[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 184 (Thursday, December 17, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8774-S8776]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         OMNIBUS TAX PROVISIONS

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I wish to take a few minutes this afternoon 
to talk about the tax provisions in the agreement before us. I want to 
start by making sure that people understand what this is really all 
about. This is the biggest bipartisan package that provides real tax 
relief for working families in literally decades. It is the biggest 
anti-poverty program Congress has moved forward in decades. So being 
able to do all of this for working families and help millions of 
Americans find their way out of poverty is, in my view, something 
particularly important--the largest bipartisan tax agreement in 15 
years.
  I want to spend a few minutes describing how this came together, why 
it is such an important piece of legislation, and what it means for the 
cause of tax reform.
  Hundreds of thousands of Oregonians and millions of families across 
the land count on the child tax credit and the earned-income tax credit 
to make ends meet. More than 100,000 Oregon students and millions of 
students nationwide count on the American opportunity tax credit to 
help them pay for college. These are concerns Senator Merkley and I 
heard directly from students at the roundtables we held recently at the 
University of Oregon and at Southern Oregon University. In my view, 
they are bedrock priorities for working families when it comes to 
taxes.
  Starting more than a year ago, all of my Democratic colleagues on the 
Finance Committee came together around the principle that when Congress 
took up the temporary tax cuts known as extenders, these vital 
individual tax incentives for working families would be our special 
priority. If our colleagues on the other side insisted on making 
certain business-related tax breaks permanent, we were going to make 
clear at every single opportunity that the tax cuts for working 
families and students would have to be made permanent as well.
  Back in 2009 when these working family tax cuts were actually 
expanded, there were some Members here in the Senate who said they 
would never allow them to become permanent. In effect, what they said 
is that

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working families would get a little bit of relief back then in 2009 but 
that would be it for those working families. We said that is not good 
enough. We said that without the certainty of permanent extensions, too 
many families across this country would be thrown into the dark as the 
provisions expired over and over again.
  Advocates for those who walk an economic tightrope, balancing their 
food against their fuel and their fuel against their medical care--over 
130 groups who advocate for those working families wrote a letter 
urging lawmakers to make the working family credits permanent. They 
said: Don't keep those families guessing about their taxes; give them 
certainty and assistance on a permanent basis. That is what this 
package does. There is a new measure of certainty and predictability 
when it comes to taxes. The last tax bill in America passed just over a 
year ago. It had a shelf life shorter than a carton of eggs. What we 
are doing with this bill is providing an alternative--an alternative 
with real certainty and predictability on a permanent basis.
  I see my colleague Senator Brown here. He has done yeoman's work in 
advocating for working families and their kids. I so appreciate his 
leadership.
  Suffice it to say that what we just heard from the Center on Budget 
and Policy Priorities is that 16 million Americans, including 8 million 
children, will be lifted from the depth of poverty or out of poverty 
altogether in 2018 and beyond because of this legislation.
  Mr. BROWN. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. WYDEN. I will be happy to yield.
  Mr. BROWN. I thank the former chairman of the Finance Committee.
  About a year ago, when it wasn't so clear at all that the earned-
income tax credit, which, according to President Reagan and most 
Presidents of both parties since, has been the most effective tool to 
fight poverty in recent memory--I would also say Social Security and 
Medicare, of course--what the earned-income tax credit, coupled with 
the child tax credit, has done is it has rewarded work, helped people 
who are making $9, $10, $12 an hour, sometimes working two jobs--it has 
helped lift them out of poverty because they simply don't make enough 
money to be able to live a decent standard of living if they are making 
$9 an hour.
  When it wasn't at all clear that the earned-income tax credit 
wouldn't expire in the next couple of years, what Senator Wyden did, 
working with a number of us, was he negotiated and basically said: 
Sure, we want to do these business tax credits or business tax 
deductions because we think this will help our country grow, but we 
shouldn't give tax breaks to large businesses and leave workers behind.
  That is what this coalition did, was pretty much said to people here 
who haven't always thought much about low-income people--frankly, we 
work around here, and if you don't go out of your way to meet low-
income people and you don't talk to them about their lives, if you are 
not in the cafeteria--those people are making way too little money, and 
people here don't know their names and all of that. But when you think 
about this, it makes a huge difference in people's lives.
  I thank Senator Wyden for his role in helping put that coalition 
together.
  Mr. WYDEN. Reclaiming my time, Mr. President, before Senator Brown 
leaves the floor, I want to thank my colleague from Ohio, whose 
advocacy and constant tenacity, coming back again and again to talk 
about what this means for those families walking on what I call an 
economic tightrope--we wouldn't be here without that advocacy.
  I just learned from some of the experts in the field that altogether 
50 million Americans are going to benefit from the earned-income tax 
credit and the child tax credit being made permanent. That is real 
relief on a permanent basis. Students will be able to count on the 
American opportunity tax credit to cover up to $10,000 of a 4-year 
college education. That is an awful lot of money they are not going to 
have to borrow. There are other important highlights in the package, 
such as permanent help for the commuter, permanent assistance for low-
income housing, permanent tax breaks to encourage charitable giving. 
That is a huge lifeline for places like the Oregon Food Bank. I was 
there just a few days ago, and I saw all those young people and 
volunteers last Saturday morning. They were all pitching in and packing 
fruit baskets for families to enjoy. They do incredible work to combat 
hunger.

