Authorization for Use of Military Force against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant

Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleague from Rhode Island to talk a little bit about a very important piece of legislation we are introducing. It is called the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2014. I think it is fair to say that Senator Whitehouse from Rhode Island and I do not agree on everything in this body that comes up--all the policy issues. But on this one we agree that it is necessary to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to deal with this heroin epidemic that is sweeping across our country.

He has been an unwavering ally in trying to find common ground on this legislation. I appreciate him. Again, I think this is an area where we can find common ground on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Capitol to move legislation forward that can help to deal with this growing issue in our States.

I do not think we can afford to wait. Every day, unfortunately, the number of people who die from heroin overdoses grows. Every day more mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters are lost to this horrible scourge. By the time this year is out, I am told that more than 19,000 Ohioans will have overdosed on heroin or other opiates. The deaths from heroin overdoses this year will be the No. 1 cause of death in the State of Ohio, exceeding traffic accidents.

Elected officials around the country, medical professionals, and grass roots volunteers are dealing with this issue. They are fighting back. They are doing everything in their power to try to save lives and to try to stem this epidemic. But they need help. The challenge we all face is serious. To address it we need a comprehensive effort, marshaling the resources of communities, grass roots organizations, local, State, and, yes, the Federal Government. That is where we come in here, in the Congress.

I think only together can we make progress here and prevent new victims from falling into the grips of addiction. Only together can we help those who are already struggling with heroin to rebuild their lives. I think this bipartisan legislation we have introduced today is the important first step in that. It lays out a broad spectrum response to the epidemic of heroin and opiate addiction.

It starts with prevention and education. Why? Because we know that approach can work. Obviously, it is the most effective way to deal with this, to keep you from getting into the addiction in the first place. Nearly 20 years ago I joined with leaders around southwest Ohio to form what is called the Coalition for a Drug Free Greater Cincinnati. I was here in the Congress on the House side. A constituent came to me and said her son had just died from an overdose of smoking marijuana and huffing gasoline. I was ready for her. I had all the statistics as to what we were doing at the Federal level in terms of eradicating crops in places like Colombia, interdicting drugs, prosecuting people, trying to stop the flow of drugs into this country.

She kind of looked at me and said: How is that going to help me and my community? How would that have helped my kid? How does that help me deal with our church, where people are in denial and will not even talk about it, or our school, where the principal said: It is not a problem here.

So we came up with this notion of these community coalitions. There were a few around the country, and they seemed to be working. Ours in greater Cincinnati has worked well. It is still working well. By working together with grass roots organizations across the spectrum-- teachers and parents, law enforcement, religious leaders, the media, business--we pulled together a group. That coalition led to this greater effort that we started in the House, and there is legislation that I authored called the Drug-Free Communities Act, which has now provided funding, by the way, and therefore helped to create thousands of other community coalitions. It has provided funding to over 2,000 community coalitions around the country. There are now about 5,000, I think, around the country. Those have worked. But they are not adequate to deal with this heroin epidemic.

But we start there. We start with this notion that there is a way, through a grass roots program, for more focus on prevention and education to be able to help stem this growing problem; that is, stopping addiction before it even starts. That, of course, again, is the most effective way. It saves money, saves lives. We also, though, have to do more to incentivize new innovative treatment programs for those who have become addicted to try to break the cycle and break the addiction.

We do that in this legislation by encouraging diversion programs like drug courts that provide treatment alternatives to incarceration. We do it by funding evidence-based heroin treatment pilot programs. There are some exciting new medications out there that we think are worth a try, including some new medications that actually block the urge, the craving. We are funding evidence-based treatment programs, but at the same time encouraging the use of emergency medications to stop overdoses.

This is something we have seen in all of our States. It expands the availability of Naloxone, which is an overdose inhibitor that the law enforcement agencies and other first responders have access to in order to be able to keep people not from overdosing--which is happening--but from dying from that overdose.

We know that there have been many lives saved, even over the last couple of years through the use of that medication. We offer more resources to promptly identify and treat incarcerated individuals suffering from addiction disorders by collaborating with criminal justice stakeholders and, again, providing evidence-based treatment. This revolving door in the criminal justice system of people who are drug users getting into prison, getting out again--and within 2 or 3 years over two-thirds of them are back in the system--we are all paying for that. The communities are paying for it with increased crime. The families are paying for it. The taxpayers are also paying for it-- $25,000, $30,000 a year for incarcerating individuals, who, if you can get them into a drug treatment program, in part through these drug courts, in part through other programs that are proven to work, they can then not just get over their addiction and not be committing crimes but become productive citizens and taxpayers themselves.

