Requesting that the President of the United States transmit to the House of Representatives copies of any emails in the possession of the Executive Office of the President that were transmitted to or from the email account(s) of former Internal Revenue Service Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner between January 2009 and April 2011.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 670, I call up the bill (H.R. 4719) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permanently extend and expand the charitable deduction for contributions of food inventory, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 4719.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The American people are the most charitable people in the world, donating money, food, and clothing in times of need. Their donations ensure that charities and foundations can help individuals and communities across the country.

There are numerous provisions in the Tax Code that encourage giving, and the bill we have before us today, H.R. 4719, the America Gives More Act, ensures that some of these provisions are made permanent so individuals, businesses, and farmers can donate and give back more. The first provision will make permanent and expand the charitable deduction for contributions of food inventory by businesses, regardless of how they are organized.

Food banks are a vital part of communities, helping Americans put food on the table and provide for their families when they have come across hard times or suffered through a natural disaster.

The Food Donation Connection has estimated that since this tax deduction was expanded in 2006, donations have increased 127 percent. Unfortunately, a provision in current law that encouraged passthrough businesses to contribute food inventory expired at the end of last year, and charities and foundations across the country are urging that it be restored and made permanent.

According to Feeding America, 3.6 billion pounds of food is distributed by food bank members each year. This legislation would significantly increase food bank access to the 70 billion pounds of nutritious food wasted each year.

Today, we have the opportunity to continue this important credit, allowing all businesses, farmers, and ranchers to take advantage and donate more nutritious food to the millions of Americans who need it most.

This bill also ensures that seniors who donate to charities from their Individual Retirement Accounts can do so without a tax penalty. According to the Independent Sector, this provision has ``prompted more than $140 million in gifts to the work of nonprofits since enactment, assisting social service providers, religious organizations, cultural institutions and schools, and other nonprofits.'' Making this provision permanent can only serve to increase the generous donations that charities rely on.

In addition, the bill will make permanent the deduction for contributions of conservation easements. This provision will also increase the amount of land or property donated for charitable use. Witnesses before the Ways and Means Committee have testified that in the first 2 years of the enactment of conservation easements, the number of donations doubled compared to the previous 2 years, resulting in a 32 percent increase of acreage conserved.

This is one area, especially, where long-term planning is essential. To allow this to expire makes it much more difficult for the often multigenerational planning necessary to take place. In Michigan, I have seen the benefits of conservation easements firsthand. This is a tremendous legacy for future generations.

The tax reform draft the committee produced earlier in the year would encourage charitable giving in several important ways and, by creating a stronger economy, analysis found that it would increase charitable giving by an estimated $2.2 billion each year.

Two important charitable provisions from the draft--lowering the excise tax on private foundations and extending the tax deadline for charitable contributions from December 31 to April 15--are included in the America Gives More Act.

At the end of the year, many taxpayers have no idea what their tax liability will be, and it is only after struggling through the daunting process of preparing their tax return that they know with certainty. If taxpayers were permitted to make and deduct contributions prior to filing their tax return, I believe many Americans will be even more generous in supporting religious and charitable causes. Testimony before the Ways and Means Committee found that allowing donors to deduct gifts until April 15 would result in significantly more charitable giving.

Another provision from the draft would lower and simplify the excise tax on private foundations, making compliance easy, especially for smaller foundations. As a result, foundations will have more of their resources available to support charities and exempt organizations across the country.

All of these provisions are bipartisan and have the support of over 850 charities and foundations across the country, who wrote to Congress stating:

Without an incentive in place and assured, many of the

gifts the charitable incentives were intended to promote will

simply not take place.

I will insert in the Record the letter from Independent Sector, supported by 850 charities and foundations across the United States.

Independent Sector,

July 15, 2014.

Open Letter to the House of Representatives: Millions of

individuals and families are served by the essential work of

America's public charities, which is made possible in part by

incentives for charitable giving in our tax code. The House

may soon have an opportunity to address tax legislation that

would renew and make permanent three key incentives for

donations to America's public charities. We strongly urge you

to approve legislation that would renew the IRA charitable

rollover and the enhanced incentives for donations of food

inventory and land conservation easements, each of which

expired as of January 1, 2014.

Originally enacted in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 as

a way to encourage increased charitable giving, these three

provisions have demonstrated a significant impact on the

nonprofit community. The IRA charitable rollover increases

the ability of older Americans to make gifts to charities by

allowing individuals age 70\1/2\ or older to donate up to

$100,000 to a qualifying public charity directly from their

IRAs without incurring tax on the withdrawal. The provision

has prompted more than $140 million in gifts to the work of

nonprofits since enactment, assisting social service

providers, religious organizations, cultural institutions and

schools, and other nonprofits.

The enhanced deduction for donations of food allows

individuals and organizations to reduce their taxable income

by providing qualifying food inventory to certain charitable

organizations. According to Feeding America, 3.6 billion

pounds of food is distributed by food bank members each year.

This legislation would significantly increase food bank

access to the 70 billion pounds of nutritious food wasted

each year, particularly the 6 billion pounds of produce that

does not make it to market.

The enhanced deduction for donations of land conservation

easements allows land owners to get a meaningful deduction

for permanently retiring development rights to their property

to protect and preserve significant natural resources. A

survey by the Land Trust Alliance showed that this incentive

helped 1,700 land trusts increase the pace of conservation by

a third--to over a million acres a year.

Unfortunately, these charitable tax provisions were allowed

to expire on January 1 for the fourth time in recent years.

On each of the three previous occasions, an entire package of

tax extenders was reinstated retroactively at the end of the

following year. While this may be an adequate solution for

many provisions in the extenders package, these charitable

provisions are different. Without an incentive in place and

assured, many of the gifts the incentives were intended to

promote will simply not take place. The time to plan and

execute the gifts will have already passed by.

For all these reasons, we urge you to support legislation

to permanently reinstate these critical giving incentives,

namely: H.R. 4619 (to make permanent the IRA charitable

rollover); HR 4719 (to permanently extend the charitable

deduction for donation of food inventory); and H.R. 2807 (the

Conservation Easement Incentive Act). We hope to see them

combined and passed as a package as soon as possible in order

to continue sustaining the vital work of charitable

organizations in our communities.

