Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman. Madam President, we also struck--I am chagrined to say to the senior Senator from New Hampshire--$34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce building. Now, again, undoubtedly there needs to be renovations, but that simply does not meet the threshold for inclusion in this bill. I support many of these projects, but the stimulus bill should not be a vehicle for either my pet projects or anyone else's. In closing my remarks, I want to emphasize that a substantial amount of the funding in our amendment, more than $365 billion, will be used to reduce the tax burden on Americans at a time when this relief is so critical. We provide also important assistance for those who are struggling the most, for those who need an extension of unemployment compensation and an increase in the refundable child tax credit and an increase in the earned-income tax credit. We provide direct assistance to seniors, disabled veterans, and SSI recipients. And very importantly, the amendment contains three provisions that are especially critical to small business--the job generators of our economy. These include an extension of the bonus depreciation and small business expensing provisions we passed last year, plus a provision allowing businesses to carryback net operating losses for five years, instead of the current two years. Taken together, these provisions will give the American business community nearly $23 billion in much needed tax relief.”