Sander Levin

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. I yield 30 seconds to the majority leader.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself 30 seconds. Build America Bonds, 62 issues as of 6/30/2010 totaling $2 billion, creating all kinds of private sector jobs. We look backward to learn lessons. We have also look forward, and the minority will do neither. I now am privileged to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal), a distinguished member of our committee.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield 15 additional seconds to the gentleman.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I submit for the Record a letter of March 3, 2010, from the National Governors Association, signed by a Republican Governor and by a Democratic Governor on behalf of the entire association. National Governors Association, March 3, 2010. Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives, Washington,

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself an additional 15 seconds. It's urgent. So this Invest in American Jobs Act of 2010 will create the jobs we need to keep moving America forward. To vote ``no'' is to vote America moving backwards. Mr. Speaker, I and Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Camp have asked the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation to make available to the public a technical explanation of H.R. 5893, the ``Investing in American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010''. This technical explanation provides information on the Committee's understanding and legislative intent behind the legislation. It is available on the Joint Committee's website at www.jct.gov and is listed under document number JCX-39-10. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield the gentleman 30 additional seconds.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1568, I call up the bill (H.R. 5893) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to create jobs through increased investment in infrastructure, to eliminate loopholes which encourage companies to move operations offshore, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself the balance of our time. It's really so important to look at the facts. This bill does not basically create government jobs. That is a total myth, and you know it. The infrastructure money goes to State and local communities like highway monies do. These orange barrels, orange and white in Michigan, Mr. Camp, are put up by private contractors with Federal money. So why demean the Build America Bonds provisions by calling it money to State and local governments when everybody knows it's for infrastructure that goes to private contractors and their employees? You mention the number of construction workers out of work; that is very true. And then you vote against the legislation that will give them jobs. You say where are the jobs? Then you come down here and vote against bills to create jobs. It doesn't make any sense. Instead, we get the same political speech aimed at November 2, instead of aiming at creating jobs for the thousands and thousands of people who are unemployed in the United States of America. I want to say something about the double taxation so people understand what this is really all about. We have a foreign tax credit, as there should be, at least in this structure. This is a credit that is supposed to relate to the income by American companies created overseas. So what has been happening under this loophole is that the credit has been used, not in relationship to that income, but has been used relating to other income. So it isn't double taxation; it's an effort to avoid any taxation, and the rest of us pick up the bill. Now, one company that has objected to this has dramatically increased their investment offshore and diminished their jobs in the United States and diminished their R&D. So they say close the loophole and we will pay more taxes, yes. What we are saying is follow the rules, like small business does in this country, and like all of us individual taxpayers do in this country. You can come here and say closing a loophole increases taxes. By definition it does, because it says to people who are skipping paying taxes, pay your fair share. So this is a two-fer, jobs in the U.S. and stopping the shipment of jobs overseas. And if people come here and vote against this bill, they can expect to hear from constituents, that you have voted to help people and entities that ship jobs from this country elsewhere. We should vote resoundingly for this legislation.

Mr. LEVIN. I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), another very vigorous member of our committee.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes. This is a bill to stimulate jobs here, not over there, to create American jobs and close tax loopholes that encourage companies to ship overseas. There is no excuse to vote ``no.'' It is noteworthy that we are on pace to gain more private-sector jobs in the first 8 months of 2010 than were added in the full 8 years of the Bush Presidency. There has been private-sector job growth every month of 2010, but there is still a lot of work to do. There are five unemployed workers for every new job opening. This bill highlights infrastructure development and private-sector jobs. The Build America Bonds (BABs) are the cornerstone of this bill's infrastructure investments. When the recession hit, local governments could not get credit. BABs helped fill this demand by accessing corporate tax bonds and doing so very successfully. As of March 1, BABs have financed more than $115 billion in local infrastructure programs, private-sector jobs. Also, we provide for an emergency fund for job creation. By extending this program that soon expires for 1 year at a cost of $3.5 billion, it will help States sustain low-income families and expand subsidized job programs that create jobs for the unemployed. I want to emphasize, this program has led to the creation of 247,000 jobs, and that is why it has broad support. There is a letter from the National Governors Association, from the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the National Association of Counties. Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute has said, ``It is hard to imagine how any sensible person could oppose it.'' And we pay for it; we pay for it through closing a loophole. We have a Foreign Tax Credit, the FTC, to help businesses avoid double taxation of foreign-sourced income. Some corporations have found ways to use that credit to offset other income while leaving their foreign-sourced profits overseas sometimes permanently. As a result--and I emphasize this--American taxpayers are effectively subsidizing these companies' overseas operations. These provisions have been before us before--no excuse that you haven't seen them before--and you knew this was coming. This is coming because of the urgency of job creation.