Thank you for your consideration,

Independent Sector; 92nd Street Y; Achievement Centers for

Children; Ackland Art Museum; Acton Conservation Trust;

Adults with Developmental Disabilities; Advonance;

Agricutural Stewardship Association; Agudath Israel of

America; Agudath Israel of the Five Towns; Air Force

Museum Foundation; Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank; Alabama

Dance Council; Alachua Conservation Trust; Alexander Haas;

All Saints Church; All Stars Project (ASP); Alliance for

Children and Families; Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits; The

ALS Association; Amador Livermore Valley Historical

Society & Museum on Main; American Alliance of Museums;

American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association; American

Behcet's Disease Association; American Cancer Society

Cancer Action Network; American Chemical Society.

American Clock & Watch Museum; American Folk Art Museum;

American Friends Service Committee; American Heart

Association; American Jewish Committee (AJC); American

Library Association; American Lung Association; American Red

Cross; Americans for the Arts; Americans for the Arts Action

Fund; America's Charities; Amon Carter Museum of American

Art; The Ananda Center for the Arts; Anderson County Museum;

Andy Warhol Museum; AngelCare/Americans Care & Share; Angus

Nazarene Food Pantry; Ann Arrundell County Historical

Society, Inc.; Annette Strawder Here to Help Pantry; Antique

Boat Museum; Apache Creek Deaf and Youth Ranch, Inc.;

Appalachia Ohio Alliance; Argus Museum; Arkansas Nonprofit

Alliance; Armstrong County Museum; Arthurdale Heritage, Inc.;

Association for Healthcare Philanthropy.

Association of Art Museum Directors; Association of Direct

Response Fundraising Counsel; Association of Fundraising

Professionals; Atlantic Coast Conservancy; Auburn Automotive

Heritage, Inc. & Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum;

Bainbridge Island Land Trust; Baltimore Heritage Area

Association; Baltimore Museum of Art; Bass Museum of Art; Bay

Area Food Bank; Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at

Robert Morris University; Bayou Land Conservancy; Bayshore

Baptist Church Food Pantry; Bedford Historical Society;

Believer's Sanctuary; Bellville Christian Food Pantry;

BethanyKids; Bishop Hill Heritage Association; Black Swamp

Conservancy; Blair County Historical Society; Blue Ridge

Conservancy; Blue Ridge Land Conservancy; BoardSource.

Boise Art Museum; Boston Baroque; Boston Children's Museum;

Bowers Museum;

Boys & Girls Clubs of Austin County, TX; Boys & Girls Clubs

of Southeastern Michigan; Branford Land Trust, Inc.; Brazoria

County Alcoholic Recovery Center; Briar Bush Nature Center;

The Bridge Ministries; The Bridge Over Troubled Waters;

Bridging for Tomorrow; BrightFocus Foundation; Buckner

Children & Family Services; Burchfield Penney Art Center; The

Burd Group; Califomia Association of Food Banks; Califomia

Association of Museums; Califomia Museum of Ancient Art;

Califomia Science Center Foundation; Califomia State Parks;

Calyx Sustainable Tourism; Capital Area Food Bank of Texas;

Carbon County Museum; Care and Share, Inc.; Carolina Mountain

Land Conservancy; CASA Program for the Ogeechee Circuit; Casa

Rosa Food Pantry.

Catawba Lands Conservancy; Cathedral Arts Project, Inc.;

Catholic Foundation of Eastern Montana; Cedar Rapids Museum

of Art; Cedarhurst Center for the Arts; Celiac Disease

Foundation; Center for History; Center for Nonprofit

Excellence; Center for Non-Profits; Center for Success and

Independence; Central Co-op; Central Pennsylvania Food Bank;

Champlain Area Trails; Cheyenne Center, Inc.; Chicago

Humanities Festival; Children's Discovery Museum; Christian

Tabernacle; Civil War Trust; Clay Center for the Arts &

Sciences of West Virginia; Clear Lake Food Pantry; ClearWater

Conservancy; Cleveland Zoological Society; Clinton Symphony

Orchestra; Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis; Colby College

Museum of Art; Cole Art Center at Stephen F. Austin State

University.

Collins Group, A Division of Donald A. Campbell & Company;

Colorado Nonprofit Association; Colorado-Wyoming Association

of Museums; Columbia College (MO); Columbia Land Trust (OR &

WA); Columbia Museum of Art (SC); Columbia Pacific Heritage

Museum; Columbus Museum of Art; Community Action Committee of

the Lehigh Valley; Community Care Center, Inc.; Community

Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma; Community Food Pantry in Tool

(TX); Community Food Pantry of Franklin County, Texas;

Community Foodbank of New Jersey; The Community Foundation

for Crawford County; Community Foundation for Muskegon

County; Community Foundation for Southwest Washington;

Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut; Community

Foundation of Northern Colorado; The Community Foundation of

South Puget Sound; Community Foundation of the Great River

Bend; Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area;

Congaree Land Trust; Connecticut Electric Railway Association

dba Connecticut Trolley Museum; Connecticut Farmland Trust.

Connecticut Food Bank; Connecticut Land Conservation

Council; Connecticut Nonprofit Human Services Cabinet;

Connemara Conservancy Foundation; Conservation Foundation of

the Gulf Coast; The Conservation Fund; Conservation Tax

Credit Transfer, LLC; Conservation Trust for North Carolina;

The Contemporary Austin; COPD Foundation; CoreStrategies for

Nonprofits, Inc.; Cornerstone Outreach Center of Amarillo,

Inc.; Council for Christian Colleges & Universities; Council

of Michigan Foundations; Council on Foundations; Cow Marsh

Creek Consultants, LLC; Cradle of Texas Conservancy, Inc.;

Crawford County Historical Society; Crested Butte Land Trust;

Crisis Center of the Plains; Crocker Art Museum; Crossroads

at Park Place, Inc.; Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County;

Cultural Assets Consulting; Cumberland Land Trust.

Currier Museum of Art; Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; Da Vinci

Science Center; Dallas Museum of Art; Dance/USA; Dare to

Believe Ministries Outreach Center; Dare to Care Food Bank;

Datil Educators Club; Deke Slayton Memorial Space & Bicycle

Museum; Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts; Delaware

Highlands Conservancy; Denver Art Museum; Des Moines Art

Center; Desert Foothills Land Trust; Dixon Gallery and

Gardens; DMA Nonprofit Federation; Donors Forum; Douglas

County Historical Society; The Drawing Center; Duck Hollow;

DuPage County Historical Museums; Dutchess Land Conservancy;

Earl Scruggs Center; East End Baptist Church; East

Hillsborough Historical Society, Inc.; East Texas Food Bank;

Eastern Sierra Land Trust; Ecology Project International.

