since when do we submit here without asking any questions of the executive to the whims of what they might want to do?

I want to say this today. The reason that historians will write about the last 7 1/2 years being as difficult as it has been for the American people, including what is in front of this Nation today, is because the minority today, who were the majority for the first 6 years of the Bush administration, they abdicated their responsibility.

The job of this body is to occasionally ask a question of the President of the United States. Instead, it was, "Yes, Mr. President.''

"Can we move quickly enough, Mr. President?''

"Weapons of mass destruction? Yes, Mr. President.''

"Invasion of Iraq? Yes, Mr. President.''

"$2.3 trillion worth of tax cuts? Yes, Mr. President.''

"Regulations thrown out the window? Yes, Mr. President.''

Since when do Members of this body ask themselves is it okay with the United States Senate? Is it okay with the President of the United States?

Our job here is to help the 660,000 people that sent us here, and that means occasionally clearing your throat and saying, "No, Mr. President.''

This bill addresses many fundamental issues for the American people. The R&D tax credit is very important. When the Senate says to us they're not going to act on our legislation if we don't get it over there by 11 o'clock, they haven't even submitted a bill to us to act upon.

This deference all of a sudden to the United States Senate surprises me. We have a separate responsibility here to move forward with what we believe to be in the best interest of the American people and not to accept automatically what the executive branch says or what the Senate says.

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I've been associated with some good legislation, and from time to time perhaps in this body over two decades, some not-so-good legislation. This, Mr. Speaker, is a good piece of legislation, and the minority was included in the writing of this legislation.

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