[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 169 (Saturday, December 18, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2202]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TAX RELIEF, UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE REAUTHORIZATION, AND JOB CREATION 
                              ACT OF 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 16, 2010

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4853) to 
     amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the funding 
     and expenditure authority of the Airport and Airway Trust 
     Fund, to amend title 49, United States Code, to extend 
     authorizations for airport improvement program, and for other 
     purposes:

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 4853, the 
Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act 
of 2010 for one simple reason. It includes an extension of federally-
subsidized unemployment compensation benefits for thirteen additional 
months. The importance of extending unemployment benefits for my 
constituents back home cannot be overstated: these benefits are a 
critical lifeline for many in my district, as they are for millions of 
other Americans and their families. In October, the latest month for 
which data is available, there were 588,000 individuals in the State of 
Ohio who relied on this benefit to keep their heads and their families' 
heads above water. The Department of Labor reports that nearly 8.3 
million Americans were receiving unemployment compensation as of early 
November.
  Extending federal support for unemployment benefits is the least that 
we can do on behalf of the estimated 1.2 million people nationwide 
whose unemployment insurance either recently expired or will expire as 
they reach the last weeks of their available benefits. Cutting off 
unemployment benefits only adds to the shame and humiliation that 
people feel upon losing gainful employment through no fault of their 
own. For the residents of Ohio, this cutoff has been especially painful 
as the unemployment rate in Ohio is currently 9.9 percent. Through 
2009, of those who were unemployed in my state, nearly a third had been 
unemployed for 26 weeks or longer. This is the highest rate of long-
term unemployment seen in over 15 years. Ohio's economy was already 
struggling long before the current recession hit. According to the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ohio lost approximately 430,000 
manufacturing jobs from 1990 through July of 2010.
  These staggering job losses have a spillover effect, touching every 
county and city in Ohio, as foreclosure rates have risen to a 
devastating level. Each year since 1995, the rate of new foreclosure 
filings in Ohio has grown, and from 1995 to 2009, the rate quadrupled. 
In 2009, there were a record 89,053 foreclosure filings--that is one 
foreclosure filing for every 56 housing units in the State of Ohio. In 
the City of Cleveland alone, there have been more than 38,000 new 
foreclosure filings since 2005. Because this crisis spread steadily to 
more middle-class and high-income suburban areas, non-urban areas now 
have the highest foreclosure rates in the state.
  The ripple effects continue. Ohioans are forced to live with others 
due to foreclosure. They face communities marked with vacant and 
abandoned properties. The State of Ohio tells us that there are around 
58,000 Ohioans who have exhausted the assistance they were getting from 
the state or federal government. But there are no official counts of 
the number of underemployed individuals, who are thankful for what they 
do have but cannot find opportunity to break the cycle of poverty. It 
is for these people that I cast a ``yea'' vote on this bill.
  The bill contains much more than the unemployment benefits. It 
provides for a two-year extension of the tax cut provisions passed in 
2001 and 2003 for individuals and couples at all income levels and 
extends the 10 percent, 25 percent, 28 percent, 33 percent and 35 
percent marginal tax brackets for two years. It temporarily repeals, 
for two years, the personal exemption phaseout, ``PEP'', as well as the 
itemized deduction limitation that taxpayers may claim on their income 
tax filings. It also continues enhanced child tax credits, and the 
maximum 15 percent rate on capital gains and dividends for taxpayers in 
the 25 percent tax bracket and above. It reduces the tax known as the 
``marriage penalty'' and it includes a two-year ``patch'' intended to 
prevent more than 25 million Americans from being subject to the 
alternative minimum tax, otherwise scheduled to take effect in the next 
calendar year. It also extends expensing rules for small businesses.
  However, I am gravely concerned that the inclusion of a provision to 
lower the employee portion of the payroll tax by two percentage points 
for one year threatens to reduce Social Security to a bargaining chip. 
This provision significantly weakens Social Security's revenue stream 
and makes it more vulnerable to the calls for cuts and privatization 
the program has faced for years. Advocates of this provision point out 
that Americans may use the money that will not be deducted from their 
paychecks to pay down the crushing level of personal debt that many are 
struggling with. But the cost to the Social Security trust fund of $112 
billion is dangerous because it cuts one-third of Social Security's 
funding this year alone. Worse, the act of temporarily lowering this 
contribution--normally an accepted deduction from every working 
American's paycheck--may become a political issue when time comes for 
this provision to sunset and the payroll tax to be reinstated. Social 
Security is a vital lifeline for our nation's seniors, and we tread 
into perilous waters when we tinker with its funding mechanism.
  Mr. Chair, this bill contains many provisions about which I have 
strong reservations, including the payroll tax ``holiday,'' the gutting 
of the estate tax, subsidies for ethanol and liquid coal, and the 
extension of low tax rates for the wealthiest Americans. But this bill 
contains a crucial provision--an extension of unemployment benefits 
which are critical for millions of Americans. I cannot in good 
conscience vote against it.

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