    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
    [December 20, 2006]
    [Pages 2215-2218]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Signing the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006
    December 20, 2006

        Thank you all. Please be seated. Thanks for coming. Welcome to the
    White House. In a few moments I'm going to sign a bill that will extend
    tax relief to millions of

    [[Page 2216]]

    American families and small businesses and add momentum to a growing
    economy. The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 will maintain key
    tax reforms, expand our commitment to renewable energy resources, make
    it easier for Americans to afford health insurance, and open markets
    overseas for our farmers and small-business owners.
        This is a good piece of progrowth legislation, and I'm looking
    forward to signing it into law. And I appreciate members of my Cabinet
    who have joined me in thanking the Congress for their good work here at
    the end of this session. I want to thank Secretary of the Treasury Hank
    Paulson, Secretary of the Interior
    Dirk Kempthorne, and Ambassador Sue
    Schwab for joining us today. Thanks for your
    service.
        I appreciate the Speaker for being
    here. Mr. Speaker, good piece of work. I thank you for your hard work at
    the end of the session. You deserve a lot of credit for this fine piece
    of legislation, as does Senator Bill Frist,
    Senate majority leader.
        I appreciate key Members of the Senate and the House, who got this
    piece of legislation passed, for joining us today. I want to thank Pete
    Domenici and Mike DeWine and Rick Santorum for the Senate--I'm going to save the Louisianans here for a minute--
    and I want to thank the chairman, Bill Thomas, for not only this bill but a lot of other good pieces of
    legislation we were able to work together on.
        I want to say something about these
    Louisianans. I appreciate them coming. This is
    a really important piece of legislation for Louisiana for a lot of
    reasons, not the least of which is it will help provide money so that we
    can help restore the wetlands in Louisiana. It's an issue that has
    united the people of Louisiana. People are rightly concerned about the
    evaporation of wetlands, and this bill is going to help deal with that
    important issue. And I want to thank Mary and David Vitter for good work
    on this important bill. Congratulations. Texas people kind of like
    Louisianans. [Laughter] A lot of us spent some of our youth in
    Louisiana. [Laughter]
        As we approach the end of 2006, our economy is strong, it's
    productive, and it's prosperous. The most recent jobs report shows that
    our economy created 132,000 new jobs in November. That's good. We have
    added more than 7 million new jobs since August of 2003, more than Japan
    and the European Union combined.
        The unemployment rate has remained low at 4.5 percent. More
    Americans are finding work, and more American workers are taking home
    bigger paychecks. The latest figures show that real hourly wages
    increased 2.3 percent in the last year. For the typical family of four
    with both parents working, that means an extra $1,350 for this year.
        As we look forward, our goal is to maintain progrowth economic
    policies that strengthen our economy and help raise the standard of
    living for all our citizens. The bill I sign today will continue
    important progress in four key ways. First, the bill will extend key tax
    relief measures that are critical to expanding opportunity, continuing
    economic growth, and revitalizing our communities.
        To keep America competitive in the world economy, we must make sure
    our people have the skills they need for the jobs of the 21st century.
    Many of those jobs are going to require college, so we're extending the
    deductibility of tuition and higher education expenses to help more
    Americans go to college so we can compete.
        And to keep our Nation leading the world in technology and
    innovation, we're extending and modernizing the research and development
    tax credit. By allowing businesses to deduct part of their R&D
    investments from their taxes, this bill will continue to encourage
    American companies to pursue innovative products, medicines, and
    technologies.
        The bill will also extend vital provisions of the Gulf Opportunity
    Zone Act that I

