[Pages S1751-S1753]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

By Mr. SPECTER (for himself and Mr. Casey):
S. 3140. A bill to grant the Secretary of Health and Human Services
authority to design, construct, and operate facilities for the purpose
of developing and producing biological products in order to meet
critical national needs for such biological products, in response to
potential bioterrorist attacks or naturally occurring pathogens; to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition today to
introduce the Biosecurity and Vaccine Development Improvement Act,
which will ensure our country has the resources necessary to protect
the American people in the event of a disease outbreak or terrorist
attack.
Last year, in preparation for flu season and concern about the H1N1
virus, the Department of Health and Human Services set out to acquire
120 million doses of vaccines. In August 2009, the department initially
projected that these doses would be available by mid-October. However,
only 11 million were obtained by that time, and the 120 million doses
were not acquired until January 2010.
The current system consists of government contracts with private
vaccine manufacturers to produce vaccines. While this lowers overhead
costs to the Government, the Government is not able to dictate when
vaccines will be produced or which vaccines will be produced. The
production of the H1N1 vaccine is good example of the problems that can
arise without a dedicated Government manufacturing facility for
vaccines. The delay was due to several problems with the supplying
companies. For example, one company based in Australia had to produce
vaccines to meet the needs in Australia before exporting doses to the
U.S. Another company had to produce their regular seasonal flu vaccine
before switching to H1N1 vaccine production. This demonstrates the
critical need to examine the current vaccine system.
The current system has limitations on the ability to produce vaccines
related to bioterrorism such as smallpox, anthrax, ebola virus and
botulism, leaving the U.S. without vaccines and susceptible to
terrorist attacks. What we want to do is to avoid having the government
come up short on something like what happened with Katrina where we are
unprepared for the eventuality.
I have long been concerned with these issues. Since 2004, when I
chaired the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education
Appropriations Subcommittee, with the joinder of Senator Harkin, who is
now the chair, we appropriated $14.336 billion for pandemic
preparedness. So you can see that we are talking about very substantial
funds to meet a very substantial problem. Over the past year, I have
held a number of meetings about the need for a facility, through a
public/private partnership, that would afford the U.S. Government
greater control over vaccine and countermeasure production and
development. These meetings included Vice President Biden, Secretary of
Health and Human Services Sebelius and Secretary of Homeland Security
Janet Napolitano. On August 21, 2009, I chaired a hearing in
Pittsburgh, PA, to examine the problems our current system faces and
what can be done to remedy them.
This legislation would provide funding for a public/private
partnership vaccine developing and manufacturing facility, determined
by a competitive bidding process. A public/private facility such as
this would allow the government to determine what vaccines would be
produced and would use new technology being developed by General
Electric to allow rapid change in the vaccines produced. This process
currently requires extensive cleaning and

[[Page S1752]]

takes weeks, but this new technology includes disposable manufacturing
equipment to change production quickly and would improve output and
meet demand.
This proposed facility would develop and manufacture medical
countermeasures critical to this Nation's health and security and could
greatly enhance the U.S.'s vaccine-producing abilities. I encourage my
colleagues to work with me to move this legislation forward promptly.
______

By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Kerry, Ms.
Cantwell, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. Schumer):
S. 3141. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide
special rules for treatment of low-income housing credits, and for
other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, among the many casualties of our
economic downturn is the collapse of the primary form of private
financing to construct affordable housing. I rise today to introduce
the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Recovery Act, which would restore
investment in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. In doing so,
the bill will create tens of thousands of new affordable housing units
and, in turn, thousands of construction jobs. I am grateful to my
Finance Committee colleagues, Senators Kerry, Cantwell, Menendez,
Stabenow, and Schumer for joining me in introducing this bill.
Many of us are familiar with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
program's importance; indeed, I consider it the most successful
affordable housing production program in our nation's history. Since
its enactment in 1986, the program has spurred the creation of more
than 1.7 million units of affordable housing nationwide, including
nearly 20,000 units in my home State of New Mexico.
But today, the Housing Credit program is facing tremendous challenges
in attracting private investment. Having incurred significant losses,
many traditional investors cannot currently use these tax credits, and
thus have temporarily exited the market. Moreover, Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac--which until recently provided a significant share of
private investment in Housing Credit projects in New Mexico and
nationwide--have pulled out entirely. Our bill will help attract new
private investment to Housing Credit projects in New Mexico and across
the country.
First, the bill will permit existing investors to carryback their
unusable existing housing credits for up to five years. A major
impediment to new investment today is that traditional Housing Credit
investors have incurred business losses that prevent them from
utilizing tax credits on previous investments. Consequently, these
traditional investors have become disinclined to make new investments--
as doing so would generate further credits they could not use for some
time. But through a 5-year carryback, many of these traditional
investors will be able to make use of accumulated credits. Only
investors who are committed to creating additional affordable housing
deserve this tax treatment. Accordingly, the bill makes the 5-year
carryback election available only to the extent that carryback proceeds
are entirely invested in new affordable housing credit investments.
Additionally, the bill provides that Housing Credits generated from
future investments can be carried back 5 years. With its 10-year credit
stream and 15-year tax compliance period, the Housing Credit program
faces hurdles lining up investors, as compared to other tax credit
programs with shorter investment horizons. Without shortening the
compliance period, a 5-year carryback will make the Housing Credit more
competitive with other tax credits, by providing greater flexibility.
This will result in more stable investor demand and thus more resources
for affordable housing.

