[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2656]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


              INTRODUCING THE INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 17, 2011

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Investing in 
Our Future Act. This bill will discourage speculation in the financial 
markets, help us shrink the deficit, and help create a better world for 
future generations.
  Today is the Global Day of Action when hundreds of organizations are 
calling on the world's governments to create financial transactions 
taxes to generate billions of dollars to help battle the problems that 
threaten the planet.
  Our deficit is now a record $1.5 trillion. Most suggestions about how 
to reduce the deficit require cutting government programs and 
discretionary spending. These kinds of cuts hurt American families and 
don't stimulate our economy. I propose that we instead shrink our 
deficit by looking to the currency market.
  Every day $4 trillion in currency is traded by the world's largest 
financial institutions in the foreign exchange markets. U.S. banks 
generated $7 billion in foreign exchange trading revenue in the first 
three quarters of 2010. Much of this trading is purely speculative. The 
banks attempt to outguess the market and in turn, destabilize the 
economy.
  The Investing in Our Future Act will place a microtax of just 0.005 
percent on the currency trades conducted on or on behalf of U.S. 
financial institutions. This small tax would not be enough to disrupt 
the larger currency market but it could decrease speculative trades by 
as much as 14 percent.
  The billions generated by this tax will be divided between deficit 
reduction and causes that will help us build a better world. Forty 
percent of revenues would be reserved for deficit reduction.
  Ten percent of revenues will go into a Child Care Assistance Trust 
Fund. These funds will be used for subsidized child care here in the 
United States, where six out of seven children who qualify for 
subsidized care do not receive it.
  Fifty percent of revenues will be evenly divided between the fight 
against climate change and world poverty. The Global Change Climate 
Change Adaptation and Mitigation Trust Fund will receive 25 percent of 
all revenues. Climate change destabilizes our world because it 
contributes to extreme weather, food shortages, and poverty. The other 
25 percent will go into a Multilateral Global Health Trust Fund. This 
trust fund will support programs in poor countries that lack adequate 
medical infrastructure to treat and prevent diseases like malaria, HIV/
AIDs and tuberculosis.
  By contributing the revenues from this bill toward these causes, we 
will be investing in a stable and healthy future for our own country 
and others across the globe. I urge my colleagues to support the 
Investing in Our Future Act.

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