[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 100 (Tuesday, June 17, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5670-S5672]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TAX EXTENDER LEGISLATION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, yesterday was a remarkably good day. When I 
got out of law school, I went back to Nevada and thought I would be 
this great golfer. I golfed for 6 months or so, and then realized I was 
becoming obsessed with the game. Therefore, I decided I shouldn't do 
this. I had a family, and it took so much time.
  For a number of years, I have listened to my friends talk about how 
much they enjoy golf, and I am sure they do. But it has only been in 
recent years that the American public has focused on golf, and that is 
because of Tiger Woods.
  I can remember the first time I watched this little boy play. They 
showed him on the late night shows. Of course, as we all know, it was 
taped a lot earlier before his bedtime. This little kid, when he was 3 
years old, could do remarkable things with his golf club. That is the 
way it was through his entire career, including at Stanford University.
  Over the weekend, we all watched with attention while Rocco Mediate 
was going stroke for stroke with the great Tiger Woods. They tied in 
regulation play. They played an extra 18 holes. It was a tie. Finally, 
yesterday, it was concluded. All of us had mixed emotions as for whom 
we were pulling. Everyone likes Tiger Woods because he is so good and 
so nice, but we all also rooted for this underdog.
  The one thing we noted yesterday is this golf tournament took place 
in San Diego. The sun was shining, and it was a beautiful day for golf. 
That is what the commentators kept saying. We were literally stuck in 
the rain yesterday. Those of us who were here last night about 4 
o'clock saw a violent storm. There was lightning, thunder, driving 
rain, and lots of wind. As a result, I spoke with Senator McConnell, 
and we thought it was best to delay the vote. We had people calling 
saying: I am stuck in Richmond. One Senator was supposed to go to 
Dulles. She had to land in Richmond. Another Senator was stuck in 
Buffalo. We had people stuck all over the country. So we did this, and 
it was the right thing to do.

  We intended to vote on the motion to proceed to the Renewable Energy 
and Job Creation Act, known as the tax extender bill. Some on the other 
side, I am sure, may have welcomed yesterday's delay, but we are where 
we would have been last night. We need to return to a vote on the 
motion to proceed to the tax extender bill today, and we will do that, 
as has been indicated.
  The cornerstone of this legislation is an extension of incentives for 
businesses to invest in clean, renewable energy. Right now, we reward 
these innovators who are blazing the trail to a greater, cleaner, more 
affordable energy future, but we don't reward them very much. These 
people are creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. The potential is out 
there. If we can pass this legislation, it would mean so much to the 
American economy and the world ecology, the world environment.
  This is not just the Democrats talking. Somebody I have gotten to 
know over the years is a man by the name of T. Boone Pickens. As I 
understand, he is from the State of Texas. He has proven one thing: He 
knows how to make money. He has proven he is willing to take chances, 
and most always his chances turn out good at the bank for him.
  What T. Boone Pickens has now decided to do is make money on 
renewable energy. He has done so much in the State of Texas alone. He, 
among others, thinks we should pass the legislation that is so 
important to give these tax credits to the American entrepreneurs so 
they will create jobs.
  Here is a chart: Republican filibusters and counting, 76. For a long 
time, we had to keep creating new charts because they kept 
filibustering so much and it got to be a burden. So what we have done 
is we put Velcro on this chart. We can peel these babies off. Because 
the Republicans are so often filibustering, we now have a Velcro chart. 
We hope we don't have to change this too much more, the ``7,'' or 
change the ``6.'' Of course, we changed that a couple times last week. 
The Republicans are filibustering what T. Boone Pickens and others 
want.
  There are hundreds of thousands of jobs, millions of jobs out there 
we could create if we have this tax incentive. They are doing it other 
places. In Australia, they are in the process of constructing a solar 
energy plant. That one plant will be 10,000 megawatts. They can do that 
all over Australia. It is an Australian company that is heavily 
involved now in California and other parts of the West.
  These tax credit extensions will continue to encourage the renewable 
energy industry in States all over the West, States that have wind and 
Sun, and some States, such as California or Nevada, have a lot of 
geothermal. If the Senate does not act to extend these tax incentives, 
this research and entrepreneurship will literally be in jeopardy. 
Thousands of Americans will lose jobs. They are already in the process 
of losing jobs because the tax credits are about to expire.