Our bill is based on consensus proposals developed by a broad
coalition of affordable housing organizations--including housing
advocates, state housing finance agencies, developers, and investors--
to restore private investment in affordable housing. That these
proposals will create tens of thousands of affordable housing units and
thousands of construction jobs was endorsed in studies by Harvard
University's Joint Center on Housing and Ernst & Young's Tax Credit
Advisory Services Center.
I am grateful for the coalition's efforts, as well as input that New
Mexico stakeholders--including the New Mexico Mortgage Finance
Authority, Enterprise Community Partners, and the New Mexico Coalition
to End Homelessness--provided as I developed this bill.
We must act swiftly to ensure continued progress in constructing
affordable housing, to meet our nation's affordable housing needs and
create jobs. I look forward to working with my colleagues to see these
provisions enacted into law.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:

S. 3141

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Low Income Housing Tax
Credit Recovery Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. FIVE-YEAR CARRYBACK OF LOW-INCOME HOUSING CREDIT.

(a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 39 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end
the following new paragraph:
``(4) 5-year carryback of low-income housing credit.--
``(A) In general.--In the case of an applicable low-income
housing credit (within the meaning of section 38(c)(6)(C))--
``(i) this section shall be applied separately from the
business credit (other than the low-income housing credit),
and
``(ii) paragraph (1) shall be applied by substituting `each
of the 5 taxable years' for `the taxable year' in
subparagraph (A) thereof.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,
2007, and to carrybacks of credits from such taxable years.

SEC. 3. CARRYBACK OF NEW INVESTMENTS.

(a) In General.--Section 42(f) of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(6) Special rule for certain investments in 2010 and
2011.--
``(A) In general.--In the case of a taxpayer who enters
into an agreement described in section 38(c)(6)(D)(i)(I)
(without regard to the applicable date), which satisfies the
requirement of section 38(c)(6)(D)(i)(II), after December 31,
2009, and before January 1, 2012, then solely for purposes of
determining the taxable year in which the low-income housing
credit under this section may be taken into account for
purposes of section 38, and the amount of the credit so taken
into account--
``(i) the preceding paragraphs of this subsection shall not
apply,
``(ii) the credit period with respect to the housing credit
dollar amount to be allocated under such agreement shall be
the 1 taxable year in which the taxpayer enters into such
agreement,
``(iii) subsections (b) and (c)(1) shall not apply, and
``(iv) the amount of the credit under this section which is
taken into account in the taxable year described in clause
(ii) shall be the housing credit dollar amount to be
allocated under such agreement.
``(B) Requirements of section unaffected.--Except as
provided in subparagraph (A), the provisions of this section
shall apply to any building to which an agreement described
in subparagraph (A) applies as if such subparagraph had not
been enacted.
``(C) Recapture of excess credit.--If, at the end of the
credit period with respect to any building (without regard to
subparagraph (A)), the amount of the credit taken into
account under subparagraph (A)(iv) with respect to such
building exceeds the total amount of the credit which would
have been allowed under this section with respect to such
building during such credit period but for the application of
subparagraph (A), then the amount of such excess shall be
recaptured as if it were included in the credit recapture
amount under subsection (j).''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,
2009.

SEC. 4. ALLOWING LOW-INCOME HOUSING CREDITS TO OFFSET 100
PERCENT OF FEDERAL INCOME TAX LIABILITY.

(a) In General.--Subsection (c) of section 38 is amended by
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(6) Allowing low-income housing credit to offset 100
percent of federal income tax liability.--
``(A) In general.--In the case of applicable low-income
housing credits--
``(i) this section shall be applied separately with respect
to such credits,
``(ii) in applying paragraph (1) to such credits--

``(I) the tentative minimum tax shall be treated as being
zero, and

[[Page S1753]]

``(II) the limitation under paragraph (1) (as modified by
subclause (I)) shall be the net income tax (as defined in
paragraph (1)) reduced by the credit allowed under subsection
(a) for the taxable year (other than the applicable low-
income housing credits), and

