[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So it is past time--not time but past time--to modernize our outdated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.