EcoTrust; Edisto Island Open Land Trust; Eightmile River

Wild & Scenic Coordinating Committee; Ellis County Museum,

Inc.; Eno River Association; Epilepsy Foundation; Epiphany

Lutheran Church; Equestrian Partners in Conservation (EPIC);

Erie Art Museum; Essex County Greenbelt Association;

Exploration Place; Family Abuse Shelter of Miami; Family

League of Baltimore; Family Worship Center Food Pantry; Faye

Gehl Conservation Foundation; Fayette CARE Clinic; Federation

of Protestant Welfare Agencies; Feeding America; Feeding

America San Diego; Feeding America Southwest Virginia;

Feeding America Tampa Bay; Feeding Indiana's Hungry; Feeding

Pennsylvania; Field Museum; First Baptist Church (Atlanta,

TX); First Baptist Church (Bovina, TX); First Christian

Church Food Pantry.

First Christian Church Outreach (Conroe, TX); First

Resource Center; Fishtown Preservation Society, Inc.;

Flathead Land Trust; Florida Holocaust Museum; The Florida

Orchestra; Florida Philanthropic Network; Food Bank of

Central New York; Food Bank of Delaware; Food Bank of

Northeast Arkansas; Food Bank of the Albemarle; Food Bank of

the Rockies; Food Bank of the Southern Tier; The Food Bank of

Western Massachusetts; FOOD for Lane County; Food Industry

Alliance of New York State; Foodbank of Southeastern

Virginia; The Foodbank, Inc.; Foodshare; Foothills

Conservancy of North Carolina; Forgotten Harvest; Fort

Ticonderoga; Foundation Layers; Fox Valley Family YMCA;

Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center; Franklin Area Community

Services.

Franklin County (KS) Historical Society; Franklin

Institute; Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens;

Freshwater Future; Freshwater Land Trust; Frick Art and

Historical Center; Friends Committee on National Legislation;

Friends of Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge;

Friends of Lopez Island Pool; Friends of the Mitchell Gallery

of Flight; Friends of Tualatin River National Wildlife

Refuge; Frist Center for the Visual Arts; Galveston Bay

Foundation; Gates Mills Land Conservancy; Gateway Science

Museum; Gathering Waters Conservancy; Geist Fall Creek

Watershed Alliance; The General Society of Mayflower

Descendants; Genesee Valley Conservancy, Inc.; George Eastman

House; Georgia Center for Nonprofits; Georgia Charitable Care

Network; Gilroy Historical Society; Girl Scouts of San

Gorgonio; Girl Scouts of the USA; Girls Inc.

Glen Ellyn Historical Society; Glencairn Museum; Global

Orphan Assistance Foundation; God's Pantry Food Bank; Gold

Coast Railroad Museum; Golden Gate National Parks

Conservancy; Golden State Bonsai Federation and Bonsai Garden

at Lake Merritt; Goldstein Museum of Design; Good Neighbor

Community Builders; Good Samaritan Health & Wellness Center;

Goshen Land Trust; Grand Encampment Museum; Grand Haven Area

Community Foundation; Grand Rapids Art Museum; Grand Traverse

Regional Land Conservancy; Grantmakers Forum of New York;

Grassroots International; The Graue Mill & Museum; Great

Peninsula Conservancy; Great Plains Food Bank; Great Plains

Welsh Heritage Project; The Greater Boston Food Bank; Greater

Chicago Food Depository; Greater Grace Outreach; Greater

Hudson Heritage Network; Greenbelt Land Trust of Mid-

Missouri.

Greensboro Land Trust; Grosse Ile Nature and Land

Conservancy; Grounds For Sculpture; Gulf Coast Community

Foundation; Gulf Coast Symphony; Hammer Museum; Harmony

House; Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida; Harry S.

Truman Little White House; The Hartt School; Harvard Art

Museums; Harvest Assembly, House of Blessing; Harvest House;

Harvest Texarkana Regional Food Bank; Harvesters--The

Community Food Network (KS); Harvesters--The Community Food

Network (MO); Hawaiian Islands Land Trust; Heart of the Lakes

Center for Land Conservation Policy; Heaven's Windows; Hedley

Senior Citizens; Heifer Foundation; Heifer International;

Helping Hands Outreach Center of Gasconade County; Henderson

Food Pantry; The Henry Ford; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of

Art.

Heritage Museum (OR); Heritage Museum of Orange County;

Hidalgo Medical Services; High Museum of Art; High Plains

Food Bank; Higher Heights Church of God Food Pantry;

Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust; Hill Country Land Trust;

Hillsboro Independent School District Education Foundation;

Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens; Historic Flat Rock, Inc.;

The History Center in Tompkins County; Holy Family Home and

Shelter, Inc.; Holy Family St. Vincent de Paul; Holy Ghost St

Vincent de Paul; HomeAid Atlanta; Honolulu Museum of Art;

Hope Food Pantry; HOPE Outreach; House of Help Hempstead; The

House of the Seven Gables Settlement Association; Houston

Food Bank; The Humanity Institute for Children & Families

(HICF); Hunger-Free Pennsylvania; Hyde Hall; IBB Local 684

Labor Participation.

Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts; The Idaho Foodbank; Iglesia

Trinidad (TX); Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence;

Illinois Collaboration on Youth; Illinois Network of Charter

Schools; Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra; Immune

Deficiency Foundation; Indian Hill Music; Indiana

Philanthropy Alliance; Indianapolis Museum of Art; Informal

Learning Experiences; Inner Wisdom, Inc.; Interfaith Caring

Ministries; International Primate Protection League; Iowa

Natural Heritage Foundation; IRIS Orchestra; Iron and Steel

Museum of Alabama; Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard

Festival; Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; The Isamu Noguchi

Foundation; Islamic Society of North America; Jack Hadley

Black History Museum; Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens; Jacob and

Terese Hershey Foundation; Jefferson Land Trust.

Jemez Helping Hands; Jeremiah Call Christ Ministry/

Jeremiah's Food Pantry; Jesus Outreach Ministries; Jewish

Federations of North America; The Jewish Museum; Jordan

Schnitzer Museum of Art; Joseph's House; Julian Pathways;

Kansas City Symphony; Kansas Land Trust; Kenton Conservancy;

The Kingdom Zone Before & After Community Center; Kings Local

Food Pantry; The King's Palace Food Pantry; Kohl Children's

Museum of Greater Chicago; The Kreeger Museum; Kress United

Methodist Church; Ku'ikahi Mediation Center; K-VA-T Food

Stores/Food City (TN); K-VA-T Food Stores/Food City (VA);

Ladies In Action; Lafayette Symphony; Lancaster Community

Library; Lancaster Farmland Trust; The Land Conservancy for

Southern Chester County; Land Conservancy of Adams County;

Land Trust Alliance.

