[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6368]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             TAX DEDUCTIONS

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, one of my constituents, Gail, from Lititz, 
Pennsylvania, recently wrote to me about a provision in the President's 
recently released budget. She said, among other things, ``God has 
blessed us abundantly in many ways; in turn, we have been able to bless 
others. We donate a very large percentage of our income to the hungry, 
homeless, orphaned and widowed. We are in the top tax bracket. Any 
increase in our taxes or decrease in our charitable deductions will not 
hurt our standard of living, it will, indeed, hurt the very people that 
the government is trying to help.''
  When Alexis de Tocqueville wrote with praise for America, he cited 
our civic institutions, like churches and other nonprofit 
organizations, as the basis for our strength in the Nation. The Obama 
administration is woefully misguided if they think reducing the tax 
credit for charitable donations will help America. During an economic 
recession, our churches, charities, and other community organizations 
that assist many individuals quicker and more effectively than 
government programs will be harmed. It's a mistake to change our tax 
policy to reduce funding to these organizations when their help is 
needed most in communities across America.

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