[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 141 (Wednesday, October 8, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H9346-H9349]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




MOTION TO INSTRUCT CONFEREES ON H.R. 1308, TAX RELIEF, SIMPLIFICATION, 
                         AND EQUITY ACT OF 2003

  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Crowley moves that the managers on the part of the 
     House in the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two 
     Houses on the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 
     1308 be instructed as follows:
       1. The House conferees shall be instructed to include in 
     the conference report the provision of the Senate amendment 
     (not included in the House amendment) that provides immediate 
     payments to taxpayers receiving an additional credit by 
     reason of the bill in the same manner as other taxpayers were 
     entitled to immediate payments under the Jobs and Growth Tax 
     Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003.
       2. The House conferees shall be instructed to include in 
     the conference report the provision of the Senate amendment 
     (not included in the House amendment) that provides families 
     of military personnel serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other 
     combat zones a child credit based on the earnings of the 
     individuals serving in the combat zone.
       3. The House conferees shall be instructed to include in 
     the conference report all of the other provisions of the 
     Senate amendment and shall not report back a conference 
     report that includes additional tax benefits not offset by 
     other provisions.
       4. To the maximum extent possible within the scope of 
     conference, the House conferees shall be instructed to 
     include in the conference report other tax benefits for 
     military personnel and the families of the astronauts who 
     died in the Columbia disaster.
       5. The House conferees shall, as soon as practicable after 
     the adoption of this motion, meet in open session with the 
     Senate conferees and the House conferees shall file a 
     conference report consistent with the preceding provisions of 
     this instruction, not later than the second legislative day 
     after adoption of this motion.

  Mr. CROWLEY (during the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 
consent that the motion to instruct be considered as read and printed 
in the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XXII, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) and the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Herger) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley).


                             General Leave

  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on this motion and insert extraneous material thereon.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, today I am offering a motion to instruct conferees on 
the child tax credit.
  Mr. Speaker, while many of my colleagues continue to believe that 
higher deficits and more tax cuts for the rich are the way to end this 
Bush recession, let us look at the facts.
  Since the beginning of the Bush administration, America has seen the 
loss of over 3.3 million jobs, of which 2.5 million have been in 
manufacturing. Moreover, taxes on working families have gone up. This 
is via interest rate increases that makes your monthly mortgage 
payments higher and increases your monthly car payments.
  The national deficit has soared to almost half a trillion dollars 
this year and is increasing. And what are you getting? Your tax dollars 
are paying over $300 billion this year alone on interest on the Bush 
tax cut for the rich.
  Finally, Democrats, working with Senate Republicans, put forth a bill 
to give working families a real tax cut: an extension of the child tax 
credit. The Republicans oppose it. They are opposing a tax cut on 
working families.
  The people missing out on this tax cut include 6.5 million working 
families and their 12 million children who are struggling to make ends 
meet. One in five of these children are from active duty military 
families, making even a Republican Senator from Arizona who, by the 
way, ran for President just 2

[[Page H9347]]