The Land Trust for Tennessee; Laredo Crime Stoppers, Inc.;

LeadingAge; League of American Orchestras; Leander

Independent

School District Educational Excellence Foundation; Lebanon

Food Pantry; Leelanau Conservancy; Lehigh Valley Abundant

Life Ministries; Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum; The Leighty

Foundation; Life Challenge; Light of Christ Food Pantry;

Literary Arts; Little Miami Food Service; Littleton

Conservation Trust; LIVESTRONG Foundation; Living Faith Food

Pantry; Living Water I.A.M; Livingston County Historical

Society; LJC Mercy Ministries; Local Infant Formula for

Emergencies, Inc. (LIFE-Houston); Lorraine Street Church of

God in Christ; Los Angeles Regional Food Bank; Louisiana Food

Bank Association; Louisiana Landmarks Society.

Louisville Zoological Garden; Lowe Art Museum; Lupus and

Allied Diseases Association, Inc.; Lutheran Services in

America; Magdalena Samaritan Center; Maiden Alley Cinema;

Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust; Maine Association of

Nonprofits; Maine Coast Heritage Trust; March of Dimes; Marin

Agricultural Land Trust; Martin Luther King Jr. Center; Mary

Reynolds Babcock Foundation; Mason Food Pantry; Massachusetts

Land Trust Coalition; Massillon Museum; Matthew 25 Ecumenical

Food Pantry; Maxwell Museum of Anthropology; McCary's Chapel

United Methodist Church; McHenry County Historical Society &

Museum; Mead Art Museum; Meadowlark Methodist Food Pantry;

Meals On Wheels Association of America; Memorial Baptist Food

Pantry; Menil Collection; Mental Health Association of Rhode

Island; Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.

Miami Springs Historical Museum; Michigan Historic

Preservation Network; Michigan Nonprofit Association; Mid-

South Food Bank; The Miller Art Museum; Milwaukee Art Museum;

Mims Chapel Drydock Food Pantry; The Minneapolis Foundation;

Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Minnesota Historical Society;

Minnesota Land Trust; Mission Aviation Fellowship; Mission

Northeast, Inc.; Mississippi Food Network; Mississippi Valley

Conservancy; Missouri Association for Museums and Archives;

Missouri Street Church of Christ Pantry Program; Mitchell

Prehistoric Indian Village Preservation Society; Mobile

Medical Museum; Mojave Desert Land Trust; Molly Brown House

Museum; Mon General Foundation; Monadnock Conservancy;

Montana Association of Land Trusts; Montana Food Bank

Network; Montclair Art Museum.

Montgomery County Emergency Assistance; Montgomery County

Food Bank (TX); Montgomery County Lands Trust (PA);

Montgomery County Youth Services (TX); Montgomery Museum of

Fine Arts; Morton County Historical Society Museum; Mountain-

Plains Museums Association; Mt. Canaan Missionary Baptist;

Mt. Manna; Murphysboro Food Pantry, Inc.; Muscarelle Museum

of Art; Museo de Arte de Ponce; Museum Association of New

York; Museum at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology); Museum

of Arts and Design; Museum of Contemporary Art; Museum of

Contemporary Art Denver; Museum of Contemporary Art San

Diego; Museum of Cultural and Natural History; Museum of

Danish America; Museum of Fine Arts Boston; The Museum of

Fine Arts Houston; Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL;

The Museum of Flight; Museum of Glass; Museum of Latin

American Art; Museum of Science, Boston.

Museum of Zavkhan Province; My Brother's Keeper Outreach

Center; Mystic Art Association, dba Mystic Arts Center; N.C.

Center for Nonprofits; Nacogdoches HOPE; Nantucket Historical

Association; Naperville Heritage Society; Naples Historical

Society; National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Omaha;

National Association for Interpretation; National Association

of Area Agencies on Aging; National Association of Clock and

Watch Collectors; National Atomic Testing Museum; National

Audubon Society; National Bottle Museum; National Civil

Rights Museum; National Council of Nonprofits; National Czech

& Slovak Museum & Library; National Multiple Sclerosis

Society; National Museum of American Jewish History; National

Museum of Wildlife Art; National Parks Conservation

Association; National Soaring Museum; National Veterans Art

Museum; National Watch and Clock Museum.

National Wildlife Federation; National Woodland Owners

Association; National Youth Leadership Council; Native

American Rights Fund; Natural Land Institute; Natural Lands

Trust; Natural Resources Defense Council; The Nature

Conservancy; Nebraska Land Trust; Needy Basket of Southern

Miami County, Inc.; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; Nevada Land

Trust; New Canaan Historical Society; New Covenant Christian

Fellowship; New England Museum Association; New Hampshire

Boat Museum; New Hampshire Charitable Foundation; New Hope

Seventh Day Adventist Church; New Jersey Conservation

Foundation; New Museum; New Path, Inc. aka New Path Outreach;

New River Conservancy; New River Land Trust; New York

Botanical Garden; New York Live Arts; NGO Foundation;

Nisqually Land Trust; Nonprofit Association of Oregon.

Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York; Nonprofit

Institute at College of Southern Maryland; Norman Rockwell

Museum; North Carolina Museum of Art; North Carolina

Symphony; North Creek Baptist Church; North Creek Baptist

Church Food Pantry; North Group Consultants; North Olympic

Land Trust; North Salem Open Land Foundation; North Shore

Land Alliance; Northeast Iowa Food Bank; Northwest Montana

Historical Society; Northwest Railway Museum; Norwich

University; NPO Accounting Solutions; Nunda Historical

Society; NY Textile Conservation, LLC; Oblong Land

Conservancy; Ohio League of Conservation Voters; Okanogan

County Community Action Council; Okanogan Land Trust;

Oklahoma City Museum of Art; Old Pine Farm Natural Lands

Trust; Old Stone Fort Museum.

