Erik Paulsen: “I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I want to speak in support of the legislation, H.R. 4719, the America…”

“I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I want to speak in support of the legislation, H.R. 4719, the America Gives More Act. This is important legislation that is actually going to increase charitable giving for the benefit of individuals in need across the country while also assisting those vital charities and foundations that serve them in all of our Nation's communities. These are bipartisan proposals, Mr. Speaker, and the bill will make many of these provisions permanent. It will improve a variety of tax rules governing charitable donations and charitable organizations, encouraging America's taxpayers to give even more generously and enabling charities to serve those in need even more effectively. I would also like to address a provision specifically, Mr. Speaker, that I authored that reduces and simplifies the provision, the excise tax on private foundation investment income. Now, private foundations make a world of difference in our communities. I look at Minnesota, my home State. We have 1,400 different foundations. In 2011, about $1 billion is what they annually would donate to those in need. Nationwide, we have got 81,000 foundations that donated almost $50 billion in 2011. These are impressive numbers, impressive figures, but as impressive as those figures and statistics are, the reality is they could easily be higher. Unfortunately, the Tax Code is actually discouraging large and increasingly larger donations given by private foundations.…”