years ago, to say, and I quote, ``I don't understand how you, the 
Republican leadership and the President, left enlisted men and women 
out of this tax package. I do not get it.'' End quote.
  Additionally, this bill will disproportionately penalize African 
American and Hispanic children. Mr. Speaker, 2.4 million African 
American children and 4.1 million Hispanic children's families deserve 
this tax cut, but the Republican party refuses to give it to them, 
preferring tax cuts for millionaires and big business, this according 
to the Children's Defense Fund.
  This Republican tax package ignores the needs of working families; 
and by ignoring 6.5 million working families, it will have a 
devastating impact on these families and the children across our 
country. It will have a particularly devastating impact on Latino and 
African American families, those suffering some of the worst brunt of 
this Bush recession.
  We see 3.3 million U.S. jobs disappear in America since January of 
2001. We see the unemployment rate for African Americans at 11.2 
percent of the population. We see the Hispanic unemployment rate at 7.5 
percent.
  On top of that, this most recent tax bill for the rich cut out child 
care tax benefits for the poorest children in America whose parents are 
working, not on welfare as the Republicans would have you believe, but 
are working people who can barely keep their head above water, thanks 
to the economic nightmare cast on America by this Republican party and 
President Bush.
  These are people struggling to provide for their families, and this 
Republican Congress refuses to fix it. Republicans are holding 
America's working families hostage by opposing any legislative remedy 
to help working families and instead by offering another huge tax cut 
for the richest 1 percent of Americans.
  Again, I believe it is shameful to be offering tax cuts to the rich 
while cutting benefits for the working poor, cutting benefits for our 
veterans, cutting benefits for seniors on Medicare, and allowing 
millions of American jobs to disappear since President Bush and 
Republicans began to set economic policy almost 3 years ago.
  President Bush's economic plan has failed the American people who 
should be some of the most cherished members of our society, our 
veterans, working families, and innocent children. President Bush's 
economic plan does more than ignore these groups. In my opinion, and 
many other people's opinion, it hurts them.
  As the Disabled American Veterans wrote in a letter to Speaker 
Hastert and the Republican Party earlier this year during consideration 
of the Republican budget, which mandated massive cuts in veterans' 
programs, Disabled American Veterans asked, ``Have you no shame?'' They 
were speaking to the Republican Party. Today I ask that same question 
on behalf of the working families of my district, the Bronx and Queens.
  The child tax credit bill passed by this Republican House leaves 
children and families in my district behind, particularly families of 
color. Families earning between $10,500 a year and $26,625 a year are 
excluded from claiming the child tax credit increase. What does this 
mean for Latino families? Half of all Latinos report having an annual 
household income under $30,000. Half of all Latinos report having an 
annual household income under $30,000. The House Republican child tax 
credit plan means most of these Latino families will be excluded, will 
be excluded from the child tax credit. It means that approximately 1.6 
million or 30 percent of the eligible Latino families who might have 
otherwise benefited from the increase are being left out. This is on 
top of the fact that the Bush economic plan means more Latinos are out 
of work.
  Moreover, Latinos have a faster-rising unemployment rate than the 
general population. As of this summer it was 7.5 percent compared to 
roughly 6 percent for the average American. This is on top of the fact 
that the Bush tax cut on dividend income affects only 7 percent of 
Hispanics who own stock.
  Latinos in my district want to work, and they want to do what they 
can to provide good futures for their children. But many Latinos in my 
district are working in low-wage jobs or, thanks to the number of full-
time jobs lost, are only working part time. They are being left out of 
the Bush tax credit.
  President Bush's priorities are clearly not working for Latino 
families, and they are clearly not working for African American 
families either. African American families are among the hardest hit by 
the Bush tax plan and the House Republican child tax credit.
  About 932,000 African American children under the age of 18, 
according to the Children's Defense Fund, live in extreme poverty. 
Given our economy, it is unfortunately not surprising that this 
statistic represents a 50 percent increase since 1999.

  African American families, like Latino families are 
disproportionately left out of the Bush child tax credit. African 
American unemployment is rising to above 10 percent. Those who are 
eligible to find work are often barely getting by.
  These are the families that need the child tax credit the most, and 
yet these are the families that the Republicans and this President are 
leaving out. A family earning $20,000 with two children is being 
overlooked by President Bush in favor of the family earning $200,000 a 
year who does not necessarily need the child tax credit. Yet a family 
earning $20,000 is the family that sincerely needs a $400 child tax 
credit. That credit would be equivalent to a 4 percent raise in pay. 
But that tax credit does not exist under President Bush's plan.
  President Bush's priorities are not the families that need the tax 
credit the most. President Bush continues to ignore the voices of 
Latino and African American families. Our national debt increases, our 
debt limit increases, and President Bush continues to increase tax 
breaks for those who do not need them. And I believe and all of this 
side of the aisle believe that that is wrong.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) apparently has 
not read the House-passed bill. The House-passed bill is the same as 
the motion to instruct in the treatment of low-income families. Both 
accelerate the refundability of the child tax credit effective this 
year, exactly the same as the motion to instruct.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to instruct offered 
by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley). We all agree that changes 
need to be made in the child tax credit. The legislation passed by the 
House earlier this year, legislation that passed by voice vote, by the 
way, makes a number of beneficial changes to the child tax credit. For 
example, the House legislation will ensure that child credit remain at 
$1,000 per child through the year 2010. Under current law, the credit 
is scheduled to be reduced after 2004 resulting in a tax increase on 
American families. I hope we can all agree to keep the credit at 
$1,000.
  The House bill also eliminates the marriage penalty in the child 
credit. Eliminating this marriage penalty will provide more than $20 
billion of tax relief to middle-income families over 11 years.
  The House bill enhances tax fairness for the members of the U.S. 
military who risk their lives to defend our freedom by granting capital 
gains relief on home sales, making death gratuity payments tax free, 
and other important provisions.
  Perhaps of most interest to those who are supporting the motion, the 
House bill increases the amount of the child tax credit that is 
refundable from 10 percent of income over $10,500 to 15 percent of 
income over this amount. Our bill would make this increase effective 
this year.
  The motion to instruct, on the other hand, would reduce the child tax 
credit for millions of children. It would allow the child credit to 
drop from $1,000 per child to $700 per child.

                              {time}  1715

  The motion to instruct does not eliminate the marriage penalty in the 
child credit until 2010 and then it only does so for 1 year.
  Under this motion to instruct, millions of children will be denied 
the child credit simply because their parents are married. The House 
bill benefits middle-income families by eliminating the marriage 
penalty in the child credit immediately.

