[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 20487-20488]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           EMERGENCY TAX RELIEF FOR HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, on Tuesday night, Senator Baucus and I 
introduced a package of tax relief measures designed to help the 
victims of Hurricane Katrina both in the short and long term.
  We know that tax incentives helped to revitalize New York after 9/11. 
They can do the same for New Orleans, Gulfport, and other hurricane-hit 
areas. We are pleased that the Members of the affected region join us 
in this effort, including Senators Lott, Landrieu, Vitter, Cochran, and 
Shelby.
  The immediate relief package will help get short-term aid to the 
hurricane victims by encouraging food donations and the employment of 
displaced persons, as two examples.
  For those who have suffered casualty losses, we have liberalized the 
tax rules to permit affected taxpayers to deduct losses from damaged 
property.
  We also want to help protect Katrina victims from undeserved IRS 
harassment.
  We expect to see prompt action by Congress on this tax relief 
package. We need to get these tax incentives on the books and help 
Katrina victims make a fresh start.
  After this package is completed, our focus in the committee will be 
on longer term tax incentives to help rebuild homes and businesses. We 
are looking at depreciation changes, tax-exempt bond authority, and 
enterprise zone initiatives.
  Life will never be the same for our fellow citizens in the gulf 
region, and what we have all seen over the last 2 weeks will stay in 
the hearts and minds of all of us for years to come.
  With this first initiative from the Finance Committee, a bipartisan 
initiative--and I thank Senator Baucus for his extreme cooperation, in 
fact, even leadership in getting this to where it is now--this first 
initiative--and there are going to be more in other areas where we have 
jurisdiction--we want the victims in all the affected areas to know 
they can count on us to create a set of measures that will help return 
vitality and vigor to the gulf region.
  Mr. President, I defer now to Senator Baucus.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana is recognized.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I thank my colleague, Senator Grassley, 
the chairman of the Finance Committee. We believe that Congress must 
act quickly. We bypassed the usual committee process. Senator Grassley 
and I sat down with our staffs and said: What can we do right away to 
help Katrina victims? What can we do to help the States and get 
something passed very quickly?
  Time is of the essence, clearly. We decided that people needed cash. 
So we have enacted several provisions in this legislation which allows 
people to have more cash or ways so they do not have to make payments 
that otherwise they would have to make.
  Second, we are trying to help ease some of the dire housing 
conditions in the affected areas. We have provisions which allow people 
to take an exemption for taking in Katrina victims. We think that will 
help significantly.
  We are also helping by giving incentives to employers so they can 
more quickly hire people and, if they cannot hire them, we are going to 
make sure we get more dollars into former employees' pockets.
  This is a start. We clearly have to do more. I very much hope that 
later on today we can pass legislation with respect to Medicaid 
assistance. Senator Grassley and I have been working very hard in both 
these areas. In the not too long term, we obviously are going to bring 
up a package for long-term assistance--enterprise zones, increasing 
appreciation acceleration, bonding authority--to help rebuild the 
infrastructure.
  I thank Senator Grassley very much for his help. I also thank him 
very much for helping clear some objections to this bill on the other 
side. There were two Republican holds on this bill today. I had hoped 
to bring this bill up this morning and get it passed. We did have some 
holds. I thank very much the Senator from Iowa for his help in getting 
those holds released so we can get this bill passed.
  I also hope, as I mentioned, we can get the Medicaid bill passed 
today. This is the week. We have to pass this legislation. We, as 
Senators, cannot get too wrapped around the axle. We cannot be too 
concerned about how the I's are dotted or the T's are crossed. We have 
to act. Congress will meet another day. We can make up differences. We 
can amend legislation in future days if something is not quite perfect 
either today or in the next couple of days. Let's not let perfection be 
the enemy of the good here.
  This is good legislation. We are getting this tax package passed. 
That is good. I very much hope we can get the Medicaid package passed. 
It is good, too.
  I urge all of us to work together and rise to the occasion. This is 
an emergency. Let's get this legislation passed--not only this package 
but the Medicaid package as well.
  Again, I thank Senator Grassley for working to get those holds on the 
bill removed so we could get this legislation passed.
  I am proud to announce that Saturday is the Senator's birthday. So I

