[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 160 (Thursday, October 5, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6340-S6341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Tax Reform

  Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I rise today to talk about what is 
really a ``once in a generation'' opportunity, and that is the 
opportunity we have right now to reform our outmoded and complex Tax 
Code and also, most importantly, to provide tax relief for our Nation's 
families, farmers, and small businesses.
  Our Tax Code has not been updated since 1986. When you think about 
all that has changed over the last 30 years, you know that modern 
advances in technology have drastically revolutionized the way business 
is conducted. Today, the creation of the internet, substantially 
increased automation, and instant communications have created dramatic 
changes and in many ways have brought us closer in terms of 
communication and have interconnected our global economy in ways we 
never could have foreseen back in the 1980s, when we last reformed our 
Tax Code.
  So it is past time--not time but past time--to modernize our outdated 
Tax Code to the 21st century. We must do so in order to ensure that 
American businesses can compete on the global stage, while providing 
tax relief to hard-working middle-class families who have been 
struggling to get and stay ahead over the last decade.
  The recently released tax blueprint proposes sweeping tax reforms 
that will benefit working families and small businesses throughout the 
country while promoting job creation, economic growth, and global 
competitiveness. This country was built on hard work by individuals and 
families who strive each and every day to make ends meet to provide for 
their loved ones and to plan for retirement. The current Tax Code is 
complex and has many loopholes that do nothing to help our hard-working 
families keep more of their own hard-earned money. Our tax framework 
will help individuals and families in my home State and across this 
country to get ahead by generating new jobs through sustained economic 
growth while lowering the overall tax burden and putting more money 
back in the taxpayers' pockets.
  We do this in a number of ways: by doubling the standard deduction, 
by eliminating taxes on the first $12,000 earned by an individual and 
$24,000 earned by a married couple, effectively establishing a zero-
percent tax rate as the bottom bracket--the bottom tax rate. That means 
that nearly 81 percent of North Dakotans who claim the standard 
deduction could see a significant increase in their take-home pay. That 
is true of other States across the country as well. Further, we are 
consolidating and lowering the tax rates across the board while 
simplifying the Tax Code to make it fairer for everybody.
  At nearly 70,000 pages long, it is no wonder that Americans currently 
spend 6 billion hours a year complying with the Tax Code. In fact, 94 
percent of taxpayers choose either to pay someone else or to use 
software to prepare their taxes because of the complexity of our Tax 
Code. Our goal for tax reform is to allow the vast majority of 
Americans to file their tax returns on a single page--a simple 
calculation, something they can do themselves. We want to reduce the 
cost and stress that many Americans feel during tax season.
  Further, our tax framework aims to create greater opportunities for 
small business owners, farmers, and others to help grow our economy and 
be more competitive than ever before. While we focus on a business 
friendly State in North Dakota--we have a very business friendly 
climate--the Federal tax continues to place an undue burden on the 
nearly 71,000 small businesses that operate in our State, which is more 
than 95 percent of all of the employers in the State. Again, this is 
something that applies across the Nation. The driver of our economy, 
the backbone of our economy is small business. They are the job 
generators. They are the job creators. We have to do more to help them 
do what they do, which is to create jobs and to grow our economy.
  The same applies to our family farmers. My State alone has more than 
30,000 family farms and ranches. Their marginal tax rate can reach as 
high as almost 45 percent, nearly twice the average rate of the rest of 
the industrialized world. That creates real challenges. This tax 
framework follows the example we have set in our State by restoring 
economic opportunity, by lowering the tax burden, and by enacting a 
pro-growth tax code.
  Economists in general agree that high corporate taxes reduce wages to 
workers, raise costs to consumers, and reduce returns on retirement 
savings. That affects all of us. Maintaining high tax rates does 
nothing to improve the fairness of our system. It only punishes 
everyday citizens and reduces economic opportunities for all Americans.
  For far too long, our Tax Code has incentivized American companies to 
send jobs and investment overseas, instead of keeping them here at 
home--keeping that investment, keeping those jobs here at home. 
Consequently, large multinational corporations now hold approximately 
$2.6 trillion overseas. That is money that could be repatriated back to 
the United States for investment in American jobs here at home. Our 
framework would end the loopholes and the incentives that keep foreign 
profits offshore by moving to a territorial tax system and encouraging 
repatriation of these offshore funds, bringing that investment back to 
America. This is about getting the American economy going again and 
creating jobs and opportunity here at home rather than overseas.
  It is vital that we advance a comprehensive tax reform that 
simplifies the IRS code and simplifies rates. Putting more money in the 
pockets of working individuals and families and empowering private 
investment will drive domestic job creation and increase wages through 
higher demand for labor and lower business costs. All the while we can 
ensure stable government revenues through a broader tax

[[Page S6341]]

base, a growing economy, and a more efficient tax system. That means 
that we will continue to be able to fund our priorities as we work to 
get our debt and deficit under control.
  Ensuring U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace and providing 
tax relief to middle-class families will benefit both current and 
future generations. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
work together to get tax reform done for the people of my State of 
North Dakota, for their respective States, and for Americans across 
this entire country.
  With that, Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.