One Powerful Movement Community Development Center;

Onondaga Historical Association; Open Door Pantry; OPERA

America; Orlando Museum of Art; Orlando Science Center;

Ouabache Land Conservancy; The Our House Tavern; Ozark

Regional Land Trust; Pacific Battleship Center; Pacific Grove

Museum of Natural History; Pacific Science Center; Paducah

Area Food Pantry; Paducah Symphony Orchestra; Pajarito

Environmental Education Center; Palm Springs Art Museum;

Parkdale Valley Land Trust; Parks & Trails New York; Passages

Alternative Living Programs, Inc.; Pathways Food Pantry;

Patsy's Place Transitional Home; Peabody Essex Museum;

Pelican Coast Conservancy; Pennsbury Land Trust; Pennsylvania

Academy of the Fine Arts; People Attempting To Help ``PATH'';

People Helping People.

Peoria Riverfront Museum; Peralta Memorial United Methodist

Church; Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation; Philabundance;

The Phillips Collection; Phoenix Art Museum; PhotoArts

Imaging Professionals, LLC; Pines and Prairies Land Trust;

Pinnacle Community Church; The Pittsburgh Foundation; Places

of New Beginnings; Plant City Photo Archives & History

Center; Point Blue Conservation Science; Portland Art Museum

(OR); Portland Museum of Art (ME); Pound Ridge Land

Conservancy, Inc.; Prairie Public Broadcasting; Primary Care

Development Corporation (PCDC); Project Restoration Outreach;

Project Sister Family Services; Prospect House Museum; Puerto

Seguro, Inc. (PSI) Safe Harbor; Pulitzer Arts Foundation;

Ralphs Grocery Company; Redwood Empire Food Bank.

Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland, African American

History and Culture; Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New

York; Renaissance Charitable Foundation, Inc.; Renaissance

Entrepreneurship Center; Rensselaer County Historical

Society; Rescue Rehome Resource; Restoration Care Ministry;

Restore & Enlightenment Ministries; Riverside Baptist Church

Crisis Closet; Rochester Area Community Foundation; Roger

Williams Park Zoo; Rooted In; Roxbury Land Trust; Sacramento

Mountains Senior Services, Inc.; Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust;

The Salvation Army; San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts; San

Antonio Food Bank; San Antonio Museum of Art; San Diego

Natural History Museum; San Diego Youth Symphony and

Conservatory; San Diego Zoo Global; San Francisco Heritage/

Haas Lilienthal House; San Isabel Land Protection Trust; San

Jacinto County Historical Commission; San Jose Museum of Art;

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles.

Santa Fe Texas Education Foundation; Save The Prairie

Society; Scenic Hudson; Schingoethe Museum, Aurora

University; Science Factory Children's Museum & Exploration

Dome; Scleroderma Foundation; Sealy Christian Pantry; Seattle

Art Museum; Second Harvest Food Bank Mahoning Valley; Second

Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida; Second Harvest Food

Bank of East Central Indiana; Second Harvest Food Bank of

Northeast Tennessee; Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast

Tennessee; Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North

Carolina; Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San

Mateo Counties; Second Harvest North Central Food Bank;

Sedoan Historical Society; Senior Connections; Sequoia

Riverlands Trust; Seventh-Day Adventist Church (Tulia, TX);

Shared Harvest Foodbank; Sharlot Hall Museum; Shepherd Senior

Citizens, Inc.; Sheridan Community Land Trust.

Shiloh Museum of Ozark History; Sierra Foothill

Conservancy; Silver City Gospel Mission; Six Rivers Land

Conservancy; Skagit Land Trust; Society for Experimental

Graphic Design (SEGD); Society for Preservation of Long

Island Antiquities; Society of St. Stephen Outreach Ministry

(SOSS); Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Houston, TX;

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; South Carolina Conservation

Exchange; South Texas Food Bank; South Union Church of Christ

Food Pantry; Southbury Land Trust; Southeast Area Ministries;

Southeast Missouri Food Bank; Southeast Texas Arts Council;

Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy; Southside Church

of Christ Food Pantry; Spearman Ministerial Alliance; Spinal

Cord Injury Network International; Springfield Museum of Art;

Squam Lake Natural Science Center; St Vladimir's Orthodox

Theological Seminary; St. Andrews United Methodist Church

Food Pantry; St. Anne de Beaupre Food Pantry; St. Anthony's

Bread Food Pantry; St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum.

St. James Episcopal Church Food Pantry; St. John of the

Cross Food Pantry; St. Joseph Museums, Inc.; St. Leo the

Great St. Vincent de Paul; St. Louis Area Foodbank; St. Louis

Art Museum; St. Mary's Food Bank Affiance; St. Mary's United

Methodist Church (TX); St. Monica Food Pantry; St. Monica

Knights of Peter Claver, Ladies Auxiliary, Court # 151; St.

Monica's Altar Society; St. Paul's Lutheran Food Pantry; St.

Stephen Presbyterian Food Pantry; St. Stephen's of St.

Andrews United Methodist Church (TX); St. Vincent de Paul in

Los Lunas, NM; St. Vincent de Paul in Artesia,

NM; St. Vincent de Paul Society (St. Philip Neri Catholic

Church); Stax Museum of American Soul Music; Sterling and

Francine Clark Art Institute; Stockton Symphony Association;

Sts. Joachim and Ann Care Service.

Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater; Studebaker National Museum;

Sullivan Museum and History Center; Summit Land Conservancy;

Tacoma Art Museum; Tall Timbers Research Station & Land

Conservancy; Tampa Museum of Art; Telfair Museums; Temenos

CDC/Bread of Life, Inc.; Temple University Anthropology

Laboratory; Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation; Texas

Land Conservancy; Texas Land Trust Council; Texas Quilt

Museum; THE PROGRAM for Offenders, Inc.; Theatre

Communications Group; Three Angels Seventh Day Adventist

Church; Three Village Community Trust; The Time IN Children's

Arts Initiative; Timken Museum of Art; Toledo Museum of Art;

Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank; Towne Learning Center;

Travis Audubon; Tread of Pioneers Museum; The Treehouse

Center, Inc.; Tri County Assembly Choice Food Pantry;

Triangle Land Conservancy; Tri-county Meals.

Trinity Garden First Food Pantry; The Trust for Public

Land; U.S. Military Combat Camera History & Stories Museum;

U.S. Pain Foundation, Inc.; UJA-Federation of New York, Inc.;

The Ukrainian Museum; Ukrainian National Women's League of

America; Union Symphony Society, Inc.; United Assembly

(Plainview, TX); United Food Bank; United Way Fox Cities;

United Way of Buffalo and Erie County; United Way of Greater

Cincinnati; United Way of Portage County; United Way

Worldwide; University Christian Church; University of

Michigan--Dearborn; University of Michigan Law School; Upper

Savannah Land Trust; Upscale CDC; Upshur County Shares Food

Pantry; Urban Gateways; Utah Food Bank.