  We need an opportunity to move away from $140 barrel oil imported 
from unstable regions and unfriendly governments. There is no problem 
facing America that American ingenuity cannot handle. Failing to pass 
this tax incentive legislation will mean stacking the deck against 
innovation.
  The minority is saying we shouldn't pay for these extensions, we 
should run up the red ink. During the last 7\1/2\ years, we have had 
the master at running up the red ink in the White House. We have now 
almost a $10 trillion deficit. We are saying we should pay for this 
legislation. The House has already done that.
  The setoffs are very simple. One tax that does not kick in we have 
extended on a number of occasions in the past. The Republicans did 
this. We want to do it again. We also believe these offshore 
shenanigans that are taking place in America where they put these phony 
companies offshore to get tax breaks should come to an end. And that is 
what we have done. Most of it would be directed toward billionaires. 
These hedge funders have recognized they had a good deal going, and 
they have indicated, with rare exception, that they think it is a good 
idea. So it is not as if we are trying to ramrod some vicious tax 
increase to the American middle class. In fact, that is not the case.
  We cannot let this legislation fail, and the Republicans are going to 
let it fail unless we get cloture on this legislation. Not only does 
this legislation do good things for renewable energy and job creation, 
but it also expands the child tax credit for families of 13 million 
children; it provides as many as 30 million homeowners with property 
tax relief; it helps 4.5 million families afford the cost of college 
with the tuition deduction; it allows millions of teachers to deduct 
out-of-pocket classroom expenses; and it levels the playing field by 
providing tax relief to people living in States with no income tax 
through the State and local sales tax deduction. Our economy is losing 
jobs, for 6 months now losing jobs, hundreds of thousands of jobs. In 
the 8 years President Clinton was President, almost 23 million jobs 
were created. In this administration, it is quite to the contrary. The 
disastrous Bush economic policy is the reason we have these job losses, 
a policy that Republican nominee John McCain wants to preserve. We 
think this is wrong.

  With millions of Americans suffering from job loss, home 
foreclosures, record gas, energy, and grocery prices, there is no 
reason on Earth to oppose the bill before us now. I spoke with someone 
in New Mexico yesterday. He said his home has dropped in value by 50 
percent. In many places in America, the value of homes has dropped 25 
percent. This bill would create hundreds of thousands of good jobs here 
at home, lower taxes for American businesses and families and lower 
energy prices.
  Yesterday, my friend, the Republican leader, indicated his caucus 
plans to oppose this legislation. Why? It seems,

[[Page S5671]]

as I have indicated, Republicans object to paying for these crucial tax 
cuts by eliminating an existing tax loophole that unfairly allows 
hedge-fund billionaires to avoid paying taxes. Even the hedge funders 
themselves realize this loophole is unfair and is destined to be 
corrected. Yesterday, hundreds of major American corporations sent a 
letter to Congress urging that we pass the bill.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
the letter to which I just referred.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                    June 16, 2008.
     Hon. Harry Reid,
     U.S. Senate, Hart Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Reid: The undersigned companies, representing 
     a broad cross section of the U.S. business community and 
     hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs, request that the Senate 
     take action during the current work period to extend tax 
     provisions that expired at the end of 2007 or will expire at 
     the end of 2008.
       The House of Representatives last month passed a tax 
     extenders package included in H.R. 6049, the Renewable Energy 
     and Job Creation Act of 2008, which provides a good starting 
     point for Senate consideration. In April, Senate Finance 
     Committee Chairman Baucus and Senator Grassley introduced S. 
     2886 containing a tax extenders package, including a critical 
     increase in the Alternative Simplified Credit to spur R&D 
     jobs in the United States. Swift action is now needed by the 
     Senate to enact a tax extenders package that will bring 
     significant positive benefits to the U.S. economy.
       Important tax provisions, including the R&D tax credit and 
     the deduction for state and local sales taxes, have already 
     expired. Others, including critical renewable energy 
     incentives, the Subpart F active financial services and look-
     through rules, the New Markets Tax Credit, and the incentive 
     for domestic film production, expire at the end of this year. 
     Large tax increases would fall on American companies and 
     American workers if the expired and expiring provisions are 
     not extended.
