[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 25, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2510-S2511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              The Economy

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, it is no surprise that the economy 
continues to be one of the top issues on the minds of Americans. The 8 
years of the Obama administration were characterized by weak economic 
growth, a dearth of jobs and opportunities, and almost nonexistent wage 
growth. The Obama administration ushered in long-term economic 
stagnation.
  The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the economy will grow 
at a rate of just 1.9 percent over the next 30 years--a full percentage 
point lower than the average growth rate over the past 50 years. We 
cannot resign ourselves to that. Resigning ourselves to long-term 
growth of 1.9 percent would mean resigning ourselves to decades of 
fewer jobs and opportunities, low wage growth, and a reduced standard 
of living. Fortunately, there are a lot of things we can do to get our 
economy thriving again and to spur economic growth.
  A recent report from the Economic Innovation Group identified one 
important problem with our economy today, and that is a lack of what 
the EIG calls economic dynamism. Economic dynamism, as the Economic 
Innovation Group defines it, refers to the rate at which new businesses 
are born and die.
  In a dynamic economy, the rate of new business creation is high and 
significantly outstrips the rate of business death, but that has not 
been the case in the United States lately. New business creation has 
significantly dropped over the past several years. Between 2009 and 
2011, business death outstripped business birth, and while the numbers 
have since improved slightly, the recovery has been poor and far from 
historical norms.
  The Economic Innovation Group notes that in 2012--which, by the way, 
was the economy's best year for business creation since the recession--
it still ``fell far short of its worst year prior to 2008.'' This is 
deeply concerning because new businesses have historically been 
responsible for a substantial part of the job creation in this country, 
not to mention a key source of innovation. When new businesses are not 
being created at a strong rate, workers face a whole host of problems. 
``A less dynamic economy,'' the Economic Innovation Group notes, ``is 
one likely to feature fewer jobs, lower labor force participation, 
slack wage growth, and rising inequality--exactly what we see today.''
  Restoring economic dynamism would go a long way toward boosting 
economic growth and providing new jobs and opportunities for American 
workers. One big thing we can do to achieve this is to relieve the 
burden of excessive government regulations. Obviously, some government 
regulations are important and necessary, but too many others are 
unnecessary and do nothing but load businesses with compliance costs 
and paperwork hours. The more resources businesses spend on complying 
with regulations, the less they have available for growth and 
innovation. Excessive regulations also prevent many new businesses from 
ever getting off the ground. Small startups simply do not have the 
resources to hire individuals--let alone consultants and lawyers--to do 
the costly work of complying with scores of government regulations.
  Unfortunately, over the past 8 years, the Obama administration spent 
a lot of time on imposing burdensome and unnecessary regulations on 
American businesses. According to the American Action Forum, the Obama 
administration was responsible for implementing more than 675 major 
regulations that cost the economy more than $800 billion. Given those 
numbers, it is no surprise that the Obama economy left businesses with 
few resources to dedicate to growing and creating jobs or that new 
business creation seriously dropped off during the Obama 
administration.
  Since the new Congress began in January, Republicans in Congress and 
the President have been focused on repealing burdensome Obama-era 
regulations. So far, we have saved individuals and businesses 
approximately $67 billion and freed them from 56 million hours of 
paperwork. Eliminating burdensome regulations will continue to be a 
priority for both Republicans in Congress and for the White House.
  In addition to removing burdensome regulations, we need to focus on 
reforming our Tax Code. Our current Tax Code is strangling businesses, 
both large and small. Some corporations escape with paying very little 
in taxes, but others end up paying the highest corporate tax rate in 
the developed world. Meanwhile, small businesses and family farms face 
high tax rates, at times exceeding those paid by large corporations.
  Tax reform needs to address these obstacles to growth. We need to 
trim our excessive corporate tax rate to make U.S. businesses 
competitive in the global economy, and we need to reduce taxes for 
small businesses so that we do not choke off these sources of growth 
and innovation. Measures like allowing new businesses to deduct their 
startup costs and expense more of their investments in machinery and 
equipment would spur new business creation and help small businesses 
thrive.
  Our goal is to take up tax reform this year, and I am looking forward 
to that debate. Reforming our Tax Code will go a long way toward 
restoring dynamism to our economy and encouraging growth, job creation, 
and better wages.
  There are other growth-boosting measures we can take as well, like 
removing unnecessary barriers that restrict access to capital. Both new 
and existing businesses rely on capital to help them innovate and 
expand.
  The last 8 years were discouraging years for American workers, but 
the stagnation of the Obama years does not have to be the new normal. 
American workers and job creators are as dynamic and creative as ever; 
we just need to clear the obstacles from their paths. I look forward to 
working with my colleagues this year as we make putting our economy on 
the path to long-term health and vitality a top priority for the U.S. 
Senate.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

[[Page S2511]]

  

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.