The hearing will come to order.  Good morning and thank you for joining us today for another in our series of hearings on tax extenders.

During our Member Day hearing in April we had the opportunity to hear from our House colleagues about the merits of extending—or not extending—many of these tax policies.  By all accounts it was a productive exercise.  I commend Chairman Camp for providing the opportunity.  His leadership in setting forth a transparent process for reviewing tax extenders is what the American people expect of their representatives.  The days of simply rubber-stamping the extenders package are behind us.

Today we pivot to exploring ideas on the framework that Congress should use to evaluate tax extenders.  Our witnesses will share their views on the principles of good tax policy, and the specific metrics against which Congress should test the merits of particular provisions.  I look forward to the conversation.

Before we begin I would like to take a moment to thank Congressman Thompson for serving as Ranking Member for this hearing.  Unfortunately, Congressman Neal couldn’t be with us today because he’s attending a funeral in Springfield for a fallen police officer.  

I now yield to Mr. Thompson for his opening statement.