       Failure by Congress to move quickly to extend these 
     important provisions will bring investment in renewable 
     energy and energy efficiency projects to a standstill, make 
     it more difficult for U.S. companies to invest in critical 
     R&D projects in this country, reduce private sector 
     investment in business and economic development projects in 
     distressed areas, and force many U.S.-based financial 
     institutions to suffer a massive tax increase at a time when 
     they can least afford it.
       Failure to act this summer on tax extender legislation will 
     have significant negative consequences for the U.S. economy. 
     The value of the legislation to the U.S. economy and the need 
     to act quickly at this critical time should be the dominant 
     considerations.
       We look forward to working with you on this important 
     legislation and urge action during Congress' June legislative 
     session.
           Sincerely,
       A.O. Smith Corporation; Abbott Laboratories; Abengoa Solar; 
     Acciona Energy; Acclarent, Inc.; Adroit Medical Systems; 
     Advanced Hydro Solutions; Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.; 
     Advantage Capital Partners; AEE Solar, Inc.; AES Wind 
     Generation; Affymetrix, Inc.; Agilent Technologies, Inc.; 
     Agility Design Solutions Inc.; AGP; Agrilectric Power; AIM 
     Computer Solutions, Inc.; Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.; 
     Akeena Solar; Allergan, Inc.; Alliant Energy; Almyra 
     Management Company, Inc.; AltaTerra Ltd.; Alterra Bioenergy; 
     Alticor Inc.; Altria Group, Inc.; AMD; Ameren Corporation; 
     Ameresco; American Electric Power; American Express Company; 
     American International Group, Inc.; American Laboratory 
     Products Company, Ltd.; American Solar Electric, Inc.; and 
     Amgen.
       AngioDynamics, Inc.; Apple Inc.; Applied Materials, Inc.; 
     Apricus; Archer Daniels Midland; Art Technologies, Inc.; 
     AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; AT&T Ataco Steel Products 
     Corporation; ATAS International, Inc.; ATEECO, Inc.; Atlantic 
     City Electric; Autodesk, Inc.; Avaya Inc.; Avista 
     Corporation; AWR, Inc.; BAE Systems, Inc.; Ballard Power 
     Systems; Bank of America; The Bank of New York Mellon 
     Corporation; Batesville Tool & Die, Inc.; Baxa Corporation; 
     BioEnergy Systems, LLC; Biogen Idec; Biomass One, LP; 
     BioSelect Fuels; Bloom Energy Corporation; Blue Sky Energy, 
     Inc.; BMC Software; Boehringer-Ingelheim; The Boeing Company; 
     Bommer Industries, Inc.; Boralex Inc.; Borel Private Bank & 
     Trust Company; and Boston Scientific.
       BP America; Brookfield Renewable Power; Brunswick 
     Corporation; Butler Sun Solutions; CA, Inc.; CAB 
     Incorporated; Cadence Design Systems, Inc.; California Micro 
     Devices; Calpine Corp.; Calypso Medical Technologies, 
     Inc.; Caravelle International LLC; Cardinal Systems Inc.; 
     Case New Holland Inc.; Cassatt Corporation; Caterpillar 
     Inc.; Central Vermont Public Service Corporation; Cepheid 
     Inc.; Certess, Inc.; CH Energy Group, Inc.; Chelan County 
     Public Utility District; the Chubb Corporation; Cisco 
     Systems, Inc.; Citigroup, Inc.; Click Bond, Inc.; CMS 
     Energy Corporation; Coca-Cola Company; Coherent, Inc.; 
     Coherex Medical, Inc.; Colmac Energy, Inc.; ConAgra Foods, 
     Inc.; Conceptus Inc.; Constellation Energy; Construction 
     Navigator, Inc.; and Con-Way.
       Coulomb Technologies; Covanta; Cummins Inc.; Cummins-
     Allison; Cymer, Inc.; Decker Energy International; Deere & 
     Company; Deeya Energy, Inc.; Delmarva Power; Devine Tarbell & 
     Associates, Inc.; DG Fairhaven; DIAB; DNV Global Energy 
     Concepts; Dominion; The Dow Chemical Company; DTE Energy; 
     Duke Energy; DxTech LLC; Dynatronics Corp.; E&E Manufacturing 
     Co., Inc.; Eaton Corporation; EDS; Electronics for Imaging; 
     Eli Lilly and Company; eLynx; Emphasys Medical, Inc.; Empire 
     Broadcasting Corp.; The Empire District Electric Company; 
     Energy Conversion Devices; Energy East Corporation; Energy 
     Innovations; Energy Unlimited, Inc.; EnFocus Engineering 
     Corporation; Engineering DataXpress, Inc.; and Envision Solar 
     International, Inc.
