[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 9, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TAX EXTENDERS ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 28, 2010

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, when I am home in Missouri, the folks I 
talk to frequently express their concerns about the economy and jobs. 
According to the most recent data, 27,630 people in the Fourth District 
are without work. Families whose breadwinners have lost work and others 
who fear unemployment must continue to be a priority of this Congress.
  Jobs allow for American families to feel secure in their homes. Jobs 
stimulate economic activity in our home towns and throughout our 
country. Jobs generate tax revenue for city, state, and federal 
governments, which help policy makers pay the bills and reduce the 
deficit. Jobs are essential to breaking out of the Great Recession.
  This year, Congress has been working on several jobs bills. One bill 
known as the HIRE Act, which is now the law of the land, provides tax 
relief to small businesses and expands important highway projects. 
Other legislation on which Congress has been working include bills to 
provide additional small business tax relief, to expand lending 
opportunities for small businesses, and to stimulate small business 
growth and expansion.
  Today, the House of Representatives is considering H.R. 4213, a bill 
that would create additional jobs in our country by cutting taxes for 
American families and businesses and by spurring new infrastructure 
improvements. It would also take care of American veterans by 
eliminating the so-called disabled veterans tax for two years, would 
provide American farmers with tax relief and emergency disaster 
assistance, and would extend emergency assistance to American families.
  H.R. 4213 is supported by Farm Bureau, by veterans, by small 
businesses, and by AARP.
  For Missouri farmers, H.R. 4213 would extend the five-year 
depreciation for farming machinery and equipment, would extend the 
charitable tax deduction for donated food, and would extend the tax 
deduction for donating conservation easements. H.R. 4213 would also 
extend critical tax incentives for biodiesel and renewable diesel fuel. 
The biodiesel tax credit is very important to the development and 
sustainability of America's renewable fuel industry. H.R. 4213 would 
also provide emergency financial assistance to farmers for qualifying 
2009 agricultural losses. For these reasons, today's legislation has 
been endorsed by the Farm Bureau and the National Biodiesel Board.
  For America's veterans, H.R. 4213 would allow many military retirees 
who are also disabled veterans to receive both Department of Defense 
military retirement pay and VA military disability pay for the next two 
years. Often referred to as the disabled veterans tax, finding a 
legislative solution to the concurrent receipt issue has been a top 
priority of our nation's veterans and of Congress. I have worked on the 
House Armed Services Committee to end the disabled veterans tax and am 
pleased that H.R. 4213 will provide full retirement and disability 
benefits to 77,000 of these disabled service members for two years. Its 
passage is a critical first step toward extending concurrent receipt to 
all 136,000 medically retired veterans over four years. Because of the 
bill's positive impact on veterans, it has been endorsed by the 
Military Officers Association of America, MOAA.
  For Missouri businesses, H.R. 4213 would allow credit to flow more 
easily to small businesses through popular and effective SBA lending 
programs, would extend the research and development, R&D, tax credit 
that encourages financial investment and job creation in America's high 
tech sector, would allow corporations to receive a refund of a portion 
of their alternative minimum tax credits if they invest during 2010 in 
capital equipment for use in the United States, would extend the 15-
year cost recovery for qualified improvements to restaurants and retail 
space, and would extend benefits for investments in economically 
distressed areas of our country. Because the business provisions 
included in H.R. 4213 are so very important, the bill is supported by 
the National Restaurant Association, the Independent Community Bankers 
Association, and the National Retail Federation.
  For Missouri families, H.R. 4213 would provide important tax relief. 
The bill would extend for one year tax deductions for qualified college 
education expenses. It would extend a special deduction for teachers 
and other school professionals who use personal funds to buy school 
supplies for their classrooms. And, the legislation would ensure 
activated military reservists do not suffer a pay reduction by 
providing a tax credit for small businesses that continue to pay 
National Guard and Reserve employees when they are called to active 
duty.
  For Missouri's senior citizens, military personnel, military 
retirees, and people with disabilities, H.R. 4213 would ensure they are 
able to continue seeing the doctor of their choice by preventing a 21 
percent reduction in Medicare and TRICARE physician fees. Without 
making these changes, doctors in Missouri and elsewhere would likely 
not continue to see Medicare and TRICARE patients. That is why H.R. 
4213 is supported by AARP and MOAA.
  H.R. 4213 would extend other valuable provisions of the U.S. tax 
code, including deductions for charitable contributions by individuals 
and businesses, would provide for important pension relief sought after 
by the Missouri Rural Electric Cooperatives, would provide emergency 
assistance for American families who are impacted by unemployment, 
would create summer jobs for American youth, and would allow for state 
and local governments to finance the reconstruction of schools, sewer 
systems, and hospitals through Build America Bonds and Recovery Zone 
Bonds--work that would create thousands of jobs across our country. 
Because infrastructure improvements are so vital to jobs, H.R. 4213 has 
been endorsed by our nation's mayors and county governments.
  The non-emergency spending associated with H.R. 4213 is compliant 
with the PAYGO law enacted earlier this year. I urge my colleagues to 
support H.R. 4213 so that we can provide tax relief to American 
families, farmers, and businesses, can take care of America's veterans 
and senior citizens, and can create small business jobs.

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