WASHINGTON, DC – House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn today released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act. This legislation creates jobs, including summer jobs, closes loopholes that give corporations a tax break to send American jobs overseas, and helps Americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
“Democrats in Congress remain committed to taking America in a new direction by addressing the major issues confronting our Nation. The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act helps create and save more than a million American jobs by restoring credit to small businesses, extending tax incentives for American research and development and energy projects, rebuilding infrastructure, expanding summer jobs for young people, and providing tax relief for middle class American families.
“Corporations will no longer be afforded the luxury of shipping jobs overseas and sticking American taxpayers with the bill. Wall Street investment fund billionaires will be required to pay a fair tax on their income, and the oil industry will need to sufficiently fund cleanup of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
“Furthermore, Democrats are conscious of the national debt we inherited from the failed economic policies of the Bush Administration. This bill complies with the statutory pay-as-you-go budget law, and the job creation measures are fully funded by closing tax loopholes and enforcing corporate accountability.
“In addition to these important measures, this bill provides funds to pay for the settlement of both the Cobell and Pigford class action lawsuits. African American farmers suffered racial discrimination in USDA farm loan programs decades ago and this legislation finally rights the wrongs of black farmers who were denied access to the Pigford settlement without just cause.
“Congressional Republicans made a choice by opposing this bill—they abandoned Main Street to protect companies that pay lower taxes to ship American jobs overseas. While Congressional Republicans threaten to take us back to the failed policies that created the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Democrats are working to build a strong new foundation for the American economy.”