Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself 4 minutes. I am pleased to introduce this bill, the Real Estate Jobs and Investment Act. This bill will help address the growing problems in the U.S. commercial real estate market by attracting new capital through alleviating punitive taxes that discourage investment in the United States real estate markets. Currently, almost $170 billion in commercial U.S. real estate is underwater, with many of these mortgages needing to be refinanced within the next 2 to 3 years. Without a new infusion of capital, a collapse in the commercial real estate market could lead to yet another economic downturn. That is a risk that our country can simply not afford right now. Under current U.S. tax law, foreign investors generally do not pay capital gains taxes when they sell stock in a U.S. corporation, such as a Microsoft or Google, unless that U.S. corporation is a real estate investment trust, also known as a REIT, which is like a mutual fund for real estate. Because Federal tax law imposes certain punitive taxes on foreign investment in U.S. real estate, foreign investors are not putting their money into the U.S. commercial real estate sector. The Real Estate Jobs and Investment Act takes direct aim at this problem by doubling the amount of foreign capital that can be invested in a publicly traded real estate investment trust. The bill is fully PAYGO compliant, so it won't increase our debt or our deficit by even a single penny.…”