[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 12 (Tuesday, February 12, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H236-H237]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HOUSE LEADERSHIP URGED TO CONSIDER ACCELERATED DEPRECIATION IN STIMULUS 
                                PACKAGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 23, 2002, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, today our Nation is at war. We are in a war 
against terrorism. We are working to build our homeland security, and 
we are suffering an economic recession. Our Commander in Chief, 
President Bush, is demonstrating strong, resolute leadership in the war 
against terrorism. We must not forget that the war against terrorism 
will last a long time, not just months, but likely years. The war 
against terrorism will not end in Afghanistan. The al Qaeda terrorism 
network has a presence in 65 nations, and tens of thousands of 
terrorists have gone through their death training camps.
  Part of winning the war on terrorism is also getting our economy 
moving again. Clearly, the terrorist attack was directed at our 
economy. If we look back and remember 1 year ago this month, when 
President Bush was sworn into office on the east front in inaugural 
ceremonies, he inherited a weakening economy, an economy which was 
getting weaker and Americans were beginning to lose their jobs. He 
proposed a tax cut, a tax cut he said that would put extra money in the 
pocketbooks of America's consumers, giving them more money to spend at 
home for their families' needs.

[[Page H237]]

  That was enacted into law in June. By Labor Day, economists were 
telling us the tax cut was working on getting our economy moving again. 
Unfortunately, the tragedy of the terrorist attacks on September 11 
occurred and that tragedy cost thousands of Americans their lives. It 
was a terrible tragedy, but also it also gave a psychological blow to 
our economy, causing investors and consumers to step back from 
decisions they had made prior to September 11. Unfortunately, by 
stepping back from those decisions, it cost hundreds of thousands, and 
almost a million, Americans their jobs.
  Today, over a million Americans have lost their jobs since the 
terrorist attacks on September 11, tens of thousands in the area that I 
represent in the Chicago area. To win the war against terrorism, we 
must get this economy moving again. We must give Americans the 
opportunity to go back to work.
  I would note that this House, the House of Representatives, has 
twice, in October and in December, acted to get the economy moving 
again, passing a bipartisan economic stimulus plan and sending it over 
to the Senate. Unfortunately, partisan politics prevented our efforts 
from succeeding in getting to the President's desk and signature into 
law. I believe we must not give up on our efforts to revitalize this 
economy and give Americans the opportunity to go back to work.
  During these times, some Democratic leaders have called for a tax 
increase. I am proud to say that this past week the House spoke loud 
and clear stating opposition overwhelmingly to a Democratic proposal to 
repeal the Bush tax cut. No economist says that we should raise taxes 
in a recession, but that we should bring spending under control.
  I want to take this opportunity to urge our leadership, as they 
consider what to do next, to once again move legislation to stimulate 
our economy and to bring economic security for American workers. I want 
to rise to suggest one provision that I believe must be included in 
that package that we send to the President, a provision that is a 
strong stimulation for our economy. Many of us know it as accelerated 
depreciation, or depreciation reform, or expensing, or bonus 
depreciation.
  The provision, which has strong bipartisan support in this House, 
provides for 30 percent expensing, giving faster or quicker cost 
recovery for a business that buys an asset. Think about it. When 
someone buys a pickup truck or a computer or security equipment, there 
is a worker somewhere in America who manufactures that product. There 
is a worker that is going to install it and service it. And of course 
there is going to be a worker who is going to operate that piece of 
equipment. Accelerated depreciation, the 30 percent expensing provision 
rewards investment in those kinds of jobs.
  I would note the only way to take advantage of that tax incentive is 
to invest and buy and create jobs. Many businesses back home that I 
know of, since September 11, are also upgrading their security and 
their safety measures in their plants. Accelerated depreciation will 
help them better afford to make their plants and places of work safer 
and more secure for their employees and visitors.

                              {time}  1300

  Over the next few days, decisions are going to be made on how we can 
better help by extending unemployment benefits. The gentleman from 
California (Mr. Thomas) and President Bush have urged a tax credit to 
help the uninsured with health care insurance. That is a good idea, and 
I believe that should be part of that final package. But I also believe 
that we mean to combine the unemployment benefits and the health care 
benefits with incentives to invest in the creation of jobs. Accelerated 
depreciation of a 30 percent expensing component will help put 
Americans back to work.
  Mr. Speaker, I have a letter signed by almost three dozen Members of 
this House, a letter circulated by myself and the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Upton) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Dooley), 
urging our leadership to include accelerated depreciation in any 
package that goes to the President, and I include that for the Record.

                                               Washington, DC,

                                                 February 6, 2002.
     Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
     Speaker of the House,
     The Capitol, Washington DC.
       Dear Speaker Hastert: We are disappointed by the recent 
     breakdown in negotiations in the Senate on a meaningful 
     economic stimulus package. We firmly believe that Congress 
     can help balance the desire to promote economic growth with 
     efforts to help those workers who have lost their jobs due to 
     the recession.
       If the Senate sends the House a bill extending unemployment 
     benefits by 13 weeks, we would encourage you to add the one 
     major economic growth component that is bipartisan and agreed 
     upon by almost everyone, the 30% accelerated depreciation 
     bonus for new investments. Not only is this provision 
     bipartisan, but it is widely supported by most businesses and 
     business groups.
       The combination of a temporary unemployment compensation 
     and the 30% bonus depreciation proposal would provided an 
     excellent balance between providing a helping hand to workers 
     out of work and struggling because of the recession and the 
     desire to foster economic growth. The most important feature 
     of the accelerated depreciation proposal is that in order for 
     businesses to take advantage of the bonus, a decision must be 
     made to purchase and invest in new equipment. When businesses 
     make these investments, employees are put back to work 
     engineering, building, installing and operating the new 
     products, thereby stimulating and growing the economy. This 
     type of stimulus is exactly what the economy needs to pull 
     out of the current recession.
       We appreciate your consideration and look forward to 
     working with you on this proposal.
           Sincerely,
     Jerry Weller.
     Fred Upton.
     Cal Dooley.

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