  There will be 5 years of assistance for job seekers, including 
veterans, long-term unemployed, and people with disabilities. Also, 5 
years of aid is included for hard-hit communities with the new markets 
tax credit, 5 years of certainty for solar and wind energy. This is 
especially important. We have seen the extraordinary interests in 
climate change. You can debate whether you think there is a serious 
problem. Based on the numbers from the scientists at NOAA, the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, I know I certainly do. It is a serious 
problem, and now we have 5 years of certainty for solar and wind 
energy, which I think is going to make an extraordinary difference in 
renewable energy.
  Here is what the math of this package looks like: 40 percent of the 
tax breaks goes to families and individuals. That is a huge improvement 
over the typical math with these tax breaks. When Congress just passes 
the same old, same old set of tax extenders, as it has done for years, 
only 20 percent goes to families and individuals. This package doubles 
the percentage of families who will benefit as it relates to this 
particular package.
  There are clearly a number of business-related tax cuts and, by the 
way, I think many of those make a great deal of sense as well. We have 
the permanent tax break for research and development. Thanks to the 
good work of our colleague from Delaware Senator Coons, it is going to 
be available for the first time on a widespread basis for small 
business and startups. It is in there.
  I say to the Presiding Officer--because I have been to his State--
this is going to be a real booster shot for America's innovative 
economy. Permanent small business expensing is going to help a lot of 
employers invest, grow, and create new high-wage, high-skilled jobs for 
American workers.
  I have town meetings in every county every year in Oregon. When I 
drive through rural Oregon, I see all of those little businesses that 
in effect sell farm implement equipment. Last year they were trying to 
figure out what was going to happen with respect to the expensing 
rules, and then they saw it only lasted a few weeks. Now we have 
permanent small business expensing. That is going to help small 
employers in rural areas. Research and development credits, which are 
permanent, will help small businesses in rural and urban areas. In many 
cases, it will help employers pay wages thanks to those new innovation-
related programs. I think the tax breaks I have just mentioned, such as 
expensing for small businesses and permanent research and development 
breaks, ought to be the kind of thing that both Democrats and 
Republicans should approve.
  I want to take just a few minutes and talk about the impact of this 
legislation on tax reform. I will tell you that my wife always says: 
Don't describe the Federal Tax Code in your typical way because you 
just frighten the children, but the reality is the American Tax Code, 
overall, is just a rotting economic carcass. It is infected with 
loopholes and inefficiencies. Now we have this version virus mutating 
and growing. This is really a mess of a system. What this legislation 
does--particularly by making the breaks for working families and the 
smart policies that encourage business, innovation, and economic growth 
in our communities, research and development, and realistic writeoffs 
permanent, this is going to, in effect, clear the deck for tax reform. 
This lays out the opportunity by giving breathing room to the cause of 
bipartisan tax reform. That is something I am particularly interested 
in because our colleague from Indiana, Senator Coats, and I have 
written a bipartisan comprehensive tax reform bill.
  What this legislation does, in terms of creating breathing room for 
tax reform, is it breaks the chain of just extending these tax 
extenders every 2 years. What it means is that we have some 
predictability, certainty, and some breathing room in order to lay out 
a bipartisan comprehensive tax reform effort.

