Conference Report on H.R. 4520, American Jobs Creation Act of 2004

CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4520, AMERICAN JOBS CREATION ACT OF 2004 -- (House of Representatives - October 07, 2004)

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. I am not sure who he is getting advice from, but I rise in opposition to this bill.

Mr. Speaker, like most of my colleagues, I agree that we must address the underlying problems with our international tax rules. We should have done that over a year ago. As a result of not doing so, as a result of simply delaying until we could get enough special interest provisions in this bill to get a majority for it, we have cost American manufacturers and exporters millions and millions of dollars.

But I must voice my opposition to the conference report, a product that has not improved with age. In fact, as it has been drawn out over time, it gets further and further away from the problem it was supposed to address.

There are more narrowly-crafted tax breaks in the conference report than when it left the House in June. There are fewer incentives to keep jobs in this country and just as many incentives that will continue to move jobs overseas, no matter how often they say that is not the case. Read the bill.

On the whole, the balance of this measure has absolutely nothing to do with fixing international tax rules, and were it not for some extraneous provisions that are vital in several States, I doubt that we would be debating this conference report now, because it would have never passed the House in the first place. Period.

So, once again, after a decade of rhetoric on tax reform and increased calls by leaders of the other side of the aisle for action on tax simplification, a product has been brought before this House that only serves to complicate and carve up the Tax Code even more. As a matter of fact, as the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) knows, in 40 months, we have expanded the Tax Code and regulations by over 30 percent. My, my, my.

That is why, of course, Joe Scarborough said when informed that he campaigned on the basis of tax simplification, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "We lied." That is what Joe Scarborough said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Snow, U.S. Treasury Secretary Snow agrees, indicating earlier this week that its content "went far beyond the bill's core objective," which was to resolve a $4 billion trade dispute with the European Union.

At a time of record job loss, especially in the manufacturing sector, Republican leaders rejected a bipartisan solution that could have passed well over a year ago, at far less cost to the country and without the delaying tactics that allowed 1 percent tariffs on our exports.

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Mr. HOYER. Then that advice cannot be followed.

To date, Mr. Speaker, business across this country have been harmed to the tune of nearly $187 million, because the majority did not pass this bill last year, as they should have. After having ignored fiscal discipline for the last 43 months, the majority has miraculously rediscovered the principle of revenue neutrality, but are using gimmicks, phase-outs, and controversial revenue-raisers that punish working families, small business taxpayers, and charitable organizations to do so.

True, hidden among the largesse are a few deserving provisions. I would like to support those. But I cannot support this bill, which continues the path of extraordinary fiscal irresponsibility, which took us from a $5.6 trillion surplus told that we had by George Bush back in March of 2001, to the time now when we have a $3 trillion deficit confronting the children and grandchildren of this country. How sad the performance. How ill-timed and ill-conceived this legislation.