Sander Levin

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, millions of American families have taken advantage of the home buyer tax credit, giving a much-needed boost to home sales at a time when our housing market needed it most. In a word, this tax credit has worked. It gave a boost to our economic recovery, and it helped first-time buyers achieve their dream, the American Dream of owning a home. Today's legislation helps ensure the credit works for people who have followed the terms of the incentive. Under current law, taxpayers that entered into a written, binding contract to purchase a home prior to May 1, 2010, are eligible for the home buyer tax credit so long as the sale was completed prior to July 1, 2010. The bill would extend this closing date from prior to July 1, 2010, to prior to October 1, 2010. As a result, taxpayers that entered into a written, binding contract prior to May 1, 2010, will have until September 30, 2010, and I emphasize that, until September 30, 2010, to complete their home purchase transactions. This legislation also takes important steps to eliminate instances of fraud that were recently discovered by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration relating to prison inmates. Last year, the Oversight Subcommittee chair, Mr. Lewis, took the lead in examining issues of abuse, and this clearly is one, and so this bill addresses this abuse very effectively. Mr. Speaker, this legislation is a necessary step to extend this benefit to those who qualify and the need to facilitate their purchases, and also, it addresses the issue of fraud. This legislation is fully paid for, and I strongly encourage my colleagues to support the bill and follow through on our commitment to thousands and thousands of home buyers who have followed the rules and now should be able to follow through with their purchase. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, it is now my special privilege to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania, Kathy Dahlkemper.

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. LEVIN. Before I recognize the next distinguished gentleman, I just sit here. Even on a bipartisan supported bill, we get such partisan rhetoric. I hope everybody listens to it. It is now my privilege to yield 2 minutes, or as much time as he may consume, to a very active Member of Congress, the gentleman from the proud State of Mississippi (Mr. Childers).

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record a letter from the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Mr. Thompson, to me dated June 29, 2010, and a letter from me as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee to Mr. Thompson. Committee on Homeland Security, House of Representatives, Washington, DC, June 29, 2010. Hon. Sander M. Levin, Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing you regarding the ``Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010.'' This legislation contains provisions within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Homeland Security. I recognize and appreciate your desire to bring this legislation before the House in an expeditious manner and, accordingly, have waived further consideration of the measure. I have done so with the understanding that waiving consideration of the bill should not be construed as the Committee on Homeland Security waiving, altering, or otherwise affecting its jurisdiction over subject matters contained in the bill which fall within its Rule X jurisdiction. Further, I request your support for the appointment of Homeland Security conferees during any House-Senate conference convened on this or similar legislation. I also ask that a copy of this letter and your response be placed in the Congressional Record during floor consideration of this bill. I look forward to working with you on this legislation and other matters of great importance to this nation. Sincerely, Bennie G. Thompson, Chairman.

Mr. LEVIN. I can close very briefly. This bill is meritorious. It deserves bipartisan support, and I hope very much it will receive it. We owe this to the people who have essentially followed the rules who are caught by a closing date. This is a credit. There is often question about, is the effort of the recovery program and like programs working? This is an example of it working, and in fact working so actively that now it is necessary and I think correct that we make sure that people who have advantaged themselves of it correctly are able to follow through. So I urge a strong vote.

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5623) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the homebuyer tax credit for the purchase of a principal residence before October 1, 2010, in the case of a written binding contract entered into with respect to such principal residence before May 1, 2010, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. It is now my privilege to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts, a distinguished Member, Mr. Rich Neal.

Mr. LEVIN. It's now my privilege to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New York, Charles Rangel. (Mr. RANGEL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEVIN. I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), a distinguished member of our committee.

Mr. LEVIN. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the chairman of the subcommittee, the distinguished gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott). (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEVIN

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Maffei). (Mr. MAFFEI asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds. The gentleman acknowledges he voted for a permanent fix. He was the only one on the Republican side. There was nobody else. You have refused, on the Republican side, to vote for a permanent fix.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the Senate amendments to H.R. 3962.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 3962) to provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes.

