Wednesday, July 17, 2002
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Wednesday, July 17, 2002 |
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Arm pilots, ease taxes on military By MAC COLLINS Making our skies safer Last Wednesday, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act (H.R. 4635) in a 310 to 113 vote. I supported H.R. 4635 because it will improve the safety of air travel in our country. We need to look no further than the events of Sept. 11 for evidence of the need to improve air travel in our country. Even though the President and Congress have taken measures seeking to improve the safety protections for air travel, the last line of protection against a terrorist is the pilot. This legislation would ensure that pilots would be able to defend themselves in the event of an attempted hijacking as a last line of defense, should terrorists enter the cockpit. Specifically, the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act would establish the federal flight deck officer program, which would allow pilots to be voluntarily deputized by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). After undergoing training, the pilot would be deputized as a federal law enforcement officer and licensed to carry a firearm in the cockpit. While the original version of H.R. 4635 would have limited participation to only 2 percent of pilots, I supported an amendment to remove this limit and extend the program to all pilots interested in participating; this amendment to include all pilots in the program was adopted in a 250 to 175 vote. It is my hope that the Senate will follow the House's lead and join in enabling our pilots to protect themselves and the passengers they serve. Border security Also last Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee, on which I serve, passed the Customs Service portion of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (H.R. 5005) in a 34 to 3 vote. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 would implement President Bush's proposal to create a Department of Homeland Security. Under the President's proposal, the Department would draw on the services of already existing departments and agencies. For example, under the President's proposal, the Customs Service, the Coast Guard, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service would be moved from their current departments of Treasury, Transportation, and Justice, respectively, to a newly-created Department of Homeland Security. As a result, several House committees have jurisdiction over the various provisions of this legislation. Even though Ways and Means has voted out its provisions of H.R. 5005, several committees continue to consider their jurisdiction. After these committees have voted on and passed the provisions which they oversee, the bill, in its entirety, will be considered by the Select Committee on Homeland Security. Even though I supported this portion of the bill, I continue to have reservations about creating a new Department of Homeland Security. Also last week, several Suspension Bills usually noncontroversial measures were passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, and included: Armed Services Tax Fairness H.R. 5063 amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide relief to members of the military and their families. H.R. 5063 provides relief in two areas: 1) The gratuity death payment, and 2) capital gains on the sale of their home. Historically, survivors of military personnel who are killed during service to their country have received a $3,000 tax-free gratuity death payment. In 1991, this payment was increased to $6,000 (in connection with the Persian Gulf War). Unfortunately, because the tax code was not adjusted when this amount was increased, the first $3,000 was tax-free, but the second $3,000 was considered to be taxable income. H.R. 5063 will correct this inequity. The second remedy provided by this legislation would allow members of the Armed Forces to take advantage of existing laws related to capital gains tax relief on the sale of their primary residence. Under present law, an individual is not subject to capital gains tax on the first $250,000 ($500,000 for a married couple) of gain on the sale of a home if they have lived in the home for two out of the past five years. When members of the Armed Forces are transferred, they are often precluded from taking advantage of this tax relief because they are unable to satisfy the 5-year rule. The legislation fixes this inequity by ignoring time spent away from home when calculating the 5-year period. In essence, the rule places military personnel in the same position they would have been had they not been transferred. Under no fault of their own, members of our Armed Services are being unfairly punished for serving our country. This legislation brings equity to the tax code by eliminating these penalties on military personnel.
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