Sander Levin

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, in conjunction with the May 28, 2010, consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives of House amendments to the Senate amendment to H.R. 4213, ``The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010,'' I have asked the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation to make available to the public a technical explanation of the provisions included in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 4213. This technical explanation reflects the Ways and Means Committee's understanding and legislative intent behind those provisions. It is available on the Joint Committee on Taxation website at www.jct.gov and is listed under document number JCX-29-10.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 4213.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I will enter into the Record a letter from the AARP in support of the SGR provision for physicians under Medicare and their patients.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1403, I call up the bill (H.R. 4213) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend certain expiring provisions, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendment thereto, and have a motion at the desk.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Mr. LEVIN. I now yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), chair of the Joint Economic Committee.

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley), another distinguished member of our committee.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to another distinguished member of our Ways and Means Committee, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to another distinguished Member of our committee, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal).

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the very distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, it is now my more than distinct privilege, and I repeat that, more than my distinct privilege, to yield 1 minute to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, how much time do we have remaining?

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself 30 seconds and then the balance of the time to the majority leader. In a word, the minority objects when we pay for jobs bills after years of their creating deficits. They object when there is an emergency under statutory PAYGO and we provide for unemployment comp. So in a word or a few words, they project nothing either constructive or positive. Mr. Speaker, I end on both a constructive and positive note by yielding the balance of my time to our distinguished majority leader. (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 4 minutes. We will be voting on two amendments. I want to comment first on that relating to jobs. It is major job legislation. Included are billions for financing infrastructure, Build America Bonds. And here is what one school district said. I read it because it applies to school districts, to communities, to people throughout this country. The Build America Bonds have been used in virtually every State, probably in most counties. Here is what one superintendent said. ``Build America Bonds proved to be a brass tacks approach to address critical needs in our school district such as new school buses, roof replacements, and technology upgrades. Relief provided by BABs allowed us to ensure taxpayers a lower interest rate while at the same time putting people to work.'' There is also authority for other important bonds. There are tax incentives in this bill for business relating to jobs. The R&D tax credit, the biodiesel tax credit. There is a provision, it's an incentive for retailers to invest in their real estate, infrastructure, building jobs, and also provisions to help U.S. companies compete overseas, not taking their jobs overseas, and allowing manufacturers to use AMT tax credits, otherwise unused for investment in the United States of America and for jobs in the United States of America. SBA loans to small businesses, summer jobs programs, overall more than $26 billion here for job creation, as well as for individual tax relief. We essentially pay for this bill with a provision where you invest your own money, you get a capital gains. If you manage other people's money, ordinary income. We phase it in so that there will be a period of time for this to occur, as well as closing loopholes in the use of foreign credit so companies don't shift their jobs overseas. The second part of this amendment relates to unemployment insurance. I will say this very, very briefly. Those who vote ``no'' are essentially going to say to millions of workers in this country, Your benefits will not be available even though you are looking for work. The second amendment relates to SGR, and this relates not only to physicians, but most importantly to the families that they treat. If we don't act, there will be a 21 percent cut in reimbursement for physicians and also for military families. Now, this is provided by statutory PAYGO. So colleagues, the choice is clear. This is about American jobs, this is for unemployment for those looking for work who can't find it, and it's for physicians to avoid a 21 percent cut. This is not only about physicians, but their patients under Medicare. We must act; we must move on this now. The Senate will then have to move quickly when they return. We must stand on the side of supporting American jobs and preventing outsourcing of those jobs. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Waxman. (Mr. WAXMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEVIN. It is now my privilege to yield 2 minutes to the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee--this is about infrastructure and transportation--Jim Oberstar.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to another distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Lewis of Georgia.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, Mr. George Miller of California.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. So the complaint is now we are closing loopholes. We're closing provisions worked out with the administration, that asked for a much larger package, that will make sure that the foreign tax credit is not abused so that jobs are shipped overseas. So instead, jobs are created in the United States of America. So this is about a jobs bill, a jobs bill to create jobs in the United States of America and to help those who can't find them get some help. We will talk about the physician fix, or the effort to treat it--it's not really a fix. It's to provide reimbursement to physicians so that they can provide care for their patients. And so you say it's only 19 months. When you were in power, that was the most you did, and usually there was much less out. You're going to vote against that? Well, we'll see. And there is a provision here relating to veterans, and I close with reference to this: The Military Officers Association of America has sent a letter saying they ``have strong support for H.R. 4213. The Military Officers Association of America is also grateful that H.R. 4213 includes authority to implement the administration's proposal to phase out the disability offset to military retired pay for servicemembers forced into premature medical retirement as a result of service-caused disabilities.''

Mr. LEVIN. I will be speaking at greater length, though only for a few minutes, when the rule passes. I want to say just a few things about what this bill is all about. The basic bill has been here for more than a week, and so anyone who says they don't know what's in it has failed to read it. It says, and it means, jobs and jobs and jobs. There are provisions for business, there are provisions for local communities in terms of infrastructure. We're talking about supporting millions of jobs in this country, and so we will get to that. I think your discomfort is that this indeed is a jobs bill and it will create more jobs, and the path has been started some months ago. Contrary to the path under the Bush administration, when jobs were lost, now they are being gained, and this bill will help gain them further. Secondly, the gentleman from California talked about the unemployment rate in California. This bill extends unemployment compensation through the end of November of this year. So when he has a chance to help the hundreds of thousands of unemployed people who are looking for work in California--and those of you on the minority side who also face unemployment and who have tens, if not thousands, of people who are unemployed--how are you going to vote? Are you going to turn your backs on the unemployed who are looking for work? We'll have to see. And then there is some reference to the tax provisions. As I will explain, there are numerous tax provisions to help small business in this bill, numerous provisions: the R&D tax credit; the biodiesel tax credit, which many want; the provision for real estate improvements to maintain the 15-year depreciation, which helps to stimulate jobs; jobs for service industries overseas, which they want; and allowing manufacturers to be able to use their AMT. This is paid for, unlike the years I sat on the Ways and Means Committee under the Republicans when there was never anything paid for.

Mr. LEVIN. ``It is patently inequitable that current law forces these members to fund their own VA disability compensation by forfeiting most or all of their military retired pay. H.R. 4213 properly acknowledges that such members should be vested for retired pay earned by service, independent of any service-caused disability.'' The test will come in a few hours where you stand on jobs and where you stand for the veterans of this country. Announcement By the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, earlier today, I was unavoidably absent during rollcall vote 336, passage of H.R. 5136, the National Defense Authorization Act. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Madam Chair, I rise in strong support of the amendment by Representative Murphy to repeal the ``Don't Ask Don't Tell'' policy. The Don't Ask Don't Tell policy is discriminatory and it harms U.S. military readiness. Over the last 17 years, our nation has paid a heavy price for pursuing this policy. Since 1993, more than 13,000 qualified, well trained men and women have been dismissed from the military simply because of their sexual orientation. These are men and women we could ill afford to lose, especially at a time when our armed forces are engaged in two major military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is why so many of this country's highest current and retired military leaders favor repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen. Admiral Mullen recently wrote, ``No matter how I look at this issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.'' Retired General Colin Powell and the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Shalikashvili also have urged repeal. The argument has been made that repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell would negatively affect military unit cohesion. The evidence simply does not support this. Many other countries--including Britain, Canada and Israel--successfully allow gays and lesbians to serve openly. In any case, the Murphy amendment specifically states that repeal will take place only after the President and our nation's military leaders certify that the Department of Defense has prepared the necessary policies and regulations to implement repeal and that these policies are consistent with military standards for readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, recruiting and retention.