This Week In Washington : Federal Funding, Tax Relief, Foreclosure Hearing, Wall Street Reform

Statement

More than 7,200 people attended my telephone town hall on Tuesday night to share their views on health care, the economy, the War in Afghanistan, the foreclosure crisis, and the need for job creation and economic development in the Ninth District. If you'd like to be part of the next telephone town hall, please call my Memphis office to sign up at (901) 544-4131.

$21 Million for the Ninth District in FY 2010

On Thursday, the House of Representatives gave final approval to $21,117,375 in federal funding for the Ninth District. I worked closely with my colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee and with Senators Alexander and Corker to secure this federal funding.

Congress still must act on several more appropriations bills, but with the passage of H.R. 3288, the Fiscal Year 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Bill, next year's total federal investments for the Ninth District to $23,762,375.

In FY 2010, federal funding will go to many entities in the Ninth District including: University of Memphis, Southwest Tennessee Community College, UT-Health Science Center, 164th Airlift Wing, Memphis International Airport, and BRIDGES. Funding will also go to continue with Elvis Presley Boulevard improvements and fund infant mortality prevention programs. For a complete list of projects, please click here.

The Senate is expected to pass the Consolidated Appropriations Bill soon -- possibly this weekend. President Obama has indicated he will sign the legislation into law.

House Approves Additional Year of Tax Relief

On Wednesday, I voted to extend for an additional year a number of expiring tax provisions aimed at helping teachers, college students, homeowners, military families, encouraging charitable donations to schools and libraries, and spurring job creation.

H.R. 4213, the Tax Extenders Act of 2009, will provide individuals and business with tax relief in 2009 by extending more than 40 provisions of the IRS code that were set to expire at the end of the month -- including a provision that allows Tennessee taxpayers to deduct state and local sales taxes, similar to the way residents of other states are allowed to deduct their state income taxes from their federal income tax returns. To avoid raising the deficit, the bill closes a number of tax loopholes, such as forcing foreign-owned businesses to share the names of their American clients who are trying to hide their off-shore assets and increasing taxes on so-called "carried interest" earned by hedge-fund managers on Wall Street.

To learn more about the tax provisions that were extended, click here.

Subcommittee Hearing on Mortgage Reform

As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law (CAL), I held another in a series of hearings on the foreclosure crisis on Friday.

In a survey of the top 100 metro areas nationwide, Memphis ranked 18th in foreclosures. In a comparison of states, Tennessee routinely ranks among the top.

Back in July, the CAL Subcommittee heard testimony about the effectiveness of the Treasury Department's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). So far, the government's efforts at helping families avoid losing their homes appear not to be working effectively. I recognize that HAMP has only existed for nine months, but I am troubled by continuing reports in the media and from the Congressional Oversight Panel suggesting that the program is simply ineffective in stemming home foreclosures.

Earlier this year, I cosponsored and helped champion legislation written by Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, H.R. 1106, The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act. This bill gives bankruptcy judges the authority to modify debtors' mortgage terms in bankruptcy, including a reduction of the mortgage principal amount.

In my view, this provision would have substantially and effectively reduced the number of foreclosures. Unfortunately, it has not yet passed the Senate.

To view my opening statement from Friday's hearing, click here.

Holding Wall Street Accountable

On Friday, the House passed legislation that puts in place common-sense rules to ensure big banks and Wall Street can't jeopardize our recovery and hurt hard-working families and small businesses. Our country's financial meltdown demonstrated how the lack of consumer and investor protections not only harmed Main Street and millions of families but also pushed our economy to the brink of collapse.

I'm pleased that H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, includes my amendment to strengthen the Security and Exchange Commission's (SEC) ability to regulate financial advisors. The amendment helps ensure a strong fiduciary duty for investment advice by removing the authority for the SEC to delegate essential oversight of investment advisors to a self-regulatory organization.

I also cosponsored two other amendments -- one, to fully implement the Sarbanes Oxley Law and the second to empower bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages as part of the personal bankruptcy process. Unfortunately both these amendments failed as Republicans and Blue Dogs voted with bank lobbyist rather than support these important consumer and investor protections.

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