[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 96 (Thursday, July 1, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H5183]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                PASS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TAX CREDIT

  (Mr. UDALL of Colorado asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, it is July. Half a year is gone. 
Next week we will go home to tell our constituents what the House has 
accomplished. What will we say? If we are candid, we will have to say, 
not enough.
  We have not acted to protect patients' rights. We have not acted to 
reform campaign finance. We have not acted to help communities respond 
to growth and sprawl. We have not even done an easy thing like renewing 
the research and development tax credit. It expired last night.
  We need to do better. In fact, we need to make the credit permanent 
and broaden it. A temporary credit like the one that expired last night 
is a less effective credit because researchers cannot count on it. 
Making it permanent would end this uncertainty. A broader credit would 
benefit small businesses and high-tech entrepreneurial start-ups. Under 
the law that just expired, these firms did not benefit. We should go 
further and use the credit to promote collaboration between the Federal 
Government, the private sector and universities like the University of 
Colorado in my district.
  Half the year is gone, but half remains. We need to stop wasting time 
and missing deadlines. Let us pass this tax credit as soon as possible.

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