[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 178 (Thursday, November 2, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H8424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE TAX BILL

  (Mr. SCHRADER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SCHRADER. Mr. Speaker, today, my colleagues on the Republican 
side of the aisle released their fiscally irresponsible tax bill.
  I am still reading my way through the 492-page proposal, but it 
doesn't take long to notice a huge flaw in the process: the majority is 
using the partisan budget reconciliation process, a process 
traditionally reserved for deficit reduction, to add over $1.5 trillion 
to the deficit and jam a reckless bill through the House without 
hearings, study, or debate. We don't have to operate that way.
  Let's compare where we were the last time Congress reformed the Tax 
Code in 1986 to where we are today.
  When Congress last took up this monumental task, it took over 2 
years. There were 4 months of public hearings, more than 450 witnesses, 
26 days of markup, and months of debate. This wasn't easy, but what did 
we get?
  We got a simplified Tax Code that did not add to the deficit and a 
bill that had broad bipartisan support in the House and the Senate, and 
the support of the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, let's work together on a bipartisan basis. Let's reform 
the Tax Code in a way that helps the middle class and does not add to 
our children's deficit in the future.

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