Utah Museum of Fine Arts; Uvalde Baptist Church Food

Pantry; Venice Community Housing Corporation; The Vermont

River Conservancy; Vermont Symphony Orchestra; Vero Beach

Museum of Art; Vesterheim Museum; Vietnamese American

Community Center; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; The Viscardi

Center; Vision Weavers Consulting, LLC; VisionServe Alliance;

Voices of Victory; Walker Art Center; Wallowa Land Trust;

Wartburg Community Symphony; Washington Association of Land

Trusts; Washington Nonprofits; Washington State Historical

Society; Washington Street Family Service Center; Way Food

Pantry; Wee Care Child Center, Inc.; Wellsprings Village,

Inc.; West Central Ohio Land Conservancy; West Side Baptist

Early Education Center; West Wisconsin Land Trust; Western

New York Land Conservancy; Western Reserve Land Conservancy;

Western Rhode Island Civic Historical Society; Westmoreland

County Agricultural Land Preservation.

Westmoreland Museum of American Art; Westport Arts Center;

Whidbey Camano Land Trust; White Deer-Skellytown Lighthouse

Food Pantry; Whitney Museum of American Art; Wilbarger Creek

Conservation Alliance; The Wilderness Society; Wildling

Museum; Wildwood United Methodist Church; Williams Temple

Church of God In Christ; Wilmette Historical Museum; Wings

for L.I.F.E. (Life skills Imparted to Families through

Education); Winston-Salem Symphony; Wisconsin Youth Symphony

Orchestras; Wood County Senior Citizens Association; Woods

and Waters Land Trust; Wyoming Symphony Orchestra;

Yellowstone Art Museum; YMCA of the USA; York County Heritage

Trust; Zimmerli Art Museum.

The goodwill of the American people is unmatched, and we should do everything we can to encourage Americans to do more, enabling charities, nonprofits, foundations, and schools across the country to expand their reach and serve those most in need.

A ``yes'' vote on this bill is a vote for hardworking Americans who selflessly lend a hand every day to their neighbors, communities, and others in need.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reed), a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gerlach), a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schock), a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen), a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly), a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee.

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

At this time, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young).

(Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Montana (Mr. Daines).

At this time, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick).

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Lummis).

Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining?

At this time, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam), the distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the provisions we are talking about today, the policies, whether it is donations to food inventory or IRA contributions, excess dollars from an IRA, or whether it is a conservation easement, these are all items that have been extended unpaid for, if you will, time and time again.

We have heard a lot about the cost from the other side. But if charities, religious groups, foundations, food banks, if we can make these permanent--because, right now, these three are expired. They can't be used. But if we can make these permanent, we will see an increase in charitable giving--850 organizations have written us and said that would happen, all of them who serve the poor, who serve the needy, who serve Americans in trouble.

Also, it doesn't go through the government. What these charities do, what these religious groups do, and what these foundations do is beyond the power of government to give. Let's make these permanent. Let's extends these provisions. Let's increase charitable giving in the United States, and let's help people help themselves.

I urge a ``yes'' vote on the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

I object, Mr. Speaker, and I reserve a point of order against the motion to recommit.

Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my point of order and seek time in opposition to the motion.

Mr. Speaker, this motion would create chaos for the charitable community. Americans are more generous than any other nation in the world. What we need is certainty in our Tax Code--certainty for those who want to donate food to food banks, certainty for those who want to make excess contributions to IRAs, and certainty for those who want to preserve fragile land for future generations.

This motion makes it much harder to help those in need, and God knows, we have a lot of Americans in need with a contracting economy and the worst recovery since the Great Depression.

We are the only nation in the world with temporary tax policies. Some of these provisions have expired and have been renewed time and time again, and we need to admit it and make them permanent.

Let me just say, when it comes to inversions, the administration agrees with me that the best way to address this issue is through lower rates and through comprehensive tax reform, and we should be doing that, but this motion actually creates a perverse incentive for American companies to pack up and move overseas. That is the worst thing we can do for American workers.

I urge a ``no'' vote on this motion to recommit and a ``yes'' vote on the underlying legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I want to be clear what this debate is about and what it is not about. It is not a debate about the merits of public charities and private foundations.

All of us support the good works of the charitable community and strive to provide charities and foundations with the resources they need to carry out their mission. Indeed, along with Congressman Gerlach, I am the lead sponsor of the food donation deduction.

I think that highlights that this is a debate not about charities, not about foundations. It is about fiscal responsibility and fiscal priorities.

Today, Republicans have selected to make permanent 10 of the approximately 60 expired tax provisions without a single dime of offset--not a single dime. After today, if this bill passes, the House will have approved $534 billion worth of tax provisions without a single offset, wiping out more than half of the total deficit reduction enacted last year during the bipartisan fiscal deal.

Indeed, this bill is totally inconsistent with the Republican tax reform draft they unveiled in February. And, I might add, if you add up the 14 bills that came out of the Ways and Means Committee, entirely unoffset, it is $825 billion.

I was reading, this morning, the debate which I heard yesterday on a motion to recommit. I was reading this language from Mr. Crenshaw in opposition to the motion to recommit.

This is what he said about how Republicans proceed with budget issues:

We do it just like every American business does, like every

American family. They sit down. They take the money that they

have, and they set priorities. Then they make some tough

choices. That is what we have done.

There is not a single tough choice in what the Republicans are doing. It is, essentially, throwing discretion and tough choices to the wind.

Also let me say that their approach is inconsistent with their own tax reform draft of some months ago. The enhanced deduction for food contributions that the chairman has spoken so eloquently about was expressly repealed in the Republican reform draft, and the rollover provision was allowed to expire. So you have irresponsibility, you have inconsistency, and you also have a violation of priorities, because left to an uncertain fate are important provisions, like the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, the New Markets Tax Credit, and the renewable energy credits, as well as the long-term status of expansions to the EITC and the Child Tax Credit.

This is the Statement of Administration Policy just issued:

The administration supports measures that enhance

nonprofits, philanthropic organizations and faith-based and

other community organizations in their many roles, including

as a safety net for those most in need, an economic engine

for job creation, a tool for environmental conservation that

encourages land protections for current and future

generations, and an incubator of innovation to foster

solutions to some of the Nation's toughest challenges.

