[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10570]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             HOUSE CONSIDERATION OF TAX EXTENDER PROVISIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SUZANNE BONAMICI

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 19, 2014

  Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my opposition to the 
process that has brought the bills under consideration before us today. 
Once again, my colleagues and I find ourselves in the difficult 
position of opposing the extension of tax provisions that are worthy of 
support, and long overdue for consideration. The Section 179 provisions 
that allow for businesses to expense the cost of certain asset 
purchases, and the tax treatment of S corporations that allows them to 
pay a reduced ``built-in gains'' tax, have long helped our small 
businesses thrive. I was pleased to vote for them as part of a bill to 
avert the fiscal cliff in January 2013. But because of inaction by the 
House on tax reform, these provisions were allowed to expire at the end 
of last year. Now, we are being given a choice: extend these provisions 
permanently without paying for them, and without also extending the 
many other important provisions that have expired, or don't extend them 
at all.
  More than three million Americans have lost access to emergency 
unemployment insurance. Despite the Senate passing legislation to 
extend unemployment benefits, the House has refused to join in this 
important, bipartisan effort to help our hardest-hit constituents. Our 
colleagues in the majority insist that an extension of the emergency 
unemployment insurance program be fully paid for, but now are putting 
forward costly permanent legislation that will add $75 billion to the 
deficit. Of course small businesses are worthy of support from this 
Congress, but not at the expense of those who are still unable to find 
work. I fully support the motion to recommit, which extends these 
important provisions for another two years. This will give our 
businesses the tax relief they deserve, while allowing us to engage in 
a broader conversation on tax reform that our constituents have 
demanded.
  In May, we considered a similarly misguided effort to extend the 
Research and Development Tax Credit permanently and without an offset. 
I expressed frustration that by extending this tax credit while not 
acting on others, we appear more concerned with the needs of the 
business community than with those of working families when we should 
be concerned about both. The credits we are considering today should be 
extended, yes, but so should important provisions such as the Earned 
Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and the Production Tax Credit 
for renewable energy projects.
  The House must be mindful of its commitment to help all Americans, 
and we should consider a slate of tax extenders that will benefit all 
of our constituents. For this reason, I oppose the bills before us 
today, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.