For Immediate Release: June 20, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Jim McDermott
(D-WA), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, joined his
colleagues, Congressmen Sander Levin (D-MI) who is the Ways and Means Ranking
Member, Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Congressman Joe Crowley (D-NY), Congressman
Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Congressman Earl Blumenauer, and Congressman Chris Van
Hollen (D-MD) who is the Budget Committee Ranking Member, and held a press conference on June 19, 2012
to introduce the Invest In America Now Act. The measure is the first in a
series of “No Excuses” legislation to promote economic growth that Ways and
Means Committee Democrats plan to roll out before the August recess in an
effort to encourage House Republicans to finally act on jobs legislation.
"This bill can be passed tomorrow
if our Republican colleagues would stop playing politics and start focusing on
measures that would actually help the American people,” said Congressman
Jim McDermott (D-WA). “This legislation,
supported by Republicans in the past, does just that. It frees up capital for businesses to invest
and create jobs without adding a single penny to the deficit. Millions of Americans struggle daily as
Republican leaders stay focused on their goal of defeating the President. The American people deserve better and that’s
why I urge my Republican colleagues to pass this bill now."
McDermott and his Democratic Colleagues said that the cost of the bill would be
offset by repealing the Section 199 manufacturing deduction for the Big Five
oil and gas companies. They pointed to a June 1 letter to Congressional leaders
from a group of 79 companies as evidence that the business community wanted and
would benefit from the legislation.
The letter, urging support for Congressman Pat Tiberi’s (R-OH) H.R. 4196, whose
central measure was an extension of bonus depreciation, stated that “Enacting
this legislation will enable businesses to access capital for immediate
investment and create jobs in the United States now… Because of the importance
of this legislation to U.S. economic growth and competitiveness, we strongly
urge you to support immediate action on this pro-growth, pro-jobs legislation.”
The signatories included high-profile companies with large United States
employees like Lockheed Martin, John Deere, Fedex, Boeing and General Motors,
to name a few.
The Invest In America Now Act would extend 100 percent bonus depreciation
through 2012. 100% bonus depreciation is a bipartisan provision that, before it
expired at the end of 2011, gave businesses an incentive to make major capital
investments now by allowing them to write off the entire cost of a major
purchase in the year it is made rather than depreciate those expenses over many
years.
The original expansion to 100% of the bonus depreciation in 2010 prompted the
Treasury Department to estimate that it would support up to $50 million of new
investment.
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Follow McDermott on Twitter: @RepJimMcDermott.
