Jennifer Dunn

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 10, the 9/11 Commission Implementation Act of 2004.

As the vice chairman of the Select Committee on Homeland Security, I am especially pleased that the Faster Smarter Funding for First Responders bill is part of this legislation.

Our committee traveled throughout the country to learn firsthand from first responders about the tools they need to protect our homeland. The message we consistently received was, our current system for funding is broken and needs to be fixed.

Despite unprecedented appropriations immediately following 9/11, our Nation's first responders were not receiving the funds on the ground fast enough, and some were not receiving any money at all.

They know and we know that, as terrorists are not arbitrary in selecting their targets, the Federal Government cannot afford arbitrary formulas for distributing the money. Dollars must be handed out on risk-based reasons, not population, not politics. The first responder section of H.R. 10 will fix the flaws in the current system.

The 9/11 Commission agreed and supported the committee's recommendation that ``homeland security assistance should be based strictly on an assessment of risks and vulnerabilities.''

Mr. Chairman, we owe it to our first responders, those law enforcement and emergency personnel who put their lives at risk every single day to protect American citizens. Our committee crafted the legislation that will fix current funding problems by, one, creating a streamlined funding system; two, supporting partnership and mutual aid agreements; and, three, by assisting local officials in setting preparedness goals.

These innovative solutions are endorsed by 26 first responders organizations across the country, and I applaud the House leadership for making them part of this bill.

Mr. Chairman, the bill before us today, H.R. 10, deserves the support of every Member of our body and I urge its passage.

Mr. Speaker, we are finally bringing to a close a dispute that has lasted not years, but decades. By repealing FSC/ETI, we will bring U.S. law into conformity with the rulings of the WTO and remove sanctions that are now hurting United States workers and companies. We have got to remove these sanctions, and we must do so without delay.

We are doing a lot more in this legislation. The conference report provides a credit for domestic production activities, including software, which is enormously important to the high-tech industry in our State of Washington. It is a critical component that I worked hard on in the Committee on Ways and Means as our committee developed this proposal.

In this bill, we also help millions of our constituents in Washington, Texas, Tennessee, and other States by restoring the deductibility of State sales taxes. But we would not be here without the tireless efforts of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady) and the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Nethercutt). I commend their leadership on this issue.

The legislation also includes relief for reforestation costs to help keep U.S. workers competitive with global and foreign industry. This is a critical reform for the thousands of people that I represent who work in the timber industry.

There is a long list of important reforms in this conference report, Mr. Speaker. It provides transition relief for current users of FSC. It clarifies the safe harbor provision for timber REITs. It will make U.S.-based mutual funds more competitive by suspending the withholding tax for foreign-based investors. And it goes a long way toward updating U.S. tax law and how we treat United States-based companies that operate overseas.

If we hope to continue to attract capital and keep our companies and workers competitive, we must adopt these reforms. The product before us today is the result of years of negotiations between members of the Committee on Ways and Means, among members of both parties, between the House and the Senate, between the White House and the Congress.

Nothing this complex and far-reaching is going to please everybody, but it is far too important a bill with too many critical reforms for this Chamber to reject.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to vote for this excellent bill.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the U.S. Congress, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Baird, Mr. Nethercutt, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Dicks, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Hastings of Washington, Mr. McDermott, and myself, congratulate Air New Zealand for its recent decision to upgrade its wide-body fleet by placing an order with The Boeing Company for eight 777-200ERs and two 7E7s, Boeing's newest airplane. Air New Zealand's order of the Boeing 7E7 makes it the second official customer for this revolutionary new aircraft.

This decision clearly demonstrates Air New Zealand's commitment to the world's best technology and long-term view of the airline's place in commercial aviation. It is with great pride and gratitude that we applaud Air New Zealand's purchase of American-manufactured aircraft.