On the recordDecember 17, 2015
I stand today in support of many of the provisions that are in this bill. I, too, believe that we need to bring permanency to our tax policy. One of the pieces of this legislation that we are debating today is one that is very near and dear to my heart, something I have worked on since the day I got to Congress, and that is the conservation easement provision, which has helped all of our districts a great deal. That, too, needs to be made permanent. But I stand in opposition to the overall bill. It is not because it is bad policy. We all agree that a lot of the provisions in this bill are good public policy. We should pass them. We should make them permanent. But, sadly, this bill is fiscally reckless. We are going to pass this policy, and we are going to send a nearly $700 billion bill on to the taxpayers of this country. In his comments, my friend, the gentleman from Louisiana, said that, for every piece of legislation in here, they have had hearings, they have had markups, and they have taken these to the floor. He is absolutely correct. We have done everything except make sure this bill is paid for. That is a responsibility that all of us should take seriously. We should not pass tax expenditures without paying for them. I urge a ``no'' vote on the bill.
