[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20761]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 RENEWABLE ENERGY AND JOB CREATION ACT

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, I rise to applaud the Senate's 
passage yesterday, as part of the so-called tax extenders legislation, 
of important tax provisions that will move our Nation toward a green 
economy. But I also would like to reiterate my support for our budget 
pay-as-you-go rule and to express my disappointment that a nonoffset 
version of the so-called alternative minimum tax, AMT, patch was part 
of the tax package the Senate passed.
  With our national debt level at a record high, and growing by the 
day, responsible governing requires that we balance new spending and 
revenue reductions with decreased spending or revenue increases. I am 
proud to have supported Senator Conrad's amendment to the tax extenders 
package that would have provided for the extension of the AMT patch and 
other tax extenders on a fully offset basis. I also supported Senator 
Conrad's effort to raise a point of order under the Senate rules 
against the extenders amendment which was not fully offset.
  Although I strongly prefer Senator Conrad's approach of abiding by 
our budget rules, I decided to support final passage of the partially 
offset tax package because of the many critical energy tax provisions 
in the bill. I have been a strong proponent of growing our green 
economy, which will both help us combat global climate change and 
encourage investment in new technologies that will create jobs and 
strengthen our position in the world economy. This tax extenders 
package includes extensions of incentives for renewable energy, such as 
wind, solar, and geothermal, and the extension of the research and 
development tax credit on which businesses in Rhode Island and across 
the Nation have come to depend. In addition, the legislation that we 
passed yesterday includes a mental health parity law long championed by 
Congressman Patrick Kennedy of my State of Rhode Island and his father, 
Senator Edward Kennedy. This landmark provision will ensure that health 
insurers provide mental health patients with quality coverage and will 
go down as one of the signature accomplishments of this Congress. I 
want to take this opportunity to congratulate Congressman Kennedy and 
the other architects of this important tax legislation.

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