Mr. LEVIN. I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett), a most active member of our committee.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself 15 seconds. Mr. Speaker, the infrastructure goes to States and to local governments for private sector jobs--like the highway bill. Small business: You voted against the small business bill. Summer jobs: You voted against summer jobs. Now you say this created summer jobs. It is so hypocritical. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell). Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support H.R. 1875, a bill to establish an Emergency Trade Deficit Commission. This commission will examine the causes and the consequences of the United States' persistent and substantial trade deficits, and it will provide recommendations on how to address and reduce those deficits. Over the past 10 years, our trade deficits have been unprecedented. Before 2000, our largest trade deficit was in 1987 when the deficit was equal to 3.3 percent of GDP, but that 1987 deficit pales in comparison to the deficits we have had every year from 2000 through 2008. Indeed, in 2006, our trade deficit represented 6.4 percent of GDP, nearly twice as high as in 1987. These enormous trade deficits are corrosive. They lower our GDP. They weaken our economic growth. It is no surprise that global imbalances and, in particular, huge U.S. trade deficits have contributed to the global economic crisis that we are slowly recovering from. Our trade deficits are improving now, but this appears to be largely due to a still weak economic recovery, not to any structural policy change, and many economists are warning that massive global imbalances will return unless we take corrective action. Our recent trade deficits are due, in part, to a passive, hands-off approach to trade in the past. Proponents of this flawed approach mistakenly believed that our trade deficits would resolve themselves. Ignoring their effect on U.S. manufacturers, they claim that the mercantilistic practices of China and of some of our trade partners may be okay for the U.S. because they result in cheaper imports for our consumers. This is not a trade policy; this is a recipe for economic failure. As our President has said: Trade is going to be reciprocal. It is not just going to be a one-way street. Those words have been backed up by strong action, such as the China safeguard action the administration took last year. To be sure, there are many causes of our trade deficits, many causes which are not directly related to trade or to industrial policy. The fiscal deficits we amassed over the past decade certainly played a signature role, for example, and we need to confront those issues as well. Trade can contribute substantially to the strength of our economy, but it has to be reciprocal. It has to be two-way trade. I believe that the work of the Emergency Trade Deficit Commission can help us determine how best to achieve two-way trade. It can help us expand and shape trade to ensure that it is working for working Americans. It can help us make a thing of the past these corrosive trade deficits that weaken our economy and hurt our workers and the manufacturers which employ them. I, therefore, urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this important legislation. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1875) to establish an Emergency Commission to End the Trade Deficit, as amended.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield an additional 2 minutes to the author of the bill.

Mr. LEVIN. It is now my distinct pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the author of this legislation, the active, distinguished gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio).

Mr. LEVIN. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LEVIN. Now, that the distinguished ranking member on the Trade Subcommittee has yielded back the balance of his time, I will close. First of all, I want to thank Mr. DeFazio for introducing the bill and for his willingness and his really effective efforts to work with us. His staff also collaborated in bringing this bill to the floor. I also want to thank Congressman Camp and Congressman Brady and their staff for working with us. So let me just say a word. We'll debate trade issues another time. I think everybody here has spoken about the importance of two-way trade and ending the one-way street. The problem with the Korea agreement, as it was negotiated, was that when it comes to the industrial sector, there was no way it was even close to a likelihood that there would be two-way trade in vital industrial sectors. So far it's only been one way, and now steps have to be taken with the other provisions in the bill to make sure there's two-way trade in industrial, as well as agricultural, goods as well as opening up their markets to service products. I think we're now finished with this. We can discuss the moratorium on drilling some other day, and I now urge passage of this bill.

Mr. LEVIN. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield an additional 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), our distinguished colleague, a member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott), our subcommittee chair. (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)