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SUBCOMMITTEES: Privacy, Copyright, and Permission to Link Statement |
Committee on Ways and Means For Immediate Release FLOOR STATEMENT CHAIRMAN BILL THOMAS ON H.R. 3090, THE "JOB CREATION AND WORKER ASSISTANCE ACT OF 2002" As prepared for delivery Six months after our nation was attacked, we are back for round four in the effort to generate economic growth and create jobs. This bill isn’t what any of us thought or hoped we would be passing when we set out in September to enact legislation to get our economy back on track. The package before you is vastly different from the previous bills the House passed. Key provisions that would have encouraged investment and created more jobs to reemploy laid off workers are not in this bill. Health insurance tax credits that would have protected the jobless and their families from high medical costs are not in this bill. Immediate stimulus payments and accelerated income tax reductions – money that Americans would have plowed right back into the economy – are not in this bill. All of these vital elements have been laid aside in the interest of getting the most basic form of relief to individuals and businesses that are still hurting badly from the double punch of recession and September 11. Next week, unemployment benefits for those who lost their jobs after the tragedy of September 11 begin to expire. So this effort has now come down to the basics. The areas where we are able to agree form a skeleton bill that does the minimum to help displaced workers and businesses cope. It is nonetheless still important to the economic future of millions of Americans. This bill is constructed on the pillars of unemployment relief for the jobless and modest improvements in the investment climate for businesses. It has important components such as the Liberty Zone provisions that will bring hope to the devastated city that took the brunt of the attacks. It includes the extension of key tax provisions that expired at the end of last year. But let’s not delude ourselves that this package is stimulus. It’s insurance for economic growth, but it’s the cheapest policy. We have moved repeatedly to make this bill acceptable to our Democratic colleagues. This is the fourth time the House has considered a job creation bill, and my colleagues should recognize that with each succeeding bill, we have given more ground in order to achieve consensus. The items they couldn’t live with are gone. The excuses are gone. This is the last game in town. We all play today, or we go home to our constituents and say we did nothing to help you, because we let politics matter more than your economic future. |