[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 193 (Thursday, December 15, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2280-E2281]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          MIDDLE CLASS TAX RELIEF AND JOB CREATION ACT OF 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 13, 2011

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, the House Republican Majority has done 
nothing to create jobs during the first session of the 112th Congress 
and now they're adding further injustice by hurting the millions of 
Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. The 
Republican unemployment insurance proposal would cut in half the total 
number of weeks of benefits provided, harm those States with the 
highest rates of prolonged unemployment, and allow unemployment funds 
to be used for other purposes.
  If Congress does not act on an extension of unemployment benefits, 
more than one million Americans could lose their unemployment benefits 
next year. This is compounded by the Economic Policy Institute's 
findings that the drop in consumer demand resulting from expired 
unemployment benefits would cost the U.S. economy more than half a 
million jobs. This is unacceptable. According to the Congressional 
Budget Office providing federal unemployment benefits is one of the 
most effective ways to help boost the economy--in fact, for every 
dollar of benefits, nearly $2 in economic growth goes into the 
surrounding community. We should be working to support American 
families instead of causing more damage.
  This bill should be about extending tax incentives and not pushing 
through the Majority's anti-environment agenda. This legislation 
includes a provision that bypasses the Keystone XL pipeline 
environmental review process by requiring the President to make a 
decision whether to approve the project within 60 days, even though a 
final route has not yet been proposed. It is responsible and critical 
that the Administration complete a proper assessment of the health 
risks and potential toxic contamination to the surrounding communities 
posed by the pipeline. Any effort to rush this process and compel a 
decision before a thorough review should not stand.
  The Majority also is attempting to block air quality standards that 
have been thoroughly reviewed. The EPA is more than a decade late on 
issuing emissions standards requiring incinerators and boilers to 
reduce toxic air pollutants. While this would impact less than 1 
percent of all boilers in the U.S., the Republican Majority is again 
attempting to nullify and delay the discharge limits. The pollutants 
from these emissions are linked to asthma, cancer, and heart disease, 
with the EPA estimating that the pollution reductions required by the 
rules would prevent up to 8,100 premature deaths, 52,000 asthma 
attacks, and 5,100 heart attacks each year and yield $12 to $30 in 
health benefits for every dollar spent to meet the standards. Such 
controversial provisions as the pipeline and the emissions standards 
have no place in tax legislation.
  The issue of spectrum allocation should not be pushed through at the 
end of this session. While H.R. 3630 grants the Federal Communications 
Commission the authority to conduct incentive auctions, it does not 
ensure proper oversight of the process. This is especially

[[Page E2281]]

concerning as it relates to the public safety network. In the immediate 
aftermath of September 11th the importance of a strong and consistent 
public safety network was clear--first responders and emergency workers 
must be able to communicate in emergency and disaster situations. There 
is an insufficient amount of funds to research, build, and develop the 
public safety communications network as well as no requirement that the 
network providing for effective governance and national operability.
  Finally, while I wholeheartedly believe that we must fix the Medicare 
Sustainable Growth Rate Physician payment formula (or ``doc fix''), we 
cannot do it on the backs of the hospitals. This bill would cut 
Medicare hospital outpatient reimbursement rates to equalize them with 
rates for services provided in physician offices. The proposal is 
misguided because it ignores the significant differences in cost 
structures between hospitals and physician offices, including the added 
costs hospitals incur for caring for the uninsured. All of these cuts 
are on top of $155 billion in hospitals cuts from the Affordable Care 
Act (ACA) and more than $40 billion in cuts just created by 
sequestration. Hospitals simply cannot sustain these cuts and patient 
care will suffer if they are forced to do so.

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