[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 198 (Tuesday, December 5, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7832-S7834]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Tax Cuts and Jobs Bill

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, relief for American families is on the way.
  Last week, the Senate passed our version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs 
Act, a tax reform bill that will provide immediate, direct relief to 
hard-working Americans.
  Our legislation doubles the standard deduction, it doubles the child 
tax credit, and it lowers rates. Under our bill, a family of four 
making $73,000 a year will see a $2,200 tax cut, or a reduction in 
taxes of about 60 percent over what they are paying under current law. 
A single parent with one child making $41,000 will see his or her taxes 
drop from around $1,865 today to just $488 under our bill, a reduction 
of nearly 75 percent over what they are paying today.
  That is just the beginning. The tax bill before us today is going to 
provide immediate relief to hard-working families. It is going to 
immediately lower their tax bills. It is going to immediately mean more 
money in their pockets.
  But this bill is about much more than that. This bill isn't just 
about helping Americans today--although it is most certainly going to 
do that--the bill is about helping Americans for the long term. It is 
about giving Americans access to the kinds of wages, jobs, and 
opportunities that will set them up for a secure and prosperous future.
  The way we do that is by improving the playing field for American 
businesses. In order for individual Americans to thrive economically, 
we need American businesses to thrive. Thriving businesses create jobs, 
they provide opportunities, and they increase wages and invest in their 
workers.
  But our current Tax Code hasn't been helping businesses thrive. For 
years now, our tax laws have left businesses of all sizes struggling 
under the burden of high tax rates and an outdated tax system that has 
left American businesses at a disadvantage in the global economy.
  Small businesses employ nearly half of American workers and create a 
majority of the new jobs in this country. But right now, small 
businesses face high tax rates that can make it difficult for these 
businesses to even survive, much less thrive and expand their 
operations. Our bill will fix this.
  To start with, our bill implements a new deduction for passthrough 
businesses like partnerships, LLCs, and S corporations. This deduction 
will allow them to keep more of their money, which will allow them to 
reinvest in their operations, increase wages, and hire new workers.
  Our bill also reforms current provisions in the Tax Code that 
frequently leave small businesses with very little cash on hand. Under 
our legislation, small businesses will be able to recover the capital 
they have invested in things like inventory and machinery much more 
quickly and, in certain cases, immediately. This, in turn, will free up 
capital that small businesses can use to expand and to create jobs.
  Our legislation also includes provisions that I helped develop that 
will simplify accounting rules for small businesses, which will also 
help reduce their tax burden, leaving more of their earnings to 
reinvest in their businesses and their workers.
  In addition to providing relief to small businesses, another thing 
our bill will do to boost Americans' wages is lower our massive 
corporate tax rate. Our Nation's corporate tax rate today is the 
highest in the industrialized world, which puts the United States at a 
major disadvantage next to our international competitors. Reducing the 
corporate tax rate will enable American businesses to compete on a more 
level playing field, which will, in turn, free up money that U.S. 
businesses can use to create jobs and increase wages.
  The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates that reducing 
the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, as our bill does, will increase 
wages for U.S. households by $4,000 annually. That is money that 
families can use to save for retirement, help pay for a child's 
education, replace an aging vehicle, or invest in a new home.
  Our bill will also boost wages and increase opportunities for 
Americans by ending the outdated tax framework that is driving American 
companies to keep jobs and profits overseas. Our Nation currently 
operates under a so-called worldwide tax system. That means that 
American companies pay U.S. taxes on the profits they make here at 
home, as well as on part of the profits they make abroad once they 
bring that money back to the United States. The problem with this is 
that American companies are already paying taxes to foreign governments 
on the money they make abroad. Then, when they bring that money home, 
they could end up having to pay taxes again on part of those profits 
and at the highest tax rate in the industrialized world. It is no 
surprise that this

