Stephanie Tubbs Jones: “I would like to compliment both the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. McCrery)…”

“I would like to compliment both the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. McCrery) on the work they have done on this legislation. I introduced a piece of legislation. This bill's number is H.R. 3768, mine is H.R. 3769. I hope as we go through the process you would take a look at the legislation that I have. The legislation I have has two of the same provisions, the temporary housing tax credit as well as the work opportunity tax credit for Hurricane Katrina victims. But I would ask Members to consider expanding the low-income tax credit to assist Katrina victims in obtaining affordable housing. This legislation would make the following changes to low-income housing tax credit. It will double the housing tax credit authority for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama for 2006 and 2007 to $3.70 times State population. The current cap is $1.85. It would extend difficult development area designation to Federal disaster areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida through 2007. The difficult development areas are currently those areas with high construction land and utility costs because of their location. In DDAs, the tax credit is based on 130 percent of the project's total cost instead of the normal 100 percent, providing an incentive to developers to invest in these most-distressed areas.…”