The President's budget includes a number of these proposals

that would enhance and simplify charitable giving incentives

for many individuals. However, the administration strongly

opposes the House passage of H.R. 4719, which would

permanently extend three current provisions that offer

enhanced tax breaks for certain donations and add another two

similar provisions without offsetting the cost. If this same

unprecedented approach of making certain traditional tax

extenders permanent without offsets were followed for the

other traditional tax extenders, it would add $500 billion or

more to deficits over the next 10 years, wiping out most of

the deficit reduction achieved through the American Taxpayer

Relief Act of 2013.

Just 2 months ago, House Republicans, themselves, passed a

budget resolution that required offsetting any tax extenders

that were made permanent with other revenue measures. As with

other similar proposals, Republicans are imposing a double

standard by adding to the deficit to continue and create tax

breaks that primarily benefit higher income individuals while

insisting on offsetting the proposed extension of emergency

unemployment benefits and the discretionary funding increases

for defense and non-defense priorities such as research and

development in the bipartisan Budget Act of 2013.

House Republicans are also making clear their priorities by

rushing to make these tax cuts permanent without offsets,

even as the House Republican budget resolution calls for

raising taxes on 26 million working families and students by

letting important improvements to the EITC, to the Child Tax

Credit, and to education tax credits expire.

The administration wants to work with Congress to make

progress on measures that strengthen America's social sector.

However, H.R. 4719 represents the wrong approach. If the

President were presented with H.R. 4719, his senior advisors

would recommend that he veto the bill.

So what in the world are we doing here today? What in the world are we doing? We are passing another bill that deepens the deficit, that is contrary to the rhetoric of the Republicans and is going nowhere in the Senate--zero. It is hard to figure this out, Mr. Speaker. What is motivating Republicans to be so totally inconsistent and irresponsible?

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.

Mr. Reed, do I care? It is my bill, with Mr. Gerlach, that you have taken and put your name on--my bill. To make it permanent without any offset, with over $500 billion already done, is the wrong way to do the right thing. I care.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), another member of the committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett), another distinguished member of our committee.

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), another distinguished member of our committee.

I yield the gentleman an additional minute.

I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis), a distinguished member of our committee.

Mr. Speaker, could you tell us how much time remains on each side, please.

I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind), a member of our committee.

I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 45 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I just wonder where the gentleman from Alaska was. I mean PAYGO existed under Democrats. We tried to pay for things, and we did not dismiss out of hand the tax proposal.

The ones who are throwing it to the winds are Republicans. It is the Republicans. You are throwing fiscal responsibility to the winds. You are throwing any kind of prioritization to the winds. You are coming here and just saying, do anything and pay nothing.

Mr. Speaker, how much time is there now on both sides, please?

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this is a severe case of losing the forest for the trees. This is not about the benefits of charity. This is not about the benefits of foundations. It is not about the benefit of conservation easements. This is a dramatic challenge to Republicans in terms of fiscal responsibility and fiscal priorities.

They passed a budget that cuts severely into needed programs, and then they come here and say, let's pass provisions that would add up to close to $1 trillion and not pay one dime.

I don't think anything can be more fiscally irresponsible and hurt the priorities of this country. Maybe they do this because they know it is a dead end in the Senate. So they think somehow they can use this to their political advantage. But it is reckless, and it is to the harm of the Nation, and I think the process is on a bipartisan basis of this institution.

I urge everybody to vote ``no''. There is so much a better path than this reckless one.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to approving this permanent Republican tax break for Twinkies. That is exactly what this bill does. I think we should encourage charity, but also fiscal responsibility and accountability. This bill fails on both the latter two points.

A while back, there was a Texas official who often derided the war on poverty and Social Services in general by declaring: America is the only country in the world where most of the poor people are fat.

Well, in more recent years, we have come to understand that the challenges of obesity and poverty are different faces of the same problem, that diabetes and hunger sometimes go hand in hand. Disadvantaged neighbors, who too often lack enough to eat, too often make up for it with high, sugary, fatty foods that provide temporary relief from hunger, while making them more prone to disease.

According to the American Heart Association, 1 in 3 American children are obese or overweight. That is nearly triple the rate of 50 years ago, and 1 in 3 children will contract what was once called adult-onset type 2 diabetes.

Now, we can address these challenges through direct government expenditures like WIC, the Women, Infant and Children nutrition program, and we can address the challenges with tax expenditures like the one that is proposed here today.

I happen to believe that we need both of them, that we should be encouraging food banks and the businesses that donate to them--who do some excellent, some valuable work, we ought to encourage them to expand the work that they do. But when we tell a taxpayer that they don't have to pay the same taxes as their competitor if they donate for a good cause, we ought to be sure that that cause is good.

Just as we scrutinize the WIC program and other food security programs to ensure no misuse, no ineligibility--we want to see that every one of those dollars spent is spent efficiently--we need to do some of the same with reference to tax expenditures like that is proposed for permanent extension here.

We need accountability, and you lose that when this and the other provisions are extended forever and never carefully evaluated.

Now, the expenditure that is provided here for food donations is one that the law says is available for any food that is ``apparently wholesome food.'' The only problem is that apparently wholesome food includes much food that is not actually wholesome.

For example, some potato chips that have long since had their expiration date, they qualify. A can that fell off and was run over by the forklift and is very damaged, it qualifies.

Most particularly, if you have candy at Halloween and you overstocked and you have a significant amount of candy left--or for the Easter Bunny or at Christmas--the shelves at some food pantries overflow with these products.

Why is that? Because the business that donates the Twinkies or the stale potato chips is entitled to deduct not the cost of what they cost that business, but twice the cost of what it cost that business, and this bill makes that permanent.

Why should we at a time of great fiscal concern be paying twice the cost of stale potato chips and Twinkies and sugary nonwholesome and nonnutritious foods--why should we be paying for that?

It is a tax break that goes too far, that requires more careful evaluation. Indeed, one 2011 NPR report that was entitled ``Overburdened Food Banks Can't Say No to Junk'' because some of the same retailers that they rely on and count on for wholesome food dump the Halloween candy, dump the Easter eggs there, and they are available and treated just the way that wholesome food is treated.

I say, Mr. Speaker, let's encourage donating the good stuff, but let's not pay for the junk. We have the power to correct that problem by, instead of having a flawed permanent bill, having one that is available for evaluation on a more regular basis, just as we do with reference to these other provisions.

The cost of this bill is part of the overall cost and strategy to wreck our budget and reduce hunger programs in this country.

