WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. John Tanner and the House of Representatives voted to make first-time homebuyer tax credits more flexible for service members and others serving the country. Congressman Tanner is a co-sponsor of the legislation.

The bill “protects the foreign service officers, the military and the intelligence community members who may have been ordered or otherwise sent from their homes,” Congressman Tanner said on the House floor during consideration of the resolution. “It should be done.”

H.R. 3590 waives the repayment requirements for military families, foreign service officers and intelligence agents who take advantage of homebuyer tax credits but are required to move or sell their homes because of government orders. The bill also gives those serving away from home in 2009 an additional year, to December 2010, to take advantage of the homebuyer tax credit.

The bipartisan bill passed the House 416-0 and complies with the House of Representatives’ “pay as you go” rules designed to curb deficit spending. The bill has not yet been considered in the Senate.

Tanner represents the 8th Congressional District in West and Middle Tennessee, which includes numerous National Guard units, Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Millington and a portion of Fort Campbell, home of the Army’s 101^st Airborne Division.

Co-founder of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats, Tanner serves on the Ways and Means Committee, where he chairs the Social Security Subcommittee, and on the Foreign Affairs Committee. A veteran of the U.S. Navy and the Tennessee Army National Guard, Tanner chairs the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and is serving a two-year term as NATO PA President.