[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 131 (Wednesday, August 2, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S4698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                               TAX REFORM

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, during the 8 years of the Obama 
administration, our economy failed to live up to its full potential--
meager growth rates, wages that failed to keep pace, and a decline in 
opportunities. Middle-class families were hurting, and they needed 
policies that would allow the economy to begin to grow again. 
Unfortunately, the last administration often gave them exactly the 
opposite. Some were sins of commission, such as making things worse 
with an aggressive regulatory rampage. Others were sins of omission, 
such as failing to address an outdated tax code that has made American 
companies increasingly uncompetitive in a global economy and, as a 
result, has moved investment and jobs offshore.
  Then, in November Americans chose to go in a different direction. 
They elected a pro-growth President who would sign legislation from a 
pro-growth Congress. Ever since, we have been working to turn the tide 
back in favor of the middle class. We have undertaken what has been 
described as the ``most ambitious regulatory rollbacks since Reagan.'' 
We have pursued policies that can once again encourage job growth and 
American investment.
  Just last week, the administration and congressional leaders and, 
most importantly, the chairmen of the Senate Finance and the House Ways 
and Means Committees issued a joint statement outlining shared 
principles for unleashing the American economy through comprehensive 
tax reform. Comprehensive tax reform represents the single most 
important action we can take now to grow the economy and to help 
middle-class families finally get ahead. It is no secret that the 
current Tax Code is overly complex and highly punitive and makes it 
harder for individuals and small businesses to succeed.
  Fortunately, we now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to 
fundamentally rethink it. It has been over three decades since that 
last happened. In the years since, the international economy has grown 
much more competitive. American workers and American businesses have 
only found it harder to keep up with foreign contenders. Put simply, 
the rest of the world is running circles around us in this area, making 
it more difficult for American firms to hire, invest, and compete.
  The time has come to fix this so we can help our economy grow and 
help the individuals and families we represent realize their true 
potential. For families, we want to make their taxes simpler, fairer, 
and lower. For small businesses, we want to provide the conditions they 
need to form, invest, and grow. For all American businesses and their 
employees, we want to ensure they have the best chance to compete with 
foreign companies and succeed. We want a tax system that encourages 
American companies to bring jobs home again.
  These are some of the key goals of tax reform. They sound like goals 
we should all share, regardless of party. For years, the tax-writing 
committees have focused on this particular subject--holding hearings, 
soliciting input from stakeholders, and considering the views and 
priorities of Members, both on and off these committees. They are eager 
now to begin the process of developing tax reform legislation that 
achieves the shared goals I outlined above.
  The administration and congressional leaders stated:

       We have always been in agreement that tax relief for 
     American families should be at the heart of our plan. . . . 
     And we are now confident that . . . there is a viable 
     approach for ensuring a level playing field between American 
     and foreign companies and workers, while protecting American 
     jobs and the U.S. tax base.

  Our expectation is for this legislation to move through the 
committees this fall under regular order, followed by consideration on 
both the House and Senate floors. There is a great deal of bipartisan 
consensus about what ails our Tax Code, and my hope is that our friends 
on the other side of the aisle will join us in a serious way to address 
it, because the American people deserve a tax system that works for 
them instead of against them. They deserve a tax code that encourages 
companies to bring jobs home instead of encouraging just the opposite. 
Americans deserve true comprehensive tax reform.
  I appreciate the good work of our colleagues in the administration 
and by Members in both Chambers already to get us there, particularly 
Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch. Chairman Hatch has been working 
hard with his fellow Finance Committee members--Senators from both 
sides of the aisle--literally for years, on this issue, and he 
continues to lead the way today. Under his leadership and the 
leadership of Chairman Brady in the House, Congress's tax-writing 
committees will advance these principles through regular order, so that 
Members on both sides of the aisle will have an opportunity to 
participate in this historic effort, if that is what they choose to do.
  This will not be an easy process, but the people we represent are 
depending on us for help. Now is the time to deliver tax reform, and I 
look forward to working with my colleagues to accomplish it.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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