On the recordNovember 14, 2012
I rise again to highlight an important issue to Iowa and the Nation, the wind production tax credit. It expires in a month and must be extended immediately. Inaction has already led to job losses in Iowa and threatens thousands more jobs in our State. The wind credit has bipartisan roots and was an important issue in the Presidential and many congressional campaigns this year. The Senate already passed a bipartisan package that included the wind credit. It's past time for the House to act. Iowa is the second-largest producer of wind energy in the country. Wind manufacturing involves about 200 companies and 6,000 good-paying jobs for Iowans. Congress should not play games with people's jobs and pull the rug out from an industry employing thousands in the middle of an economic downturn. The wind credit is also critical for energy production and job creation. Congress must extend the wind credit now before more jobs are lost, especially at this time with unemployment and economic downturn that we still continue to suffer from. ____________________