``(iii) the excess credit for such taxable year shall,
solely for purposes of determining the amount of such excess
credit which may be carried back to a preceding taxable year,
be increased by the amount of business credit carryforwards
which are carried to such taxable year, to which this
subparagraph applies, and which are not allowed for such
taxable year by reason of the limitation under paragraph (1)
(as modified by clause (ii)).
``(B) Increase in limitation for taxable years to which
excess applicable low-income housing credits are carried
back.--
``(i) In general.--Solely for purposes of determining the
portion of any excess credit described in subparagraph
(A)(iii) for which credit will be allowed under subsection
(a)(3) for any preceding taxable year, except as provided in
clause (ii), the limitation under paragraph (1) for such
preceding taxable year shall be determined under rules
similar to the rules described in subparagraph (A).
``(ii) Ordering rule.--If the excess credit described in
subparagraph (A)(iii) includes business credit carryforwards
from preceding taxable years, such excess credit shall be
treated as allowed for any preceding taxable year on a first-
in first-out basis.
``(C) Applicable low-income housing credits.--For purposes
of this subpart, the term `applicable low-income housing
credits' means the credit determined under section 42--
``(i) to the extent attributable to buildings placed in
service after the date of the enactment of this subparagraph,
and
``(ii) in the case of any other buildings, for taxable
years beginning in 2008, 2009, and 2010 (and to business
credit carryforwards with respect to such buildings carried
to such taxable years) to the extent provided in subparagraph
(D).
``(D) Previously placed in service buildings.--
``(i) In general.--Subparagraph (C)(ii) shall apply to such
credits for such a taxable year only--

``(I) if the taxpayer has entered into a binding commitment
to invest equity not later than the applicable date, with
respect to an investment in a future project (which is
binding on the taxpayer and all successors in interest) which
specifies the dollar amount of such investment, and
``(II) to the extent such credits do not exceed the dollar
amount of such proposed investment.

``(ii) Applicable date.--For purposes of this subparagraph,
the applicable date is--

``(I) in the case of taxable years beginning in 2008 and
2009, September 15, 2010, or
``(II) in the case of a taxable year beginning in 2010, the
due date (including extensions of time) for filing the
taxpayer's return for such taxable year.''.

(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,
2007, and to carrybacks of credits from such taxable years.
______

By Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mrs. Hagan):
S. 3144. A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch
Act to improve the health and well-being of school children, and for
other purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry.
Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, as we prepare to reauthorize the Child
Nutrition Act, it is critical that we address the need to invest in
commonsense ways to improve the health and well being of our nation's
most precious resource--our children.
Childhood obesity threatens the healthy future of one-third of
American children. Every year we spend $150 billion to treat obesity-
related conditions, and that cost is growing. Obesity rates tripled in
the past 30 years, a trend that means, for the first time in our
history, American children may face a shorter expected lifespan than
their parents.
Right now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA, spends more than
$10 billion a year on school meal programs, but only a small fraction
of that funding goes to fruits and vegetables.
A recent report by the Institute of Medicine entitled School Meals:
Building Blocks for Healthy Children, found that increasing the amount
and variety of vegetables and fruits in schools is one of the best ways
to make school meals healthier, and recommends that schools increase
their offering of fruits and vegetables to help keep kids healthy.
That is why I am introducing the Healthy Food in Schools Act, which
would improve school nutrition by providing more fresh fruits and
vegetables in school breakfasts and lunches starting in elementary
school, when children are developing healthy eating habits.
A recent study was conducted by Dr. Wendy Slusser, director of UCLA's
Fit for Health Program, and Harvinder Sareen, Director of Clinical
Programs at WellPoint, a health benefits company that found children's
consumption of fruit and vegetables increases dramatically when produce
is made available in school meals. The data also shows that increasing
availability of fruits and vegetables exposes children to new foods,
which can affect their eating habits for a lifetime.
The Healthy Food in Schools Act instructs USDA to put in place a plan
to promote the use of salad bars in schools and provide $10 million for
fiscal years 2011 and 2012 to help schools purchase salad bars and
fruit and vegetable bars for their cafeterias.
The Healthy Food in Schools Act also includes $100 million for
overall cafeteria infrastructure improvements. Many cafeterias around
the country are looking to move away from processed food and toward
kitchens that can cook healthier meals from scratch, but they lack the
funds to implement such a plan.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed last year included
$100 million in grants for cafeteria equipment, but the Department of
Education received more than $650 million in requests for
infrastructure improvements. This bill will help meet the needs of the
many school districts that want to improve the meals they serve their
students.
This bill also provides competitive matching grants and technical
assistance for schools to improve access to local foods. The bill
directs $10 million a year for 5 years toward these farm-to-school
programs.
Farm-to-school programs are a proven, commonsense way to help improve
the health of children while supporting local farmers and bolstering
local economies. While many schools would like to incorporate fresh
local food into their meals, schools often lack the startup funding and
technical expertise to overcome barriers to making this change. These
limited federal grants will give school districts and small- and
medium-sized farms the help they need to develop new farm-to-school
programs.
With more than 31 million children participating in the National
School Lunch Program and more than 11 million participating in the
National School Breakfast Program, good nutrition at school is more
important than ever. That is why I urge my colleagues to join me in
support of including this commonsense bill in the upcoming
reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act.
The Healthy Food in Schools Act will help ensure that our nation's
children are not just eating, but also learning to eat healthy. The
rise in the rates of children who are overweight or obese are a result
of poor diets, a lack of physical activity, and insufficient nutrition
education. A healthy school environment can help correct these problems
and put our Nation's youth and our Nation on the path to a healthier
and more sustainable future.

____________________