[[Page H9348]]

  Finally, let me make clear that the House passed bill does not, I 
repeat, does not deny the child credit to military families. Military 
families, including those who are deployed abroad, are already 
receiving a refundable child credit and will continue to receive a 
refundable child credit under the House bill.
  The motion to instruct would use a different definition of the income 
when determining the child credit, thus increasing the child credit for 
some military families. But I would note that this definition of income 
is different than the definition of income recommended by the prior 
administration, a Democratic administration. In fact, the current 
definition of income, as proposed by the Clinton administration, was 
enacted in the law in order to simplify the program and limit the 
potential for fraud and abuse.
  So let us be clear. The House bill provides more tax relief to 
military families because it includes $806 million in military tax 
benefits that are not included in the motion to instruct.
  Mr. Speaker, we should support the very worthy legislation passed by 
this House and reject the motion to instruct.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I will point out that I think my colleague is euphoric 
over the victory yesterday of his party and the election in California. 
I know perfectly well what bill is before this House, what bill passed 
this House. I know that at that desk is a bill from the other body that 
is a clean bill, that will not cost any additional money above and 
beyond what the Senate has asked for to pay for the tax cut for the 6.5 
million poor people that we are talking about that deserve and need 
this tax cut.
  The bill that passed this House will cost an additional $80 billion 
and support the wealthiest 1 percent in this country. I was very clear 
in my statement about that. I know what bill passed this House. I voted 
against that bill. I will support, and I would ask the gentleman if he 
will go to our leadership and bring down to this floor a bill that we 
can all support. The gentleman said it himself, he does not necessarily 
disagree with me that these 6.5 million people should get this tax 
credit, but he wants to pass a bill that will also tag on additional 
billions of dollars, increasing our national debt, an additional $80 
billion to support the wealthiest 1 percent in this country. I think 
that is unconscionable.
  But, then again, in California we can look at the job loss rate. 
Since this President took office, they have lost 361,000 jobs in that 
State. I wonder if we ask any of the 361,000 people, who probably will 
not be eligible now for a child tax credit under their bill, whether 
they think this bill should pass or not.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. 
Inslee).
  (Mr. INSLEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, in thinking about the context of these 
bills, I imagined how we would react if a politician pulled up next to 
a third grader getting out of school ready to traipse home, came up to 
the third grader and said, I am taking your lunch money unless I get my 
new tax break at over $200,000 income, and I am not giving you your 
lunch money for tomorrow unless I get my tax break, because that is 
what the Republican position is on this bill.
  The Republican House position on this bill is that unless these 
higher-income individuals get an additional tax break on top of the 
millions of dollars they have already got, that little Johnny does not 
get his lunch money, and his parents do not get the child tax credit 
break that they have coming to them.
  We have a bill right here that will get unanimous approval to give 
this child tax credit to the people who deserve it, but they will not 
give it to him because they are holding these children hostage. And it 
is not a pretty sight from either side of this aisle. And when we think 
about the children who are subject to this, I want to make sure we know 
who these kids are and who their parents are: 178,000 are children of 
farmers, good folk; 567,000 are children of nurses or orderlies taking 
care of our families; 337,000 of them are teachers; and 262,000 are 
children of personnel, many of whom are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan 
today.
  But I want to make sure the record is really clear, the Republican 
party is telling the Army, for example, in Iraq today that their 
children do not get a tax credit unless the millionaires of America get 
another tax break for their income. And when you come home, you will be 
coming home to an America where your kid still does not get a tax 
credit unless our millionaire buddies who participate in the political 
process get their tax break first.
  That is not the message I want to send. That is not the message the 
Democratic party wants to send to the soldiers and sailors who are 
proudly serving in Iraq and Afghanistan today.
  I also want to point out another glitch that we need to fix that the 
Republicans refuse to fix. Today an E-5 sergeant with 6 years of 
service and two children, who is paid $29,000, who is serving in Iraq 
today would normally get the $1,000 tax credit, but because they are in 
combat, under existing law, this is pretty incredible, because they are 
in combat, they only get a $450 break under the House bill. So what the 
Republican House bill did is to say people who go to Iraq and get 
combat pay get a less child credit.
  We want to fix that problem. I think probably the Republicans want to 
fix that problem too, but they just refuse to do it because you want to 
hold it hostage to the tax breaks for their rich pals, and that is 
wrong. And the reason we have come down here is we are not going to 
give up on this until these kids and their parents get this tax credit, 
and we are going to make sure America knows about this travesty to get 
this done. I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) for 
sticking on this.
  Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, my friend is incorrect. The House bill does not give any 
benefits to the wealthiest 1 percent of families because the wealthiest 
are not eligible for the child credit. Our bill benefits low-income and 
middle-income families who are left out of the Democrat motion to 
instruct.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, does the gentleman have any additional 
speakers? I reserve the right to close.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). The gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Crowley) is prepared to close. The gentleman from California (Mr. 
Herger) may proceed.
  Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, this House passed a good bill to improve 
the child tax credit and to provide tax relief to our brave men and 
women in the Armed Forces.
  Now is not the time to abandon what we have already done. We should 
continue to work with the other body to resolve this issue, but we 
should not settle for a bill that is inferior to what was already 
passed by this House. Hardworking families and the military men and 
women who preserve our freedom deserve tax fairness today more than 
ever. Let us show our support for the House bill by rejecting this 
motion to instruct.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, let me say in response to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Herger), under the House bill that passed that I voted 
against, I actually, myself, personally, would become eligible for the 
tax credit. I would only become eligible for it if the House bill 
passed. I did not ask for it. I am not asking for it. I do not need it, 
but I have constituents in my district who are asking me for it. They 
do need it.
  I do not have a rich district. I do not have a wealthy district. I 
have a lower- to lower-middle-class district, and they are asking for 
this assistance.
  Today I rise in support of these working families and of their 
children and of similar families all across this country from New York 
City to California, from the State of Maine to Florida and Texas. 
Today, I rise in support of African American and Latino families in