       EPV Solar, Inc.; Eskay Metal Fabricating; EV Solar 
     Products, Inc.; eVent Medical, Inc.; Exelon Corporation; 
     Extol International, Inc.; Fairchild Semiconductor 
     Corporation; FatSpaniel, Inc.; FileMaker, Inc.; First Wind; 
     FirstEnergy Corp.; FlowVision, LLC; Ford Motor Company; FPL 
     Group; Fredon Corporation; GE Energy; GE Energy Financial 
     Services; Genentech; General Electric Corporation; General 
     Motors Corporation; Genworth Financial; Gilead Sciences; 
     GMAC, LLC; Goldman Sachs; Goodrich; GR Spring & Stamping, 
     Inc.; Grant County Public Utility District; Great Plains 
     Energy, Inc.; Green Earth Fuels, LLC; Green Mountain Power 
     Corporation; Greylock Partners; Griffin Realty Advisors; 
     groSolar; Harley-Davidson Motor Company; and Harris Stratex 
     Networks.
       Hawaiian Electric Company; HCI Publications; Hewlett-
     Packard Company; Hitachi Global Storage Technologies; 
     Honeywell; Hospira, Inc.; Human Genome Sciences; Hydra-Tech 
     Pumps; Hydro Consulting & Maintenance Services, Inc.; Hydro 
     Green Energy, Inc.; i2 Technologies; iControl Incorporated; 
     Imperium Renewables Inc.; Impulse Dynamics; INDECK Energy 
     Services, Inc.; Independent Energy Systems; Innovalight; 
     Intel Corporation; Inter-Island Solar Supply; International 
     Business Machines Corporation; International Paper; 
     Interstate Power and Light; Intevac, Inc.; Invenergy LLC; ITC 
     Holdings Corp.; Jan Medical; Jasper Design Automation, Inc.; 
     JDS Uniphase Corporation; Johnson & Johnson; Johnson 
     Controls; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Juniper Networks, Inc.; K&S 
     Tool, Die & Manufacturing, Inc.; KeyBank; and Keystone 
     Insurers Group.
       KLA-Tencor Corporation; Kovio, Inc.; KPMG, LLP; Lam 
     Research Corporation; The LeverEdge; LibraryWorld, Inc.; 
     Lincoln Financial; LM Glasfiber; Lockheed Martin; Louis 
     Dreyfus; LSI Corporation; Lynguent, Inc.; Macrovision 
     Solutions Corporation; Mainstream Energy Corporation; Masimo 
     Corporation; Maxim Integrated Products; McCormick & Company, 
     Inc.; Mead and Hunt; Medlmmune LLC; MEDRAD; MegaWatt 
     Consulting, Inc.; Merck; Merit Medical Systems, Inc.; Merrill 
     Lynch; METACURE (USA) Inc.; MetricStream, Inc.; Microsoft 
     Corporation; Minnesota Power; Minnetronix, Inc.; Mitsubishi 
     Electric; Monsanto Company; Morgan Stanley; Mortenson 
     Construction; Motorola; and MSE Power Systems, Inc.
       Mystic Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; National City; National Grid; 
     National Semiconductor Corporation; Naturener USA, LLC; 
     Nelson Energy; NetApp; NetLogic Microsystems, Inc.; 
     Neuronetics, Inc.; NeuroPace, Inc.; New Leaf Paper; News 
     Corporation; Northrop Grumman Corporation; NorthWestern 
     Energy; Novellus Systems, Inc.; Novo Nordisk Inc.; NuVasive, 
     Inc.; NVIDIA; NXP Semiconductors USA Inc.; oDesk Corporation; 
     OGE Energy Corporation; Oracle; Organic Fuels; Orthovita, 
     Inc.; Otter Tail Corporation; Ovalis, Inc.; Owens Coming; 
     Pacific Winds, Inc.; Palm, Inc.; Palmer College of 
     Chiropractic; Pepco Holdings, Inc.; Pfizer; PG&E 
     Corporation; P-K Tool & Manufacturing Company; and Plan it 
     Solar.