We have seen this lap around the country. We have to be encouraging that and supporting that at the Federal level. I saw a model of this kind of approach when I visited the CompDrug treatment center recently in Columbus, OH. I met with several nurses and

counselors who are there on the front lines in the battle against addiction. They used medication-assisted treatment, but they also use a lot of counseling to help men and women get on this path to recovery. So it is not just the medication, but it has to be a more comprehensive plan. They do this in both a public health capacity but also in connection with a prisoner reentry program.

So, again, it is people coming out of the criminal justice system who have a history of addiction and to get them into this program so they can get not just the treatment they need to get over their addiction but the job training they also need to be able to get back into the workforce to become productive citizens.

We do not stop here in this legislation. If there is one thing I have learned over the last couple of decades working in this area, it is that the best solutions on this are not going to come from Washington. They are going to be developed at the grass roots, on the ground.

What we can do is support those efforts on the ground and provide States with more flexibility to be able to use these resources that are already coming from Washington, so our legislation does that as well.

Our bill offers States that are proactive at enacting proven policies the ability to benefit from support under State incentive grants. These grants will reward States such as Ohio that are improving access to drug-abuse services for specific at-risk individuals and that are working to reach 100-percent compliance with programs such as the prescription drug monitoring program that tracks prescription drugs.

Some States such as Ohio--where we have a big prescription drug problem--there is also southern Ohio with adjoining States West Virginia and Kentucky that have this issue and without a sufficient monitoring program. Some people are getting prescription drugs filled in Ohio and then going across the river to Kentucky and getting them filled. There is no way to monitor that without an effective program. We want to encourage all States to adopt this kind of a program so we know who is getting prescription drugs, who needs them and who is abusing the process.

We also talk about this issue in the abstract. I have done that today talking about numbers--19,000 overdoses. But what does that mean? It is a shockingly high number. We sometimes forget that every one of those overdoses represents a person, a family member, someone who has hopes and dreams, someone who at some point made a mistake, and now that mistake threatens those dreams and often devastates their family, as I have seen and I am sure you have seen. Sometimes it can even result in that person's death. As we talk about overdoses this year, it will be the No. 1 cause of death in my State of Ohio.

I want to share a couple stories briefly before I close, people I have met in Ohio, people in communities in my State who are struggling with the weight of addiction.

I recently met a guy about my age. His name is Paul. Paul came to a roundtable discussion and has been engaged in this issue because his son died of a heroin overdose. He was 19 years old. He died of an overdose 2 days after getting out of rehab. Sadly, that is not an uncommon story. People go into rehab to turn their lives around and many are successful, but many aren't. For some of them when they get out, the temptation is too great and unfortunately their body no longer has the tolerance for the drug it once did and sometimes they overdose. His son was one of those.

This man has been in a lot of pain, I could tell. He is still in a lot of pain. But where he has channeled his grief and his pain is helping others to overcome addiction and to bring this discussion out of the dark, to talk about it.

It is not a comfortable topic for a lot of people to talk about, but he has been willing to do it, to talk about his family situation and talk about the fact that every family around the kitchen table ought to be talking about this subject. We ought to be talking about it in the classrooms. We ought to be sure that people understand the incredible risk and danger our young people face today.

Earlier this year I met a young woman named Sarah. Sarah has been struggling to overcome her own addiction. She has been successful, and I applaud her. She told me: Addiction starts in treatment, Rob, but it also happens in the community. You have to have a surrounding that supports you and encourages you.

She is fighting her own battle, but she is also doing something interesting at Ohio State University. She has started a student-led recovery program, kind of a support network among students.

Again, often this is in the shadows. She has been the one to step forward and say: Hey, I have an issue. I am a recovering addict, and I want other recovering addicts to come and join me and feel support so they don't do what Paul's son did.

Then there is Bill. Bill is in recovery from a heroin addiction that he told me used to cost him $2,000 a week at its height. It cost him his freedom too. He ended up in prison. When he got out of prison, he was able to take advantage of some of these programs we talked about today, some of these prisoner re-entry programs and treatment options. Bill turned his life around. Interestingly, he now works at the very corrections facility where he once served.

As he joked with me, he said: I used to be behind bars. Now I hold the keys to the cells and I am spreading a message.

