[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16898]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



             COMMUNITY RENEWAL AND NEW MARKETS ACT OF 2000

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                               speech of

                          HON. RICHARD E. NEAL

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 25, 2000

  Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I very much support the 
legislation we are now considering. H.R. 4923 is one of the few bills 
we are going to enact this year on a bipartisan basis, the revenue loss 
is reasonable, and it will provide a good deal of help for communities 
trying to turn themselves around and increase economic activity within 
their neighborhoods.
  This bill does a lot, but frankly it could do quite a bit more. There 
is overwhehning support for legislation to immediately increase the 
low-income housing tax credit and the private activity tax exempt bond 
volume cap. The bill makes a very modest step forward in both areas, 
and I appreciate that very much, but by no means are these provisions 
sufficient. And given the fact that both bills have over 350 cosponsors 
each, there is no political or partisan reason why a full immediate 
increase in the credit and the bond cap could not have been put in this 
bill at this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I am supporting this bill. However, I intend to work as 
hard as I can to see to it that when the conference report comes back 
to the House, both the tax credit and the bond volume cap provisions 
are significantly improved over the provisions that are contained in 
H.R. 4923 today. Many States are like mine, Mr. Speaker, with good, 
solid projects backed up and waiting for an allocation. Under current 
limits, the allocations are simply not there. It would be a crying 
shame, Mr. Speaker, if in the current budget situation we ignored their 
pleas and did not provide the necessary assistance right away.

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