[[Page S8776]]

  By the way, the fact is, this inversion virus is something that can't 
be ignored any longer. That alone is an indication that the Congress 
cannot duck the need to reform the Tax Code comprehensively. Look at 
those Members who are in key positions in the Congress and have made it 
clear that they want bipartisan tax reform--both Democrats and 
Republicans. For example, Chairman Brady, Chairman Hatch, and myself, 
as well as a number of colleagues on both sides of the aisle, have said 
they want to do comprehensive tax reform and want to--as I have 
described it--pass these extenders so we can break the chain of the 
every year or every 2 years extension. We are not the ``extender'' 
Congress. I don't want us to have to come back to this every 2 years, 
doing the same old, same old. We can do a lot better, and this time we 
have at least laid the foundation for real tax reform.
  I want to thank a number of my colleagues. In particular, I wish to 
thank Chairman Hatch, our committee members on both sides of the aisle, 
and the two leaders--Leader Reid and Leader McConnell--for their 
efforts. We had an awful lot of dedicated staff people working on this 
issue. Our diligent tax counsel is here, Todd Metcalf. I thank him for 
his great work. Our terrific staff director, Josh Sheinkman, our chief 
counsel, Mike Evans, and the members of our tax team, Ryan Abraham, 
Bobby Andres, Chris Arneson, Adam Carasso, Danielle Deraney, Kera Getz, 
Rob Jones, Eric Slack, Tiffany Smith, and Todd Wooten. All of them have 
worked long hours to get us up to this point.
  I also want to commend Liz Jurinka and Juan Muchado of our health 
staff because they joined a very good leadership team. I must thank 
Senator Reid's chief tax aide, Ellen Doneski, Chairman Hatch, and his 
staff, led by Chris Campbell, Mark Prater, and Jay Khosla. Brendon 
Dunn, with Senator McConnell's office and George Callas and Chairman 
Brady's tax staff were instrumental. All of them came together to help 
us put this together.
  I now believe there is a real opportunity to use this bill as a 
springboard to real tax reform. I have written two bipartisan tax 
reform bills over the years, first with our former colleague from New 
Hampshire, Judd Gregg, and the second with our current colleague, 
Senator Coats, the distinguished Senator from Indiana. I know my wife 
would always say: I keep hearing about these tax reform bills, dear. 
Write me when something actually happens.
  I will tell you, I think the combination of this inversion virus--
which if it keeps growing is going to hollow out America's tax system--
and the fact that we have brought some certainty and predictability to 
the Tax Code added some very sensible provisions in a permanent way. 
This really gives us an opportunity now. The table is set for real tax 
reform, and that is not something we have had before.
  I just want to close by way of saying that I am so honored to 
represent Oregon in the U.S. Senate. I was director of the senior 
citizens Gray Panthers for about 7 years before I came to the Congress. 
I have had a lot of exciting moments in my time in public service, but 
to be part of this bipartisan legislative effort that provides the 
biggest tax cut for working families and the biggest anti-poverty plan 
Congress has moved forward in decades is particularly thrilling.
  I thank all of my colleagues and their staff who have done so much to 
make this possible.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.

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