[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 51 (Monday, December 25, 2006)]
[Pages 2193-2195]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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 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]

[[Page 2194]]

    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 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

[[Page 2195]]

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 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 
Senator 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.