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    signed last year. The bill will keep in place key tax credits that we
    passed to help rebuild gulf coast communities that were devastated by
    the hurricanes that hit the region in 2005. It will allow us to maintain
    our commitment to provide a 50-percent bonus depreciation for GO Zone
    properties in the hardest hit areas. It will encourage businesses to
    build new structures and purchase new equipment in Mississippi and
    Louisiana.
        There is a great spirit of entrepreneurship on the gulf coast, and
    the incentives in this bill will help our fellow citizens help revive
    those communities. It's in our Nation's interest that this piece of
    legislation pass, and it's in our interest that the people of the gulf
    coast recover as quickly as possible.
        Secondly, this bill will help expand and diversify energy supplies.
    The bill will increase America's energy security by reducing dependence
    on foreign sources of energy. And that's a key goal of the Advanced
    Energy Initiative that my administration has laid out. To encourage the
    development of new sources of energy, the bill will extend tax credits
    for investment in renewable electricity resources, including wind,
    solar, biomass, and geothermal energy. It will encourage the development
    of clean coal technology and renewable fuels like ethanol. And it will
    help promote new energy efficient technologies that will allow us to do
    more with less. In other words, it encourages conservation.
        Meeting the needs of our growing economy also requires expanding our
    domestic production of oil and natural gas. If we want to become less
    dependent on foreign sources of oil and gas, it is best we find some
    here at home. This bill will allow access to key portions of America's
    Outer Continental Shelf so we can reach more than 1 billion additional
    barrels of oil and nearly 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
        By developing these domestic resources in a way that protects our
    environment, we will help address high energy prices, we'll protect
    American jobs, and we'll reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
        The bill will help open new markets for American goods and services
    around the world. I believe in free and fair trade. I believe free and
    fair trade is in the interests of the working people of this country.
    The bill authorizes permanent normal trade relations with Vietnam. And
    Mr. Ambassador, thanks for joining us.
        Vietnam will join the World Trade Organization in January. Isn't
    that amazing? I think it is. You'd be amazed at what it's like to be in
    Vietnam; Laura and I just returned. You were
    there, Mr. Ambassador. You saw the
    outpouring of affection for the American people. There's amazing changes
    taking place in your country as your economy has opened up. Vietnam is
    demonstrating a strong commitment to economic reform, and I believe
    that's going to encourage political reform and greater respect for human
    rights and human dignity.
        With this bill, America will broaden our trade relations with
    Vietnam. It's going to help the Vietnamese people build a strong economy
    that's going to raise their standards of living. It's in our interest to
    help those who struggle. It's in the interest of the United States to
    promote prosperity around the world, and the best way to do so is
    through opening up markets and free and fair trade.
        The bill is going to extend a series of programs with other
    developing nations to give duty-free status to products they export to
    the United States. By encouraging exports, we're going to help nations
    in sub-Sahara Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America develop their
    economies and ultimately create new markets for U.S. goods and services.
        Trade is an engine of economic growth, and I'm looking forward to
    continuing to work with the new Congress to open up markets for U.S.
    farmers and manufacturers

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    and service providers, and provide new opportunities for people around
    the world, and help eliminate poverty.
        Fourth, the bill will help make health care affordable and
    accessible for more Americans. This bill strengthens health savings
    accounts, which we created in 2003. These accounts allow people to save
    money for health care tax free and to take their health savings accounts
    with them if they move from job to job. So far, an estimated 3.6 million
    HSAs have been opened in America.
        To encourage even more people to sign up for HSAs, the bill will
    raise contribution limits and make accounts more flexible. It will let
    people fund their HSAs with one-time transfers from their IRA accounts.
    It will allow them to contribute up to an annual limit of $2,850,
    regardless of the deductible for their insurance plan.
        We'll give them the option to fully fund their HSAs regardless of
    what time of year they sign up for the plan. These changes will bring
    health savings accounts within the reach of more of our citizens and
    ensure that more Americans can get the quality care they deserve.
        With all these steps, we're working to improve the health and
    prosperity of the American people and to keep our economy growing. We're
    going to continue to support wise policies that encourage and enhance
    the entrepreneurial spirit in America, so this country of ours can
    remain the economic leader in the world.
        I want to thank the Members of Congress for joining us. I appreciate
    the members of my Cabinet. It's now my honor to sign the Tax Relief and
    Health Care Act of 2006.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:43 a.m. in Room 450 of the Dwight D.
    Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to
    Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana; and Vietnam's Ambassador to the U.S.
    Nguyen Tam Chien. H.R. 6111, approved December 20, was assigned Public
    Law No. 109-432.