[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18385-18386]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             TAX EXTENDERS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, changing subjects just for a minute, prior 
to the August recess, Republicans attempted to win support for their 
attempt to repeal the estate tax by attaching that to a flawed minimum 
wage increase that was only meant for show and not to actually 
accomplish anything. And they also tied to it popular tax provisions, 
referred to as extenders.
  Now, keep in mind the extenders were all agreed to by Democrats and 
Republicans. They had agreed to this, and the only thing that was not 
there was the signature, and that was to take place at 8 o'clock at 
night in the Capitol. When people came back to sign the conference 
report, word had come from the White House: Do away with this 
agreement. So that is why they came up with the so-called Trifecta: 
estate tax repeal, extenders, minimum wage.
  Republicans were very clear regarding their strategy. Representative 
Zach Wamp of Tennessee claimed that Democrats had been ``outfoxed.'' 
Well, of course, this bill did not pass because it was flawed. It was 
so unfair to the American people that you would do away with all these 
important tax provisions for the middle class in an effort to get a 
repeal of the estate tax that would affect the richest of the rich: 
8,100 Americans.
  The strategy of holding the extenders hostage to their estate tax 
giveaway put these important provisions in jeopardy of not getting 
enacted ever. As if to emphasize this point, Senator Judd Gregg said--
and I quote--``[i]f you don't kill the hostage, there's no threat.'' 
How about that.
  Now, Senator Baucus yesterday--on more than one occasion--requested 
unanimous consent to delink the extenders, which have broad bipartisan 
support, from the Republicans' ill-fated attempt to repeal the estate 
tax for a small number of the wealthiest families in America.
  American families and businesses are paying the price for this 
Republican do-nothing Congress's failure to extend these tax breaks. 
Millions of families and individuals are facing higher taxes today as a 
result of this failure.
  Mr. President, this is just not Harry Reid, a Democrat, speaking. 
Look what was said yesterday by the chairman of the Finance Committee, 
a Republican, Charles Grassley of Iowa:

       A delay of legislative beyond the anticipated recess date 
     of September 29, 2006, will cause hardship, tax compliance 
     problems and confusion for the millions of taxpayers who 
     claim these widely applicable tax benefits.

  According to a memo from Senator Grassley's office, after consulting 
with IRS officials, the IRS contracts with several printers to produce 
1040 and 1040A income tax return forms are in jeopardy. It also said 
that IRS must finalize the information it is to submit to these 
printers by October 15 in order to ensure forms will be printed in time 
and be distributed to taxpayers at the beginning of 2007; that if 
Congress has not passed extenders legislation by that time, the forms 
will omit lines instructing taxpayers to compute State and local sales 
tax, college tuition, or out-of-pocket classroom expenses into their 
tax liability.
  American families and businesses are paying the price because of this 
do-nothing Congress. They refuse to extend important tax breaks. 
Families who recently took their sons and daughters to college now 
wonder whether the tuition deduction Republicans allowed to expire last 
year will get reinstated.
  What are these tax extenders? The State and local sales tax 
deduction. In States all over the country which have an income tax, 
they are allowed to deduct that from their Federal income tax. Now that 
the Republicans failed to act in States where individuals pay sales 
tax, they are not able to do this.
  The tuition deduction is another one which allows parents and 
students to deduct all tuition and related expenses from their taxable 
income. It benefits 3.6 million taxpayers nationwide and 26,000 in 
Nevada.
  The teacher classroom expenses provision gives teachers above-the-
line deduction of as much as $250. Mr. President, 8,100 people are 
seeking to benefit from the repeal of the estate tax, which is millions 
and millions of dollars. So why should we be concerned about some 
schoolteacher for $250? Because $250 is what teachers pay out of their 
own pockets to get supplies for the classroom that school districts 
don't pay for. They can deduct as much as $250 for personal funds spent 
by them to buy classroom supplies. This benefits 3.3 million teachers 
nationwide and about 22,000 teachers in Nevada.
  There are many other items that are important in these extenders.
  America needs a new direction, one that puts the interests of the 
hard-working families ahead of special interests. How can we be working 
on the Oman Free Trade Agreement and let this go? I don't understand 
this. The priorities are upside down. We need a new direction, and we 
are not getting any direction from the administration or certainly from 
the Republican-dominated Congress.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Illinois is recognized.

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