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. I understand the Senate is about to vote--I think has begun its vote--on the comprehensive jobs bill, helping to pay for it, so that companies don't ship jobs overseas. So what we're doing now, in view of what seems inevitable in the Senate, is take up one piece of that bill. The SGR provision is in the bill now before the Senate, and that, I'm afraid, will be turned down. And what the fact is, we have to act because patients, military personnel, their physicians, need action. But it's the inaction of Republicans in the other House; it really is bringing us to this point. And despite efforts, and valiant efforts, by the majority leader in the Senate, in the other House, and the Finance chair in the other body, it now seems absolutely certain there won't be a single Republican vote for that comprehensive bill that has this piece in it. What the Democrats in the other body have faced is a Republican phalanx, without a single one on the minority side willing to step up and vote for a bill that this country needs. So I serve notice: We on this side will not give up. A million and half Americans today who are out of work, who are looking for work, have lost their benefits because of the phalanx in the other body. There's reference to turning the corner here. No. The minority in the other House, as was true here, have been turning their backs. So much is at stake. I mentioned just a few parts of that bill--the R&D tax credit; Build America Bonds that have helped put millions of people to work; provisions regarding housing; summer employment for 300,000 young people who want to work, who need work. So because of this phalanx among Republicans in the other body, as was true here, we were faced with this alternative to pass this so-called fix now. And it's interesting. We tried some months ago to have a permanent resolution of this. And, as mentioned, only one Republican voted for it. In May, we had a 19-month provision in the jobs bill, and it just could not pass the Senate, apparently, and very, very few, if any, here on the Republican side supported it. So here we are. A Republican phalanx. So we're going to act on this bill. And I assure you, we on this side will not give up on the basic interest of the American people.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I shall use. This is a flawed bill that we are now considering. We are forced to consider it because of the Republican filibuster of action on the jobs and tax bill now pending in the other body. This bill does not adequately address the need for a longer-term solution to avoid the disastrous cut in Medicare physician reimbursement that is currently impacting doctors and, most importantly, seniors and military servicemembers. Republicans in the other body have been stonewalling the basic bill, the jobs bill, week after week after week. Doing so, they have placed a hammerlock on the lives of millions of Americans. A much better course would be for Republicans in the other body to begin to side with the American people instead of stonewalling against them, and not with their party leaders nor the Tea Party, and allow a straight up-or-down vote on the comprehensive jobs bill pending in the other body. Instead, they are willing to put politics before people, and they are leaving millions of unemployed workers thrown out of work by this recession through no fault of their own without their unemployment insurance benefits. Instead, they seem willing to let loopholes that permit jobs to be shipped overseas continue to remain open. Republicans, in a word, are saying to the American people that they care more about their political futures than they do the daily lives of millions and millions of Americans. We will not let that stand. We will continue to stand on the side of seniors and the physicians who treat them, on the side of unemployed workers and their families, on the side of millions who are looking for jobs, on the side of youth seeking employment, and on the side of those who would benefit from tax measures and bond measures that are supporting millions of jobs. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself another 15 seconds. Instead, we're stuck with this bill because we could not get a single vote for a bill that is better than this in the Senate from a Republican. That's why we're here today. I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of the Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act, known as the DISCLOSE Act. This legislation, quite simply, is about giving voters information on who is trying to influence an election and how much money they are spending to do so. The American people deserve the benefit of this information as they decide how to vote. Unfortunately, the trend in recent years has been toward less transparency in election spending. Organizations hiding behind generic or even misleading names have spent millions of dollars in political advertising, often not to promote their own ideas but to attack a candidate or cause. Posing as grassroots citizens groups, too often advertisements turn out to be astroturf campaigns funded by corporations, industry trade associations, and political interests. Their purposes may be to confuse or even deceive voters and, without the ability to know an advertisement's sponsors, the voters are missing vital information that would help them arrive at their own conclusions. This trend in political advertisements was already on an unsustainable path when the Supreme Court overturned the prohibition on direct corporate and union spending on elections. This decision opened the floodgates to a wave of new money, all of which could be spent from behind a curtain of secrecy. The DISCLOSE Act pulls back the curtain. It requires the CEO or President of the sponsoring corporation, union, or advocacy organization to stand by their ad, just as candidates must. The bill requires these organizations to inform their members or shareholders of their election-related spending so that the decision makers can be held accountable. It requires spending amounts to be posted online and, for those shadow groups that seem to form overnight, advertisements will be required to list their top five funders, and the organization will need to make a list of their large donors available to the public. The DISCLOSE Act also steps in to bar spending from those who should not be able to interfere in elections: corporations controlled by foreigners as well as government contractors and TARP recipients who should not be able to spend taxpayer money on election activities. There is no doubt that the DISCLOSE Act represents a significant improvement over current law and a step worth taking. It is time to pull back the curtain and I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this important legislation.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. I want to congratulate Mr. Berman and the ranking member that this indeed is a critical achievement not only because it sends a clear and unambiguous message that Iran must end its pursuit of nuclear weapons, but because it provides the President with powerful tools to achieve this crucial objective. It will reinforce and enhance the administration's efforts regarding Iran. It provides the administration with a renewed mandate and substantial leverage to employ against the regime of Iran toward the goal of stopping its development of weapons of mass destruction and support of terrorism. What could be more important? It is also not only fundamentally in the national interest but in the interests of the international community. A nuclearized Iran that supports terrorism is simply unacceptable. And it's encouraging that the U.S. is not acting alone. The international community has spoken. Thanks to the administration's leadership, supported by this Congress and the support of key allies, the U.N. Security Council adopted expansive and severe sanctions on Iran. And this legislation builds off of the Security Council sanctions. Diplomacy and strong multilateral sanctions have been a critical part of this process. The more countries that participate in this mission, the more effective it will be. And this bill, thanks to the leadership here, has built on this essential premise. I look forward to the passage of this legislation, and I thank the administration for its leadership on this issue, and you, Mr. Chairman, for your tremendous work on moving this legislation forward.