Statements On Introduced Bills And Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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By Mr. GRASSLEY:

S. 2815. A bill to extend certain housing-related deadlines in the Heartland Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2008; to the Committee on Finance.

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today I have introduced a bill to extend deadlines by one year for three provisions in the Heartland Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2008.

The Heartland Disaster Tax Relief Act has been critical in rebuilding the lives and communities of those affected by the terrible floods and tornadoes from last year.

Because of delays in Federal funding and tighter credit conditions, many homeowners affected by the 2008 floods and storms will be unable to meet the deadline for the tax relief intended to help with recovery.

It is only fair to extend the deadline and give these homeowners the chance to recover and rebuild. A lot of people are still trying to fix their ruined homes or move on to new housing. A house is ruined in a few minutes, but banks and governments take what seems like an eternity.

The first provision is a one-year extension of the provision allowing disaster victims with damage to their primary residence to use their own assets to buy a new home or repair an existing home by withdrawing money from their retirement plans without tax penalties.

The second provision is a one-year extension of a provision allowing disaster victims that have borrowed from their retirement account for disaster recovery to repay their own account without penalty.

The final provision is a 1-year extension of a provision allowing disaster victims whose banks cancel mortgage debt to not have the cancelled debt counted as taxable income. I urge my colleagues to help me in getting this important legislation enacted into law as soon as possible.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record

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