       PNM Resources, Inc.; Polycom, Inc.; Portland General 
     Electric; PPG Industries; PPL Corporation; Precision Machine 
     & Supply, Inc.; Presencia Technology, LLC; Primary Power 
     International; Procter & Gamble; Progress Energy; Proto 
     Services, Inc.; PSEG; Puget Sound Energy; Q-Cells; Rath, 
     Young and Pignatelli, P.C.; Raytheon Company; Real Intent, 
     Inc.; REC Solar, Inc.; ReGrid Power; Renegy, Inc.; Renewable 
     Energy Group (REG); Renewable Power Solutions, Inc.; Rinnai 
     Tankless Water Heater Corporation; RMT--WindConnect; Rockwell 
     Automation; Rockwell Collins; sanofi-aventis U.S. Inc.; 
     Sanyo; SCHOTT Solar, Inc.; Seagate Technology; SEALED AIR 
     Corporation; Seattle Medical Technologies, Inc.; Siemens 
     Corporation; Sierra Pacific Resources; and Simpson Investment 
     Company.
       SkyFuel; Skyline Solar, Inc.; SolarCity; SolarWorld 
     California; SOLEC; SolFocus; Solvay Pharmaceuticals; 
     Spansion, Inc.; Specialized Bicycles; Spinal Kinetics, Inc.; 
     SpinalMotion, Inc.; St. Jude Medical; Steel-Fab, Inc.; The 
     Stella Group, Ltd.; Stellar Solutions, Inc.; Stratex Energy, 
     LLC; Sun Edison; SunEarth, Inc.; SunPower Corporation; 
     Suntech; SV Solar; SVB Financial Group; Symantec Corporation; 
     Synopsys, Inc.; Tagent, Inc.; Teradata Corporation; Tessera, 
     Inc.; Texas Instruments; Textron, Inc.; Thermal Designs, 
     Inc.; Thermosurgery Technologies, Inc.; Third Sun Solar and 
     Wind Power, Ltd.; Time Warner; The Timken Company; and 
     Toyota.
       TPI Composites; TransCanada Hydro Northeast, Inc.; 
     Transitions Industries;

[[Page S5672]]

     Trimble Navigation Limited; Truseal Technologies, Inc.; 
     Tupperware; U.S. Bank; UniSource Energy Corporation; United 
     Solar Ovonic; United Technologies Corp.; VentureLoop, Inc.; 
     Verari Systems, Inc.; Verizon; Wachovia Corp.; The Walt 
     Disney Company; Watt Stopper/Legrand; Wescor, Inc; Westar 
     Energy, Inc.; Western Renewables Group; Whirlpool 
     Corporation; Wind Capital Group, LLC; Wisconsin Power and 
     Light; Wood's Powr-Grip Co., Inc.; World Energy; Wyeth; Xcel 
     Energy, Inc.; Xerox Corporation; Xilinx, Inc.; Xoft, Inc.; 
     and Zimmer, Inc.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I think it is glaring to note that of these 
major companies--hundreds and hundreds of them that have signed this 
letter--not a single oil company has signed on. Oil companies don't 
want us to do this legislation. They want us to keep being beholden to 
them. But look at the companies that signed onto this legislation: 
Genetech, Cummins Inc., The Chubb Corporation, Merck, Merrill Lynch, 
Microsoft, Owens Corning, Pfizer, U.S. Bank, Wachovia, Verizon, and 
Whirlpool Corporation.
  Scores and scores of other major companies are telling our Republican 
colleagues to vote for legislation the way it is written. They know the 
bill and they list the number of it. The letter was signed by the 
``Who's Who'' of the Fortune 500 companies and many others--titans of 
American business. Hundreds of small companies in addition to that all 
agree Congress needs to act now to extend tax incentives for clean 
energy and innovation to provide the American people with desperately 
needed tax cuts.
  We got nine Republicans when we voted on this last Thursday, and I 
publicly commended them. I hope we get more today. The record should be 
very clear that this, the 76th filibuster of the Republican minority, 
is something that is going to cause the further deterioration of the 
American economy. We want this legislation passed to help Americans 
wean themselves from that which is ruining our country economically and 
environmentally.
  So I hope we have some people who will join Boeing, General Electric, 
Coca Cola, Intel, and other companies I have mentioned and move forward 
with this legislation. It is vitally important for the American people.

                          ____________________