I imagine he is a very credible spokesperson for that message. He is working with inmates to help build relationships and re-entry programs, not just in the prison behind the walls, but also in his community in Canton, OH.

He encourages employers to give people a second chance, to give them a shot. His quote to me was: Don't give them the keys to the safe on the first day, but give them a shot. It worked for me. It can work for others.

This battle against addiction will not be an easy one, we know that, but we also know it is well worth the fight. We have to take the fight.

When we see the number of overdoses drop, and we see statistics showing that fewer kids are using drugs and more people are breaking free of the addiction that once held them, we will know it paid off. It is not only about dollars and cents. Yes, we can save taxpayer money, we can be sure that more people are productively employed, and that our society is more efficient and communities are safer, but ultimately this is about our young people and what kind of future they are going to have.

It is about our children and our grandchildren. Will they have a better shot at their dream, a better shot at getting through school, getting an education, a better shot at getting a decent job and being able to hold it, and a better shot at being able to take care of their own families and having the dignity and self-respect that comes with that? That is ultimately what this legislation is about.

I thank Senator Whitehouse for joining with me to craft this legislation. I also thank Senator Leahy, who I understand has recently agreed to become an original cosponsor of this bill.

I encourage other Members to take a look at it. It is a good way for us to come together as Republicans and Democrats to focus on an issue that is affecting every single State represented in this body.

Sometimes people are in denial about this subject, but the reality is it affects all of us as Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly thank my colleague for yielding me the customary 30 minutes and yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by saying to my colleague, Mr. Dreier, we've served together here for many years on the Rules Committee. I think that his knowledge of both the Rules Committee and its functions and the rules of the House are unsurpassed, and I think he will be very greatly missed.

I want to wish him the very best in his new endeavors in the rest of his life. Nothing but happiness and joy. And thank you. I feel I've learned a great deal from you, David. Thank you for that.

Mr. Speaker, the legislation before me, as my colleague said, is no great victory. It's only a partial answer to a much larger problem, and it sets our Nation up for another fiscal showdown in mere months. As we vote, let every Member of this Chamber reflect on the dysfunctional legislative process and the irresponsible leadership that brought us here today, and the need for the majority to come back to the bargaining table in good faith as our work continues. And I share Mr. Dreier's hope that from now on we will put this all behind us and that this next term will be a bipartisan term.

Let history show that the fiscal cliff and the dire economic consequences that would come with it were the deliberate creation of this House. Because of hyperpartisan actions taken by the majority, the body has pushed our Nation closer to a self-created economic recession and the greatest displacement of workers that the Nation has known since 1929.

The idea behind the fiscal cliff was that the potential for a self- inflicted wound would force Congress to address the growing deficit and debt. Yet from the beginning, the plan was flawed. Over the last 10 years, our deficit has ballooned because of the cost of two wars and massive unpaid-for tax cuts. Yet discussion over the cost of war-- conflicts that have cost the lives of thousands of Americans and forever changed the face of American families--has been almost nonexistent. At the same time, the majority's desire to protect tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires quickly hardened into intransigence and has led us to where we are today. Just a week ago today, it looked as though Congress was close to a solution, until the House majority walked away.

Instead of seizing an historic opportunity for compromise, the majority introduced a so-called ``Plan B,'' which quickly morphed into Plan C before being scrapped altogether and leaving us with almost no time to avert the fiscal cliff. By making tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires their biggest priority, the majority not only endangered our economy but they led the House through a legislative process that violated any sense of regular order and transparency. Indeed, as my colleagues and I sat in the Rules Committee last week, the legislation we were considering was changing by the minute, leaving us to guess at what would actually be included in any bill that required our vote.

Sadly, such dysfunctional governing comes as little surprise. For the past 2 years, the majority has led with a toxic combination of extremism and hyperpartisanship that has resulted in the 112th Congress being the least productive in history. During the summer of 2011, the majority threw our Nation into crisis when they took our economy hostage and threatened to default on our Nation's debt. This dangerous and irresponsible approach rattled investors around the world and led to the first-ever downgrade of our Nation's credit. In addition, over the last 2 years, the majority has voted more than 33 times to repeal the historic Affordable Care Act, despite knowing full

well that the repeal votes would never be signed into law because the Senate would not do that bill. In so doing, they took up valuable time from other legislative priorities. And CBS News reports that these votes consistently trying to repeal health care, Mr. Speaker, cost the American taxpayer almost $50 million.

