[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 154 (Friday, September 26, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2020]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX RELIEF ACT OF 2008

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                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 24, 2008

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the AMT Relief 
Act of 2008 and urge my colleagues to do the same.
  While I would prefer to eliminate the AMT entirely--and pay for it 
when we do--the fact of the matter is that failing to act on this 
legislation would subject over twenty-five million families--including 
nearly 335,000 in my congressional district--to an additional tax 
burden they were never intended to bear. Moreover, having recently 
visited with IRS Commissioner Shulman, there is no question that the 
IRS is better able to do its job and the taxpayers are best served when 
Congress completes its tax-related work in a timely fashion.
  I am especially pleased that H.R. 7005 also includes legislation I 
introduced on a bipartisan basis with Congressmen Richard Neal (D-MA), 
Sam Johnson (R-TX) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN) to correct the equally 
unintended and all too frequently devastating treatment of incentive 
stock options under the Alternative Minimum tax. The AMT Credit 
Fairness and Relief Act will end the ISO AMT crisis once and for all by 
allowing affected taxpayers to claim the entirety of their unused 
credits over the next two years and abating all penalties and interest 
arising from this particularly egregious part of the code.
  Madam Speaker, the AMT Relief Act of 2008 is vital middle class tax 
relief designed to correct several widely acknowledged defects in our 
tax law. I look forward to its passage and encourage its prompt 
consideration in the Senate so that it can be signed by the President 
without delay.

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