House Consideration of Tax Extender Provisions

Floor Speech

Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my opposition to the process that has brought the bills under consideration before us today. Once again, my colleagues and I find ourselves in the difficult position of opposing the extension of tax provisions that are worthy of support, and long overdue for consideration. The Section 179 provisions that allow for businesses to expense the cost of certain asset purchases, and the tax treatment of S corporations that allows them to pay a reduced ``built-in gains'' tax, have long helped our small businesses thrive. I was pleased to vote for them as part of a bill to avert the fiscal cliff in January 2013. But because of inaction by the House on tax reform, these provisions were allowed to expire at the end of last year. Now, we are being given a choice: extend these provisions permanently without paying for them, and without also extending the many other important provisions that have expired, or don't extend them at all.

More than three million Americans have lost access to emergency unemployment insurance. Despite the Senate passing legislation to extend unemployment benefits, the House has refused to join in this important, bipartisan effort to help our hardest-hit constituents. Our colleagues in the majority insist that an extension of the emergency unemployment insurance program be fully paid for, but now are putting forward costly permanent legislation that will add $75 billion to the deficit. Of course small businesses are worthy of support from this Congress, but not at the expense of those who are still unable to find work. I fully support the motion to recommit, which extends these important provisions for another two years. This will give our businesses the tax relief they deserve, while allowing us to engage in a broader conversation on tax reform that our constituents have demanded.

In May, we considered a similarly misguided effort to extend the Research and Development Tax Credit permanently and without an offset. I expressed frustration that by extending this tax credit while not acting on others, we appear more concerned with the needs of the business community than with those of working families when we should be concerned about both. The credits we are considering today should be extended, yes, but so should important provisions such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and the Production Tax Credit for renewable energy projects.

The House must be mindful of its commitment to help all Americans, and we should consider a slate of tax extenders that will benefit all of our constituents. For this reason, I oppose the bills before us today, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Source