[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 180 (Monday, November 6, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S7008]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Tax Reform

  Mr. DAINES. Madam President, today the U.S. House of Representatives 
begins marking up H.R. 1, the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, and as the U.S. 
Senate continues to debate tax cuts, I am reminded of a speech that 
former Democratic President John F. Kennedy delivered in New York City 
in 1962. In fact, it was in December of 1962, when he said:

       In short, it is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too 
     high today and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way 
     to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates 
     now. The experience of a number of European countries and 
     Japan have borne this out. This country's own experience with 
     tax reduction in 1954 has borne this out. And the reason is 
     that only full employment can balance the budget, and tax 
     reduction can pave the way to that employment. The purpose of 
     cutting taxes now is not to incur a budget deficit, but to 
     achieve the more prosperous, expanding economy which can 
     bring a budget surplus.

  President Kennedy went on to say:

       I repeat: our practical choice is not between a tax-cut 
     deficit and a budgetary surplus. It is between two kinds of 
     deficits: a chronic deficit of inertia, as the unwanted 
     result of inadequate revenues and a restricted economy; or a 
     temporary deficit of transition, resulting from a tax cut 
     designed to boost the economy, increase tax revenues, and 
     achieve--and I believe this can be done--a budget surplus. 
     The first type of deficit is a sign of waste and weakness; 
     the second reflects an investment in the future.

  If someone had just tuned in, they might think I was quoting, 
perhaps, President Reagan or perhaps some other Republican leader. This 
was President John F. Kennedy in 1962.
  We need to cut taxes once again and put money back into the pockets 
of the American people. I can state that Montanans need more jobs, but, 
importantly, we need better paying jobs. Most importantly, they need 
bigger paychecks. The best way to give Montanans a pay raise--how about 
cutting their taxes? We need tax cuts.