For over a year and a half, this type of irresponsible and unproductive governing failed to provide any solutions to the American people. And coming out of the November elections, our mandate was clear. The American people demanded an end to the political theater and the dangerous legislative games. They demanded that we finally get to work and solve the looming fiscal cliff in a balanced, responsible, and bipartisan way.

In the middle of last July, all of the ranking committee members in the House of Representatives sent a letter to the Speaker asking that we begin in July to find a solution to the fiscal cliff and sequestration. We called for a bipartisan approach and something we could get finished before the August recess so that we could spare the American people and most other people in the world and financial markets the worry that we have put them through. We got our answer tonight.

So, unfortunately, today, what we are doing here does not give the American people a solution worthy of their full approval--and I'm sure we don't have it. The legislation before us fails to seriously address the deficit and debt, protects too many wealthy Americans, and sets the Nation up for another round of high-stakes negotiations. However, what we do have before us is a product that can avert the worst of the fiscal cliff and begin the process of balancing the budget and returning fairness, we hope, to the Tax Code.

Under today's legislation, millions of Americans will be spared from a tax increase, and valuable tax extensions for middle-class families and students will remain in place. In addition, today's legislation extends unemployment insurance for millions of Americans struggling to find work.

In closing, this legislation is far from perfect, and the process that has led us here is an utter disgrace. Yet in this time of crisis we must act first and foremost to try to protect the American economy. And today's legislation will do that. In the coming weeks, we must continue the hard work of creating a fair Tax Code and ensuring we reduce our deficit in a balanced, responsible, and bipartisan way. And as we do, I urge my fellow Members to avoid brinksmanship and partisan games and to come to the table in good faith on behalf of all the people who sent us here and put their faith in us.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis), a member of the Committee on Rules.

I believe I have three, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. Speaker, when I spoke earlier, I referred to a letter that we had sent to the Speaker, and I would like to insert that in the Record.

July 25, 2012.

Dear Mr. Speaker and Chairs of the Committees: As the

senior Democratic Members of the Committees of the House, we

call upon the Republican Leadership and the Chairs of our

respective committees to begin immediate negotiations with

Democrats on replacing the scheduled 2013 sequester with a

balanced deficit reduction plan. We all agree that a

sequester starting in January, 2013 is not in the country's

best interest and is not the best way to assure responsible

deficit reduction. The American people want us to work

together to avoid unnecessary economic uncertainty at this

crucial time in our recovery. Failure to reach an agreement

would have devastating consequences for our economy, small

business and the middle class.

The looming possibility of a January, 2013 sequester is

already creating uncertainty in our economy. Working together

and in good faith, Democrats and Republicans can negotiate an

alternative to the defense and non-defense discretionary

sequester as well as the mandatory sequester for fiscal year

2013. We are confident that we can identify revenue sources

and prioritize investments in a bipartisan fashion to avoid

the sequester while achieving our deficit reduction goals.

We look forward to hearing from you and sitting down to

negotiate an alternative to the sequester. We strongly

recommend that this bipartisan process begin before the

August recess so that the American people can be reassured

before September 30 that the sequester will not take effect.

Best regards,

Collin C. Peterson, Ranking Member, House Committee on

Agriculture; Norman D. Dicks, Ranking Member, House

Committee on Appropriations; Adam Smith, Ranking

Member, House Armed Services Committee; Chris Van

Hollen, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Budget;

George Miller, Ranking Member, House Committee on

Education & the Workforce; Henry Waxman, Ranking

Member, House Energy & Commerce Committee; Linda

Sanchez, Ranking Member, House Committee on Ethics;

Barney Frank, Ranking Member, House Committee on

Financial Services; Howard Berman, Ranking Member,

House Committee on Foreign Affairs; Bennie G. Thompson,

Ranking Member, House Committee on Homeland Security;

Robert A. Brady, Ranking Member, House Committee on

Administration; John Conyers, Ranking Member, House

Committee on the Judiciary; Edward Markey, Ranking

Member, House Committee on Natural Resources; Elijah

Cummings, Ranking Member, House Committee on Oversight

and Government Reform; Louise Slaughter, Ranking

Member, House Committee on Rules; Eddie Bernice

Johnson, Ranking Member, House Committee on Science,

Space, & Technology; Nydia M. Velazquez, Ranking

Member, House Committee on Small Business; Nick Rahall,

Ranking Member, House Committee on Transportation &

Infrastructure; Bob Filner, Ranking Member, House

Committee on Veterans' Affairs; Sander Levin, Ranking

Member, House Committee on Ways and Means; C.A. Dutch

Ruppersberger, Ranking Member, Permanent Select

Committee on Intelligence.

