[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2619-2620]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            THE HIRING INCENTIVES TO RESTORE EMPLOYMENT ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Schwartz) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. SCHWARTZ. Mr. Speaker, earlier today, unfortunately, I missed the 
vote on legislation called the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment 
Act, the HIRE Act, because I, along with several of my New Democratic 
Coalition colleagues, were meeting with President Obama in the White 
House. I apologize for not getting back to the floor in time. I would 
have liked to.
  But I did want to speak on the legislation because, in fact, this is 
an important jobs bill. It is one, I hope, of a series of jobs bills 
that we will pass in the House and in the Senate and get to the 
President's desk to move this economy forward, to enhance our economic 
competitiveness and create job growth, help stimulate job growth in the 
private sector.
  This bill did pass the House of Representatives by 217-201, and I 
believe it will be an important step in giving America the tools to 
jump-start job growth. It provides tax cuts to spur investments by 
small businesses and it allows tens of millions of new dollars for 
infrastructure investment.
  Specifically, this bill will grow small business investments by 
extending provisions included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment 
Act that Congress passed in 2009 and which have been very successful in 
stimulating new jobs. These provisions double the amount that small 
businesses can immediately expense for capital investments and 
purchases of new equipment made in 2010 from $125,000 to $250,000.
  The legislation also extends surface transportation programs to allow 
for billions more to be invested in infrastructure necessary across 
this country. It makes it easier for States to borrow for these 
infrastructure projects, such as for school construction and energy 
projects, and it bolsters the Highway Trust Fund to support existing 
highway and transit projects.
  As vice chair of the House Budget Committee, I am particularly 
pleased that the HIRE Act is fully paid for and it does not add to the 
annual deficit. It is paid for by cracking down on overseas tax havens. 
The legislation provides the U.S. Treasury with new tools to find and 
prosecute U.S. individuals who hide assets overseas from the IRS.
  This jobs bill provides new investments needed to get our Nation back 
from this economic crisis we have experienced and to stimulate job 
growth in the private sector by investing in small businesses and in 
infrastructure, and it does so in a fiscally responsible manner.
  I am proud of the House's work on this legislation. I urge my Senate 
colleagues to pass this legislation quickly

[[Page 2620]]

and send it to the President, and I look forward to additional 
legislation that we will see and help work on to produce those new jobs 
to rebuild this economy and to make sure that America is well 
positioned and well prepared for 21st century economic competitiveness 
in a global marketplace.

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