[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16666-16667]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       THE JOBS, ENERGY, FAMILIES AND DISASTER RELIEF ACT OF 2008

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, in the book, ``The Ethics of the 
Fathers,'' the sage Rabbi Tarfon taught:

       It is not up to us to finish the work, but neither are we 
     free to avoid it.

  Later this week, the Senate will vote on the Jobs, Energy, Families 
and Disaster Relief Act of 2008. This bill may not finish all the work 
that we need to do. But this bill does do work that we are not free to 
avoid. I urge my colleagues to vote to invoke cloture on the motion to 
proceed.
  This legislation is important to our economy, to our energy security, 
and to the wellbeing of America's working families. And it is also 
vital to helping people harmed by natural disasters to get back on 
their feet.
  Some call this an ``extenders'' package. It extends tax incentives 
that are important to American businesses and families.
  It includes the deduction for college tuition and the R&D credit. It 
includes the deduction for State and local income taxes. And it 
includes the new markets tax credit which helps spur investment in low-
income communities.
  But S. 3335 is more than just an extenders bill. It also contains 
vital new provisions.
  It includes tax credits for plug-in vehicles. It includes a long-term 
extension of tax credits for solar power. And it includes a badly 
needed fix to the highway trust fund, which finances a large portion of 
our Nation's transportation infrastructure. That has to be extended; 
otherwise, a lot of jobs will go wanting. A lot of construction jobs 
will not be there, unless we maintain and continue financing for the 
highway program.
  I urge my colleagues to take up this bill and pass it.

[[Page 16667]]

  The vote this week will not be the first time this year that the 
Senate has sought to extend this important tax legislation.
  In May, the House passed H.R. 6049, the Renewable Energy and Job 
Creation Act of 2008. That bill included a roughly $17 billion energy 
tax package. And it included $37 billion in other tax extenders. The 
bill was offset with responsible tax policies that would have changed 
the timing of tax on offshore hedge fund managers and multinational 
corporations.
  The majority leader tried to take up that bill in June. In fact, he 
tried twice. But some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
would not allow us to proceed to the bill.
  The first attempt to proceed failed, 50 to 44, on June 10. The second 
attempt failed a week later, with a vote of 52 to 44.
  Some argued that the House bill lacked key items. For example, some 
said that it should have included relief from the alternative minimum 
tax.
  And some objected to provisions that were in the bill. For example, 
some said that it should not have included Davis-Bacon protections on 
prevailing wages.
  In response to those and other concerns, I introduced S. 3125, a 
revised version of the bill that passed the House.
  S. 3125 included a one-year patch for the alternative minimum tax. It 
would prevent more than 20 million families from paying a tax that 
Congress never intended them to pay.
  And in an effort to reach bipartisan compromise, that bill omitted 
the Davis-Bacon provision.
  But my friends on the other side still objected to that package. They 
expressed concern over other items, such as a provision that allows 
attorney contingency fees to be deducted in the year that they are 
incurred, rather than upon disposition of the case.
  I worked to address the concerns of my friends on the other side of 
the aisle. And last Friday, I introduced another bill S. 3335, the 
Jobs, Energy, Families and Disaster Relief Act of 2008. That is the 
bill that I hope the Senate will turn to this week.
  This legislation includes the core of the previous bill I introduced. 
It includes a strong energy package. It includes an AMT patch. And it 
includes the House-passed individual and business tax extenders.
  S. 3335 also contains several new items. In response to growing 
concerns over our Nation's crumbling infrastructure, this bill would 
shore up the highway trust fund. Last Wednesday, the House passed a 
stand-alone version of this highway fix by an overwhelming vote of 387 
to 37.
  And S. 3335 contains billions in relief for those affected by 
devastating natural disasters.
  And in response to the other key criticism of S. 3125, the one 
related to attorneys' fees, S. 3335 dropped that provision altogether.
  In short, the bill that we will have a chance to vote on this week is 
aimed at helping create jobs, advancing our energy independence, 
helping working families, and offering relief to those areas that have 
experienced natural disasters.
  And by making major modifications to past versions of the bill, it is 
aimed at getting broad support.
  Now, some Senators really want to vote for this because it is the 
right thing to do. But they are told by the leadership: Don't do it. 
They want to vote for it; they are chafing at the bit to vote for it, 
but they are told not to do it. Why, I don't know.
  Now some on the other side have also objected that we should not 
consider a revenue bill that originated in the Senate.
  While it is true that the House must originate revenue bills, there 
is precedent for the Senate's acting in advance of the House.
  For example, the other side did just that in moving the Tax Increase 
Prevention and Reconciliation Act in 2005. The Senate took up its bill, 
S. 2020, on November 16, 2005, nearly a month before the Senate 
received the House companion measure.
  And in the case of the bill before us this week, I think that it is 
important for Senators to be able to vote for the improved version of 
the bill, the bill that includes all the changes that I have been 
discussing.
  And after we get a good vote on this bill, we can move to amend a 
House-passed bill with our Senate measure.
  Congress needs to do more than just extend legislation. Congress 
should work on new policy, new legislation, and new ideas.
  We need to take a hard look at our Tax Code. We need to make it 
fairer and simpler. I have begun that process, through a series of 
hearings in the Finance Committee.
  We need to address the unsustainable growth in health care costs. I 
have also begun an effort to that end, through a series of hearings on 
health care, which accounts for one-sixth of America's economy.
  And we need to address the vital need for a new energy policy, one 
that accounts for the changing realities of our environment, our 
national security, and our economy.
  For more than a year, I have been working to pass a meaningful 
package of energy-tax incentives. It is a package with the goal of 
moving this country toward greater energy independence. And it is a 
package that would help to prepare our economy for a system that also 
addresses global warming.
  These are big challenges. And they will not be solved through one 
bill, or one congressional session. But even though we cannot finish 
the work, we still have an obligation to do what we can.
  This bill may not finish all the work that we need to do. But this 
bill does do work that we are obligated to do.
  Let us do that work. Let us invoke cloture on the motion to proceed. 
And let us provide this help to America's economy, to America's energy 
security, and to the wellbeing of America's working families.

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