The same Republicans that are advancing this include a group that have characterized as welfare Pell grants, school breakfast programs, senior nursing care programs. They want to lump all that as welfare, and they say we just can't afford that.

I don't believe that we can't afford to target public resources where they are needed, whether they are tax expenditures or direct expenditures, but we don't need a permanent tax break for Twinkies and stale potato chips.

Let's take the fiscally responsible, accountable approach, not the irresponsible approach that is being advanced today, and reject this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, here we are again. Over the last few weeks, the Ways and Means Committee has been bringing bill after bill to the House floor to make permanent changes to the Tax Code, but in a lot of the policy behind it, there is very little dispute and debate. It is the fact that they are bringing these bills to the floor without any pay-fors, without any offsets, and instead they are leaving this legacy of debt for future generations to have to contend with, or they increase our borrowing costs with China at a time when most of the discussion about this place has been about fiscal responsibility. It certainly must be an election year, because any limit to fiscal responsibility is out the door.

Here again today, we have got five bills that would make five permanent changes to the Tax Code, none of which is offset. One would extend the charitable deduction for firms that donate food from their inventories.

One would permanently extend the charitable deduction for donations of qualified conservation easements, a bill I have been particularly working hard to find a permanent fix in the Tax Code, having seen the good work that our land trusts in the Mississippi Valley Conservancy back home have been doing with those tax incentives in the Code.

Another bill would extend the tax-free exclusion from income of charitable contributions from the individual retirement accounts, the so-called IRA rollover charitable contribution, something that the chairman of the committee himself actually eliminated in his comprehensive tax reform discussion draft that was introduced earlier this year.

The Joint Committee on Taxation says you add all these five bills up, it is at a cost of over $16 billion. And again, not a nickel in it. There is no offset to pay for any of this.

At a time when long-term unemployment benefits have expired in the early part of this year, the cost of this bill here today alone would cover 35 times the cost of those emergency unemployment benefits for the duration of this year--35 times.

We are doing nothing to permanently change the so-called SGR, or the doc fix. We have sequestration hanging over our heads that is about to do more damage to our military and to the Federal budget, and no work is being done on that front.

Last week, we passed legislation, scratching and clawing, trying to find a little over $10 billion in offsets for a temporary extension of the infrastructure investment we have to be making in this country to keep the highway trust fund funded, and yet here we are with another five bills that will cost us $16 billion. Apparently, some in this

place don't even blink about spending that type of money. That is where we have got a problem--philosophically, I am afraid--as far as our approach to this.

There are better ways of doing this. I think one of the ways that could help jump-start this economy is working hard, making tough decisions, and moving forward on comprehensive tax reform to make our Code more competitive globally. And now we have got an emergency situation of more companies here in the United States trying to find some small entity overseas where they are foreign shopping for a low- tax jurisdiction to avoid taxation here in the United States, and this place is doing nothing about that.

I would submit that between these five bills, the nine bills that have already come out of committee at a total cost of close to $900 billion, if we move forward down that track, there is no way, no ability for us to come back and address comprehensive tax reform in a fiscally responsible manner.

I, again, commend the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Camp, for the courage he has demonstrated by offering that discussion draft, but in doing so, he had to make some tough decisions on what expenditures, what loopholes we would have to go without in order to pay for a lowering of rates.

If we give the store away today and with the previous bills that were passed and what might be coming up tomorrow, there will be no ability for us to be able to seriously work on the comprehensive tax reform that our country desperately needs in order to put us in a more competitive position in this 21st century global economy.

I encourage my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, first, let me thank the gentleman from Michigan, Chairman Camp, for bringing this important set of charitable bills, the America Gives More Act, H.R. 4719, to the floor for a vote.

H.R. 3134, the Charitable Giving Extension Act, is a bill I introduced that would make a small change in the Tax Code but make a huge change in the lives of every American. This legislation would extend the yearly deadline for making charitable giving deductions from December 31 to April 15 of the following year so that all Americans can have an extra 3\1/2\ months to give to charity and include those donations in that year's tax returns. No longer would Americans be forced to complete their charitable giving by New Year's Eve.

Let me tell you, this is something that goes far deeper than that, and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schock) referenced it. According to the World Giving Index, America is the most bighearted nation in the world--in the world. All this is is an affirmation of who we are as Americans. Believe me, my friends, this charitable virtue that we have is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. This is who we basically are as Americans.

We look at what happens. I want to you think about any time there is any kind of a crisis or tragedy in the world. Who is the first responder? America, always America. It is just who we are. It is the very fabric of this Nation and what has been given to us.

We have been so blessed by God. And then the question becomes: Well, I would like to give a little bit more, but I didn't know by the end of the year that I was going to have that little bit extra to work with.

I am talking about guys and gals who get up every morning, the alarm goes off, they throw their feet out over the bed, and they want to do it for one reason: to put a roof over their family, food on their table, clothes on their backs, and prepare for their future.

Then they say at the end of that day: I have a little bit left over. I want to be able to give that to a charitable organization.

Is there anyplace else in the world where we see that happen, and happen on a regular basis, day in and day out?

Now this is not just thumping, ``I am proud of America.'' This is a humble pride that says, I thank our Lord and God for putting us in the position where we can actually share that which we have.

``From everyone who has been given much, much will be required.'' I understand that, but please don't turn this into a political argument when it comes to good policy. You know in the depths of your hearts where the American people are. You know what they have done year after year, in good times and in bad times. And we turn this into political theater when we talk about policy that is good, not just for every single American, but for every person they help.

Now, please, on the floor that sometimes seems so divided and wants to pick sides on who is doing the best job, I came here for one reason, and that was to serve the people from Pennsylvania's Third District who sent me here--both Republicans and Democrats, some that vote and some that don't vote--and to serve the needs of the American people.

Have we gone so far from those goals that we decide to make everything political? It is not just enough to agree with every single thing that comes forward, but then we use the hypocrisy, ``But wait a minute. This is not paid for,'' and the idea to pay for it is taxing people more.

I would hate to be in the position where I tell every American: You know what? We know how to spend the money better than you. We will make the decisions of how it gets doled out. In your heart of hearts, when you want to give to a charitable organization, forget it. We will make that decision. Send the money to Washington, because we have done such a wonderful job with it.

No, my friends, that is not America. That is not who we are. That is not who we will ever be. That is not the fabric of this great Nation.

So I ask you to look past your political ambitions and beating each other up, and look at what is good policy for every single American. I urge the passage of this bill.