[[Page H9349]]

my district and across this Nation as well. Today I rise in support of 
our military families who are serving our country while trying to 
provide for a better life for their children.
  The Republican child tax credit package hurts all of those groups. A 
child tax credit package that goes out of its way to exclude those that 
need it the most, the families that need it the most, that it is 
actually most meaningful to, is not helpful to these families in our 
country, a child tax credit package that goes out of its way to exclude 
those that would actually spend the tax credit, putting those funds 
back into our stalled economy, it just simply is not helpful to those 
families and to our country that needs that stimulus. That is not a 
family-friendly package and that package is not helpful to our economy.
  Yet, my colleagues on the other side are still telling us that higher 
deficits and more tax cuts for the rich are the way to end this Bush 
recession. Republicans are still telling us that tax cuts for the rich 
are what will help working families. Well, the statistics tell us a 
different story and the people of my district, they understand there, 
and they know better.
  Since President Bush took office, America has lost over 3.3 million 
jobs. That is 3.3 million people hurt by reckless tax policies of this 
administration and this Republican Congress. And yet the Republicans 
still have the audacity to tell the working African American and Latino 
families that they, by and large, will be excluded from yet another tax 
break. Mr. Bush and House Republicans have the audacity to tell many 
working families who serve our military that they too will be excluded. 
Mr. Bush has the audacity to charge those families suffering the most 
under an economy he created and says he will not help.
  The Republicans have given us 3.3 million new unemployed in this 
country. The Republicans have given us a $500 billion deficit this 
year. The Republicans have given us high interest rates on our homes 
and cars through reckless economic policies. Yet the Republicans refuse 
to give American working families and the enlisted military personnel a 
much needed tax cut. It is unconscionable, and I urge my colleagues in 
this House to support this motion before us.
  Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Representative Crowley's 
motion to instruct the conferees to grant the Child Tax Credit to 
thousands of needy families wrongfully ignored by the Republican 
majority.
  When the conference report on the Republican tax cut was finished, 
the dividend tax cut got bigger and tax credits for working families 
got smaller. It is unconscionable that we are willing to sacrifice 
Child Tax Credits for the poorest in our society, so that we can give 
more money to the wealthiest.
  Six and a half million families in this Nation earn $10,500 to 
$26,625 per year. If we do not pass a child tax credit for the 
families, 19 million children will be ignored. In my home State of 
California, nearly 1.3 million working families will not receive a 
child tax credit because the Republicans needed to give President Bush 
more billionaire tax cuts. These working families need relief!
  By not passing a complete child tax credit, 250,000 kids of active 
duty military families, many of whom are right now fighting overseas, 
will be ignored. Military families need relief!
  Our economy is in desperate need of stimulus. Unemployment across the 
Nation has remained over 6 percent and the Hispanic unemployment rate 
remains above 7.5 percent. America's families are suffering.
  Unemployment is up. Wages are down. Poverty is on the rise. More 
Americans can no longer afford health care.
  America's families need our help. They need a child tax credit!
  During this time of economic downturn we must not leave out those who 
are working harder for less pay or those who have recently joined the 
ranks of the unemployed. It is time to put working families back into 
the equation.
  I urge my colleagues to support Representative Crowley's motion to 
instruct.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion to instruct.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct 
offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley).
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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