Ensuring Tax Exempt Organizations the Right to Appeal Act

Floor Speech

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

Madam Speaker, I want to start by joining the comments of the
chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, Mr. Rogers, in
congratulating all those who came together to iron out their
differences and produce this agreement.

It is not a perfect agreement, but it is far better than the
alternative, the alternative which we would have seen which would have
produced great damage to the economy, as opposed to this agreement,
which will help boost economic growth and make important national
investments.

What a difference a week makes, Madam Speaker. Just last week, we had
on the floor of this House a bill that would have jeopardized the full
faith and credit of the United States. It was a piece of legislation
that says the United States Government only has to pay some of its
bills, doesn't have to pay all of its bills. That would have been an
awful precedent that would have put the economy at risk.

Even worse, it said, well, when we decide which bills we are going to
pay, we are first going to pay all the bondholders, like China and the
folks on Wall Street, rather than our soldiers and our veterans and the
doctors who provide Medicare to our seniors. I am glad we have gotten
beyond that, Madam Speaker.

This will ensure the full faith and credit of the United States. It
will also lift the very damaging sequester caps that have been put in
place that, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office,
were going to slow down economic growth over the next couple years.

Instead, we are going to be able to make some vital investments in
key areas: in education, in scientific research, in transportation, and
in military readiness. Now, I know those decisions are going to be left
to Mr. Rogers and the appropriators, and I wish them all the best in
making those decisions. I hope we come back by mid-December with an
agreement to go forward without further threats of government shutdown.

This agreement at least provides the room and space to make those
important investments. It also prevents a looming 20 percent cut in
Social Security disability benefits and provides that reassurance to
millions of Americans who otherwise would have been on the edge.

It prevents what would have been a whopping increase in Medicare part
B premiums for millions of seniors around this country, who would have
been stretched extremely thin and probably not been able to make all
their payments--whether they were mortgage payments, rent payments, or
food payments--at the same time they were facing those huge Medicare
part B premium increases. So that was addressed as well.

Now, like Mr. Rogers, there are lots of things that I would like to
have seen in this bill that are not included; but on balance, this is
an important step forward, certainly a great improvement over where we
were just a week ago.

So, again, I want to express my gratitude to everybody who helped
make this possible.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

I agree with the gentleman that the investments in military readiness
are important. I also believe the investments to help our economy grow
and invest in education and scientific research are important.

What the President said to the Congress is what the vast majority of
the American public believed, that it is vital to have a strong national defense.
But a strong national defense requires a strong economy.
It requires an educated workforce. It requires investments in innovation and technology.
It requires a 21st century infrastructure.

So I am pleased that the President insisted that we make investments
not just in the military, but also vital investments to help the
economy grow, grow more jobs, which are estimated to be in the range of
350,000 in 2016 alone. So those are vital investments that also help
strengthen America.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York
(Mrs. Lowey), somebody who has been on the front lines of making those
important investments for our country, the very distinguished ranking
member of the Appropriations Committee.

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Where we close is where we started. As we all recognize, this
agreement is not perfect, but it certainly beats the alternative and is
a positive step forward.

It ensures the full faith and credit of the United States. We will
pay our bills on time. It prevents damaging sequester cuts to our
economy and allows us to invest more in education, in scientific
research, and military readiness.

It prevents a 20 percent cut to Social Security Disability
beneficiaries, and it prevents a whopping Medicare part B increase for
millions of American seniors.

So, again, while many of us would like to see more--and I agree with
those who have said that we need to invest more and address many of the
other big issues our country faces--this is a positive step forward.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank everybody who helped come together to
make it possible. I urge its adoption.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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