[[Page 20488]]

hope this will be a good birthday present for the Senator, to get both 
of these bills passed today so we can, on this coming Saturday, know 
that a couple days earlier, the chairman of the Finance Committee got 
legislation passed that did some good for people in the affected area.
  Mr. President, I thank the chairman for helping.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, obviously, I thank Senator Baucus for 
the personal comment he made about my upcoming birthday. More 
importantly, once again, we have had such smooth working relationships 
on these two very important bills. Our staffs have cooperated very 
closely. There has been some compromise but not a lot because I think 
we are all going in the same direction.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, pursuant to the remarks I 
made and the remarks Senator Baucus has made, that the Committee on 
Finance be discharged from further consideration of S. 1696 and that 
the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1696) to provide tax relief for the victims of 
     Hurricane Katrina, to provide incentives for charitable 
     giving, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I thank Senate Finance Chairman Grassley 
and Ranking Member Baucus for their extraordinary work, to so 
expeditiously draft this important legislation in a bipartisan manner. 
This package will provide immediate tax relief to those directly 
affected by this incredible disaster.
  As we have rightfully focused on rescuing, reuniting and rebuilding, 
we must also make sure to take care of our strained military families. 
The first and best definition of patriotism is keeping faith with those 
who wear our uniform. That means giving our troops the resources they 
need to keep safe while they are keeping us safe. And it means 
supporting our troops at home as well as abroad.
  More than 40 percent of military reservists and National Guard 
memberssuffer pay cut when they are called to defend our Nation, 
including those serving in the gulf coast today. These citizens serve 
nobly. They are much more than weekend warriors. Currently, there are 
over 140,000 reservists called up for active duty in the war against 
terrorism and over 10,000 of these reservists and guardsman are from 
Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. Over 50,000 National Guard members 
have been called up to assist with Hurricane Katrina.
  Many of these reservists are being hit with a double-whammy. After 
recent service in Iraq or Afghanistan, they are coming home to an area 
that has been devastated. The all-volunteer Army depends on these 
reservists. They have been serving our country with distinction and 
pride for many years, and should not be penalized financially for their 
honorable service.
  Businesses on the gulf coast want to do the right thing for their 
employees. But in the wake of this disaster, most just can't afford it. 
This legislation will help businesses do the right thing. The bill will 
provide an employee retention credit which provides a 40 percent tax 
credit for wages paid up to $6,000 after August 28, 2005 and before 
December 31, 2005. This credit will help employers in the gulf coast 
who pay employees that are not able to work because the business was 
either damaged or destroyed and pay reservists and guardsmen that 
worked for them right up to the time before they were deployed.
  For the last couple of years, Senator Landrieu and I have worked on 
legislation to provide assistance to businesses that employ reservists 
who have been called up to active duty. That legislation would provide 
tax credits to employers who pay reservists wages that are above their 
military pay and to help with the costs of hiring replacement workers. 
I thank Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Baucus for working with me 
to include wages paid to eligible reservists and guardsman as part of 
the employee retention tax credit.
  The Hurricane Katrina tax relief legislation helps our reservists and 
the businesses that employ them to ensure that our great tradition of 
citizen soldiers does not fade or end because of the effect service can 
have on work and family in this time of crisis.
  I am also pleased that this tax package has a set of provisions to 
encourage charitable giving. We have all been overwhelmed by the 
generosity and compassion of the American people, who have sacrificed 
their time and money, sent food and supplies south by the truckload, 
and even opened up their homes to strangers. This provision will make 
giving easier, particularly by allowing rollover contributions from IRA 
accounts.
  This legislation is the right thing to do in the face of this 
disaster. It can help make sure our reservists' families don't have to 
sacrifice beyond their means while our brave men and women are away 
from home helping other families. This legislation can make it easier 
for the incomparable generosity of the American people to continue by 
easing some restrictions on charitable giving.
  Again, I thank Senators Grassley and Baucus for their efforts on this 
package.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
amendment at the desk be agreed to, that the bill, as amended, be read 
the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, and that the bill be held at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 1722) was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The bill (S. 1696), as amended, was read the third time and passed.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, as I said, I have another request I want 
to do for other Members.

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