Bush signs extension of tax breaks, help for Gulf
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Wednesday signed into law legislation renewing popular tax cuts, normalizing trade with former enemy Vietnam, and opening the Gulf of Mexico to new oil and gas drilling. The measure also extends tax credits for rebuilding communities along the U.S. Gulf Coast, which was ravaged in 2005 by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and provides incentives for businesses to build new structures and buy new equipment. "There is a great spirit of entrepreneurship on the Gulf Coast, and the incentives in this bill will help our fellow citizens help revive those communities," Bush said before signing the bill. Congress approved the legislation in the waning hours of Republican control earlier this month. They lost power to the Democrats in the November elections in large part because of voter anger about the prolonged war in Iraq. The measure extends tax breaks for research and development, education, state and local sales taxes and other popular causes. Some budget deficit hawks had bristled at the $40 billion price tag. The new law also opens some 8.3 million acres (3.4 million hectares) in the eastern Gulf of Mexico near Florida to new oil and gas drilling and cancels a scheduled Medicare pay cut for doctors next year. Additionally, it sets aside Cold War restrictions on trade with Vietnam and clears the way for U.S. farmers, bankers and other businesses to share in the market-opening benefits of Hanoi's entry into the World Trade Organization next month. Bush signed a separate bill that maintains the Office of the Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, which oversees $32 billion in rebuilding grants and contracts. It had been set to close on Oct. 1 under a bill passed earlier by Congress. More than two dozen cases of fraud have been referred to the Justice Department for criminal probes. The new legislation would keep the agency open until 10 months after 80 percent of the funds for Iraqi reconstruction have been spent. Bush also signed bills that would link future postal rate increases to the consumer price index, which gauges inflation, and to reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which provides financial assistance to U.S. companies operating abroad.
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