[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 178 (Thursday, November 2, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6978-S6979]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Tax Reform

  Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, today is an important day on our promise 
to deliver tax relief for America's working families and our 
businesses, to create more jobs and grow our economy faster. The House 
Ways and Means Committee is about to unveil their first draft of a tax 
cut bill. That is a good step forward after we both passed our budgets 
a couple of weeks ago.
  As we move forward through this process, it is important that we all 
recognize that tax cuts are a way to let the American people and our 
businesses keep more of their money, not the government's money but 
their money. We also have to be mindful of the impact it has on our 
staggering national debt of over $20 trillion and rising deficits. We 
can expect the economy to grow at a much healthier rate than it has in 
recent years if we pass a good tax bill. But we also need to look for 
other ways to offset the costs of those tax cuts to a degree.
  There have been a lot of discussions during the year about what I 
would consider unwise and painful changes to our tax law. Eliminating 
deductions, credits, exclusions, exemptions--they are popular and 
widespread. Some people call that the spinach, in addition to the ice 
cream of tax cuts.
  However, I have what I would call maybe a creative idea, a novel 
idea--one that I think is gaining momentum in the Senate and in the 
House. We can repeal the individual mandate of ObamaCare and save $300 
to $400 billion for the Federal Government and therefore deliver more 
tax relief to our families and our workers and our businesses. That is 
not my math. That is the math of the Congressional Budget Office. They 
have said repeatedly that eliminating the individual mandate of 
ObamaCare would save $300 to $400 billion. That is a lot of tax cuts.
  The individual mandate has also been the most unpopular part of 
ObamaCare. More than two-thirds of Americans want to see it repealed. 
The House has voted repeatedly to repeal it. The Senate has voted to 
repeal it. Even some Democrats have said that they want to repeal the 
individual mandate as well. It is the first time in our country's 
history, after all, that the Federal Government has said: You must buy 
the product of a private company for the mere privilege of being an 
American citizen.
  We also know that the individual mandate simply has not worked. It 
was designed to hold down premiums on the ObamaCare exchanges. That has 
not been the case. Despite the individual mandate being in place now 
for 4 years, we continue to see premiums spiral out of control. So I 
think it is a pretty reasonable proposal to repeal the most hated part 
of ObamaCare to help pay for tax cuts the American people want rather 
than trying to eliminate popular and widely used deductions, credits, 
exemptions, and exclusions.
  Moreover, it allows us to make more of the tax cut bill permanent 
because the $300 to $400 billion savings over a 10-year period is just 
a 10-year period, but it will continue to save money after those 10 
years. With the crazy way we do our budgeting around here, that allows 
us to make more of those tax cuts permanent so that our families and 
our businesses can have greater predictability to save and invest and 
grow our economy.
  It is also a kind of tax cut for working-class Americans in its own 
right. According to IRS data, more than five out of six households that 
paid the mandate fine last year made less than the median income. They 
were in the bottom half of income earners.
  So what are we doing? We are imposing a fine on the working class and 
working poor because they can't afford the insurance that ObamaCare 
made unaffordable in the first place. That is crazy.
  We can do this in a way that makes it easier to pass a tax bill. I 
know some of my colleagues around here, especially some of my 
Republican colleagues, say: Oh, no. We can't go back to healthcare. It 
is going to make the tax bill a little harder to pass. That is 
nonsense. It makes the tax bill easier to pass--easier to pass because 
it helps make the fiscal picture balance, and it helps deliver more tax 
cuts to our families and our businesses back home.
  Some of my Democratic colleagues, drawing on that same estimate from 
the Congressional Budget Office, will say: You are going to take 
healthcare away from 15 million people. That is nonsense. This bill 
doesn't cut a single dime out of ObamaCare, not even one penny, not one 
penny taken out of Medicaid, not one penny taken out of the subsidies 
from the exchanges, not a single regulation change. It simply says that 
the IRS will not fine you if you cannot afford the insurance that 
ObamaCare made unaffordable.
  The $300 to $400 billion--even in Washington, that is a lot of money, 
and that is money that is better left in the pockets of America's 
workers and families and on the financial statements of businesses that 
are looking to expand their operations, increase their wages, and hire 
more workers.
  No, this hasn't been part of the tax debate for a long time. This 
Chamber considered repealing the mandate as part of our healthcare 
debate, but the Obama administration called the individual mandate a 
tax.
  In 2012, the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality saying that 
it was a tax. The IRS collects it. You pay it on your 1040. That is 
about the ``taxiest'' provision I can think of.
  Let's make a commonsense decision, even if it is a little late in the 
game. Repeal the individual mandate. Pay for more tax cuts for families 
and businesses. Make a tax bill easier to pass. Deliver on the promise 
that we made to the American people to repeal the most unpopular part 
of ObamaCare and have a very big victory for the American people.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.

[[Page S6979]]

  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. President, we currently have the highest Federal 
corporate tax rate in the developed world. Businesses are moving from 
here overseas to seek a friendlier tax environment.
  If we are going to compete globally--and we are in a global economy--
we have to have a conducive tax and regulatory environment to do so. We 
don't have a conducive tax environment now. We cannot compete globally 
with the second highest or the highest corporate tax rate in the 
developed world.
  We also have a tax code that is far too complicated. Taxpayers and 
companies alike spend about 9 billion hours a year--9 billion hours a 
year--combined with IRS requirements, and this costs the U.S. economy 
more than $400 billion a year. This is just compliance costs.
  The Tax Code is also full of costly loopholes which allow businesses 
and millions of individuals to get away with paying no income tax or no 
corporate tax.
  After over 30 years, I am pleased to see Congress finally getting 
down to the work of doing a tax overhaul. A few weeks ago, we passed a 
budget that allows some cuts--about $1.5 trillion. I believe that when 
we do cut certain taxes, it does generate a greater economic activity, 
which does in turn mean additional revenue to government. However, 
there are limits to that model. We cannot simply assume we can cut all 
taxes and realize additional revenue. It is important that tax reform 
comes as well.
  We have been hearing a lot about cuts, cuts, cuts. If we are going to 
do cuts, cuts, cuts, we have to do a wholesale reform. With the 
national debt exceeding $20 trillion, we have to take this seriously. 
Rate reductions have to be accompanied by repeal or reform. We cannot 
simply rely on rosy economic assumptions, rosy growth rates to fill in 
the gap. We have to make tough decisions. We cannot have cuts today 
that assume we will grow a backbone in the out-years in terms of the 
real reforms we are going to need. We have seen this before. We make 
the cuts now; we rely on rosy economic assumptions; and then, in the 
out-years, if those don't come about, we forget what we were supposed 
to do in terms of reform. We can't do that today, not with a debt of 
$20 trillion, not with a deficit of over $600 billion a year adding to 
that total debt.
  I welcome this opportunity to do tax reform. It is needed. As I 
mentioned, we have to have a conducive tax and regulatory environment 
in order to compete, but we have to be realistic as well about what we 
can achieve, and we can't push off the reforms for cuts today.
  I yield the floor.
  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. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sullivan). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.