I am happy to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).

Mr. Speaker, if I could inform my colleague, I have no further requests for time and I'm prepared to close if he has no further speakers.

Mr. Speaker, failure to avert the fiscal cliff could lead the Nation back into an economic recession and create the largest displacement of workers in the Nation's history. The dangers are avoidable, and it is our solemn obligation to avert the fiscal cliff and protect the American people.

As I said earlier, today's legislation is far from perfect; but in this time of crisis, legislators must act. In the months to come, we will face more fiscal challenges and be asked to act again. When that time comes, I hope that we will avoid the brinksmanship that we have seen to date and come to the table in good faith. If we do, I'm confident that we can finish our work and provide solutions for a better future for America.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This is a bipartisan bill, and I will try to keep it within that spirit to the extent possible.

As we are here today on January 1, hours away from Americans returning to work, markets reopening around the world, and all eyes focusing on whether this institution can govern, this legislation allows us to get done what we need to get done.

This bill is vital for our Nation's economic well-being and, I want to emphasize, for its standing as the world's most important economy. It is vital for 114 million middle class families whose tax cuts are made permanent. It's vital for 2 million unemployed American workers who need continuation of their insurance while they continue to look for work.

It is vital for 30 million middle-income Americans who otherwise would have been hit by the alternative minimum tax. And it's vital for 25, and I emphasize this, 25 million working families and students who benefit from the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which helps families pay for college.

And it's vital for physicians and millions of their patients who would have been hurt by drastic cuts in Medicare reimbursement rates. It's also vital for businesses, through an extension of important tax provisions such as the R&D credit, and also renewable energy incentives that must continue in this great country of ours, and bonus depreciation to encourage business investments.

But I want to emphasize this, somewhat in contrast to what our chairman has said: this legislation breaks the iron barrier that for far too long has prevented additional tax revenues from the very wealthiest. It raises $620 billion in revenue by achieving the President's goal of asking the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans to pay more, while protecting 98 percent of families. That's right, that's what it does. And 97 percent--I want to emphasize this, contrary to propaganda coming from the other side, 97 percent of small businesses from any tax increase.

And, lastly--and this needs to be emphasized especially in view, Mr. Chairman, of your comments--this package is vital for future deficit reduction efforts, setting the stage for a balanced approach from here on out by delaying sequestration through 1-1 revenue to spending cuts.

Yesterday, President Obama again said he is committed to deficit reduction, but he emphasized several times, and I quote:

We've got to do this in a balanced, responsible way with

additional revenues as well as spending cuts, so I urge its

passage.

This bill sets the important precedent I mentioned in terms of additional revenues as well as spending cuts. The time is urgent. The time is now. We should support this legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield myself 15 seconds.

We Democrats sat on Ways and Means, time after time, when Republicans passed tax cuts and never brought $1 to the table to pay for it. They thought that that was the way to promote economic growth. How wrong they were.

It's now my privilege to yield 1 minute to a person who has the title ``leader,'' but who has been so much more than a titular leader, who has valiantly led our efforts, and we owe to Nancy Pelosi a real debt of gratitude for our being where we are today.

With real pleasure, I yield 1 minute to our distinguished leader, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).

I yield myself 15 seconds.

I just don't want the chairman's statement that this settles permanently how much revenue will be made available. The President has made clear there has to be a balanced approach, and no one should be misled into thinking otherwise, no one.

I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel).

(Mr. RANGEL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

I will yield to my temptation to respond, and I will now yield 2 minutes to another distinguished gentleman, a member of our committee, Mr. Neal of Massachusetts.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

I yield the gentleman an additional 20 seconds.

I now yield 2 minutes to another member of the Ways and Means Committee, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

I now yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Schwartz), our colleague-to-be on Ways and Means.

I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran).

I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel).

I now yield 2 minutes to Danny Davis, our colleague from Illinois who is soon rejoining us on Ways and Means.

I now, with pleasure, yield 3 minutes to another member of our leadership, the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn).

I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

We are going to vote soon, but first we want to hear from our whip, the distinguished gentleman from Maryland, who has worked so hard on these issues for decades.

