Congressman Dave Loebsack.
Democratic Congressman Dave Loebsack of Iowa City says the U.S. House should reconvene this week to deal with some critical issues.
“We’ve got to get back and we’ve got to make sure that we extend the tax provisions that have been languishing for far too long for the production tax credit, for example, the wind industry. We’ve got to work on the Renewable Fuels Standard, make sure we get that back to where it’s supposed to be,” Loebsack said on Election Night. “There are a lot of things that we have to do when we get back to Washington, D.C. I think we should go back tomorrow.”
Loebsack was elected to a new, two-year term in the U.S. House on Tuesday, but that term doesn’t start ’til January. A so-called “lame duck” session is likely to convene soon for current members of congress, including Loebsack, and he says it can’t start soon enough for him. Loebsack was among those who called for congress to reconvene in October, when the House did not meet to give members time to campaign.
“We should have gone back to Washington to discuss what to do in Syria and Iraq and the region more generally,” Loebsack said Tuesday. “I think the president needs an authorization for the use of military force from congress to do what he’s doing in Syria. We need to have a serious conversation about that.”
Congress is expected to return to Washington next week, but will be in session for votes for just 14 days through the end of the year. Over 50 temporary laws that outline dozens of corporate tax breaks have been in limbo since the end of 2013, when their last authorized extension ran out. The tax breaks are for things as varied as Puerto Rican Rum production and NASCAR race tracks, as well as the wind production tax credit. Congress must also vote to authorize government spending past December 11, when the current stop-gap spending plan expires.