Tax Extenders Act of 2009

Floor Speech

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Mr. NEAL. I thank the gentleman for acknowledging me.

I stand in support of this legislation. I had not intended to offer any rancor or any response to the other side, but when I have heard the rhetoric of the last couple of speakers, I must tell you, it kind of goes like this: The people that set the fire are now the ones calling the fire department.

What they inherited when Bill Clinton walked out the door was a $5.7 trillion surplus. When they talk about fictitious theology, how about tax cuts paying for themselves? That is why we find ourselves where we do.

Until Mr. Camp qualified the remarks of Mr. Heller, not one Republican speaker mentioned unemployment benefits. That is what this is about at this moment. There are 435 of us here, and all 435 would have done this differently, myself included. However, that is not the option as you address unemployment benefits which begin to expire next week. That is the cornerstone of this undertaking.

One of my papers opined this morning that the cost of human inaction is intolerable. Thousands of working families will lose their benefits if we don't undertake this action.

Job-creating incentives are in this legislation. I know. I have helped to author them and write them. The Build America Bonds campaign, any Member of this House can go back home with a sense of pride and satisfaction as they witness the implementation of the Build America Bonds initiative.

This bill protects Private Activity Bonds from the onerous Alternative Minimum Tax, lowering costs for State and local governments that use the bonds for airports, school loans, and other essential needs. Take this to an advertisement in your local paper, where it says relief from Alternative Minimum Tax, and take it to the airport that is being expanded. They have utilized that opportunity.

New Markets Tax Credits. I have been in the middle of it, and we protect them from AMT to promote investment in low-income neighborhoods.

That is what this legislation is about today.

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