I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

If the gentleman from Michigan is ready to close, I'll do the same and yield myself the balance of my time.

I regret the last statements. It is not correct to say that the President has not been interested in deficit reduction. That is not true. It was the Republican leadership in this House that walked away from a big package. So I think it is troublesome that you come here apparently saying you're going to vote for this bill by launching an unfair, untrue representation of what's been going on.

I want it to be very clear, because my guess is that the chairman will talk again that there has been a permanent level of revenue set by this bill. That is not correct. If that's an effort to get votes on your side, I want the record to be clear.

I'm going to close by reading from the President's statement of yesterday:

I want to make clear that any agreement we have to deal

with these automatic spending cuts that are being threatened

for next month, those also have to be balanced, because,

remember, my principle has always been let's do things in a

balanced, responsible way.

The same is true for any future deficit agreement.

Obviously, we're going to have to do more to reduce our debt

and our deficit. I'm willing to do more--

He already has done substantial.

--but it's going to have to be balanced. We're going to

have to do it in a balanced way.

And then he talks about the need to address Medicare.

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 844, I call up the bill (H.R. 8) to extend certain tax relief provisions enacted in 2001 and 2003, and to provide for expedited consideration of a bill providing for comprehensive tax reform, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendments thereto, and I have a motion at the desk.

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. 8.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge what a colleague from Georgia called a legacy vote--making permanent the tax cuts Republicans enacted back in 2001 and 2003. I couldn't agree more, and let me say why: because we're making permanent tax policies Republicans originally crafted.

Now back then, despite having a majority in the House, a majority in the Senate, and a Republican in the White

House, those policies were only temporary. That's because Democrats refused to join Republicans in providing tax relief for working families. Well, after more than a decade of criticizing these tax cuts, Democrats are finally joining with Republicans in making these tax cuts permanent. Republicans and the American people are getting something really important--permanent tax relief.

As big as that is, and it's only the first step when it comes to taxes, this legislation settles the level of revenue Washington should bring in. Next, we need to make the Tax Code simpler and fairer for families and small businesses, and we need to pursue comprehensive and fundamental tax reform to create the jobs we need and to make American businesses and workers competitive in the global marketplace. Simply put, the Tax Code is a nightmare. It's too complex, too time-consuming, and too costly. About 60 percent of individual taxpayers have to hire others to do their tax returns because the code is too complicated. As a result, if tax compliance were an industry, it would be one of the largest in the United States and would consume 6.1 billion hours, the equivalent of more than 3 million full-time workers.

And yes, it's too costly. In 2008 alone, taxpayers spent $163 billion complying with the individual and corporate income tax rules. Add to that the fact that the U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the OECD and an outdated system of taxation, and it's not too difficult to imagine why many don't view America as an attractive place to invest and hire.

Nothing about the bill we're considering tonight changes any of those realities. That's why the Ways and Means Committee will pursue comprehensive tax reform in the next Congress. So by making Republican tax cuts permanent, we're one step closer to comprehensive tax reform that will help strengthen our economy and create more and higher paychecks for American workers.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill and get us one step closer to tax reform.

I reserve the balance of my time.

At this time, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa), the distinguished chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

(Mr. ISSA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 45 seconds.

This is the first step. And now that we have permanently settled how much revenue the government is going to take out of the economy, we can move on to next steps. We can and will pursue comprehensive tax reform this year, in 2013, and next steps. We need to address the fundamental driver of our deficits and debt, and that is out-of-control spending.

I urge support for this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield 30 seconds to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would advise the gentleman that I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Royce).

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

We've heard some talk about what does the fiscal cliff mean, and I would say that I agree with my friend from Maryland that if we didn't address the fiscal cliff issue, every single American would see a tax increase, and it would be a big tax increase. It would be the biggest tax increase in the history of the country. That's why it's so important we're here tonight acting in a permanent way.

And I would say also to my friend from Michigan, he is correct, this is a permanent tax policy. These are permanent tax provisions we're putting in this bill that permanently sets the baseline. It permanently sets how much money the government can take out of the economy. Because of this, this is the largest tax cut in American history.

I think that's helpful, because the best way to get out of our debt and deficit is to grow our economy. We can do that through comprehensive and fundamental tax reform, and this is just the first step to getting to the ability to strengthen our economy and create the jobs we so badly need.

We've had years of anemic economic growth. We have projected anemic economic growth in 2013. It is so important that we try to create jobs and grow the economy, and we can do that through comprehensive pro- growth tax reform that lowers rates, broadens the base, and simplifies a Tax Code that is far too complex.

As I said in my opening statement, the Tax Code is a nightmare--and it is--and it's getting almost late enough to have a nightmare ourselves.

Let me just say that we not only need to grow the economy, but we also need to address the fundamental causes of our debts and deficits, and that's out-of-control spending--obligations that we have not got the financial wherewithal to meet. We need to strengthen those programs and make sure that they're sustainable for the long term, but we also need to address the problem that is out-of-control spending.

So this is the first step--permanent tax policy that then sets the stage for comprehensive and fundamental tax reform--and then addressing out-of-control spending. This will be several steps. This is an important one, and this is a critical one for the future of the country. I urge a ``yes'' vote.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank him for his great leadership as our ranking member on the Ways and Means Committee and for bringing the clarity to our thinking on this important subject that we are dealing with this evening.

My colleagues, many of us this morning began the day with the Vice President of the United States coming to the Democratic Caucus and speaking to us about legislation that passed the Senate last night 89- 8. That is absolutely historic. It was legislation that

he helped negotiate, working with the Republican and Democratic leaders in the United States Senate.

It was a remarkable accomplishment because, as we all know, while we share the same goals, we sometimes have different paths to achieving them; and reconciling our differences was a monumental task, especially with the time growing short.

So we appreciate the leadership of the Vice President. We appreciate the leadership of the Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate, and we thank Speaker Boehner for bringing this legislation to the floor.

Hopefully, we can duplicate the strong bipartisan vote that the legislation received in the United States Senate. And why is that important?

It's important because the American people told us in the election they wanted us to work together. They have their differences too. They understand disagreement. They also understand compromise, and that is what this legislation represents.

I listened attentively to the previous speaker who said he was voting for the bill for what was not in it. That's an interesting approach. We can judge all of the legislation that we vote on for what is in it or vote against it for what is not in it. But at some point you strike a balance. You balance the equities.

Where do you come out in terms of making a choice?

I hope we will reflect the will and heed the call of the American people to work together and follow the lead of the Senate with strong bipartisan support. What do they want us to do? What are their priorities? They want us to create jobs. They want us to grow the economy. They want us to invest in education. They want us to reduce the deficit. They want us to strengthen the middle class. And that is what this legislation does. It does so in a way that is not complete but is an important first step.

We talked much about the gloom and doom of what would happen if we went over the cliff. Well, let's talk instead about what happens if we don't go over the cliff. And I believe that we will not, seeing the vote on the rule this evening. I believe that we will heed the American people and come together with a strong vote.

By voting for this legislation and passing it in a strong way we'll increase the confidence of consumers, of the markets, of businesses, of employers to hire more. We will extend unemployment insurance to people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. This is very, very important not only to those individuals, but to our economy, because this is money that is spent immediately injecting demand into the economy, creating jobs.

We'll extend permanent tax relief for the middle class--more than 98 percent of the American taxpayers, more than 97 percent of America's small businesses. We will support our middle class and strengthen it by supporting the child tax credits, tax credits for higher education, the American opportunity tax credit, the earned income tax credit, and the like.

Our distinguished ranking member went through some of the provisions, but it's important to see them in light of what they mean to America's working families. By voting for this agreement, we will demonstrate that we have listened to the American people and we have heeded their call, once again, to work together in a bipartisan way.

I want to salute President Obama. He campaigned on strengthening the middle class--I think all of us probably did--and this is one way for us to fulfill that promise. I don't know any piece of legislation that I've ever voted for that did everything that I thought it should do, but this is a very, very strong first step as we go into the new year. Let us send a message to the American people that, again, while this bill doesn't accomplish all that we need to do to grow the economy, reduce the deficit, and strengthen the middle class, it is a good way for us to have a happy start to a new year by taking this first step.

I hope that as, again, you balance the equities, the pros and cons of this legislation, that you will weigh heavily in favor of the message that it sends to the kitchen tables of America about the respect we have for them in meeting their needs, meeting their challenges, honoring their aspirations. This great middle class is the backbone of our democracy. Let us all be very patriotic tonight and support our middle class and support our democracy. Vote ``aye'' on this strong bipartisan legislation which passed 89-8 in the United States Senate. Let's step up to the plate to do that in the House of Representatives.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``aye.''