[[Page S7833]]

discourages businesses from bringing their profits back to the United 
States to invest in their domestic operations and new jobs and 
increased wages.
  Our bill replaces our outdated worldwide tax system with a 
territorial tax system. Under our legislation, American companies will 
no longer face the double taxation that has encouraged them to send 
their investments and their operations overseas. Instead, U.S. 
companies will have a strong incentive to invest their profits at home 
in American jobs and in American workers.
  All in all, the Tax Foundation estimates that in addition to 
increasing wages, our bill will create nearly 1 million new jobs for 
American workers and boost the size of the economy by 3.7 percent.
  I don't need to tell anybody that American families have had a tough 
time in recent years or that our economy as a whole has stagnated, with 
weak economic growth, almost nonexistent wage growth, and a lack of 
opportunity that has become the norm for way too many families. But 
this tax bill marks the beginning of the end of the Obama-era economy.
  The tax bill we just passed will usher in a new era of dynamism in 
this country. It will let Americans keep more of their earnings right 
now, and it will improve Americans' economic situation for the long 
term. It will send a message to the world that America is serious about 
competing and succeeding and winning in the 21st century economy.
  Under this bill, American companies will compete and win globally, 
and American businesses, large and small, and the American people will 
thrive as a result.
  I look forward to going to conference with the House of 
Representatives and getting a final, comprehensive tax reform bill to 
the President. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity--literally, a 
once-in-a-lifetime chance--to make a real difference in the lives of 
literally millions of Americans. It is time to get this bill across the 
finish line. It can't happen soon enough for the American people.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, President Trump and the Republican 
leadership, as we just heard, are talking every day on television, at 
news conferences, telling the American people how this tax bill that 
was passed here at 2 o'clock in the morning on Saturday--without any 
hearings, with no serious debate--how this tax bill is designed to help 
the middle class and how it was written for the middle class.
  Unfortunately, I suspect that I will not shock too many Americans by 
suggesting that what President Trump has been saying is not truthful. 
This legislation, according to numerous independent studies, will 
provide 62 percent of the benefits to the top 1 percent--62 percent of 
the benefits will go to the top 1 percent--while increasing taxes on 83 
million middle-class households by the end of the decade. Why? The 
reason is that the tax cuts for middle-class families expire by the end 
of 2025, while the tax breaks for large corporations are made 
permanent.
  We are living in a moment in American history where we have an 
unprecedented level of income and wealth inequality, where the top one-
tenth of 1 percent now owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 
percent, where the top 1 percent owns almost twice as much wealth as 
the bottom 90 percent, and, if you can believe it, where three of the 
wealthiest people in this country--Mr. Gates, Mr. Bezos, and Mr. 
Buffett--three people own more wealth than the bottom half of the 
American population. That is where we are right now.
  Yet, in the midst of this incredible level of income and wealth 
inequality, my Republican colleagues believe that this is a moment when 
62 percent of the benefits of so-called tax reform should go to the top 
1 percent and 42 percent of the benefits should go to the top one-tenth 
of 1 percent, while at the same time tens of millions of middle-class 
families will end up paying more in taxes. How crazy is that? So we 
have a situation in which the wealthy, who need tax breaks the least, 
will benefit the most, and the working class and middle class of this 
country, who need the most help, will benefit the least.
  The President of the United States and my Republican colleagues tell 
the American people that trickle-down economics--giving huge tax breaks 
to the wealthy and large corporations--will expand the economy. We just 
heard Senator Thune talking about that. They will create new jobs and 
will bring in so much revenue that it will pay for the deficit it 
creates.
  Every independent expert who has taken a look at this tax bill has 
said it will substantially increase the deficit, even after accounting 
for the possibility of increased economic growth. The Joint Committee 
on Taxation has told us that this bill will increase the deficit by 
$1.4 trillion over the next decade. Why is that important?
  First of all, it shows, if I may say, the hypocrisy of my Republican 
colleagues who, year after year after year on this floor, lectured us 
about the dangers of a $20 trillion national debt and growing deficits. 
We heard this time and time again. But somehow, when it comes to the 
need to provide tax breaks to billionaires, that concern about the 
deficit seems to have disappeared.
  Secondly and more immediately, there is no doubt in my mind that if 
the Republicans are able to pass this bill, which will soon go to a 
conference committee--this bill that gives huge tax breaks to the top 1 
percent and raises the deficit by $1.4 trillion--there is no doubt in 
my mind that they will suddenly rediscover their great concern about 
deficits and the debt and move directly within the next few months to 
begin the process of cutting programs desperately needed by the working 
families of this country--the elderly, the children, the sick, and the 
poor.
  This is not just Bernie Sanders speculating. This is what the New 
York Times said in a front-page article a few days ago:

       As the tax cut legislation passed by the Senate early 
     Saturday hurtles toward final approval, Republicans are 
     preparing to use the swelling deficits made worse by the 
     package as a rationale to pursue their long-held vision: 
     undoing the entitlements of the New Deal and Great Society, 
     leaving government leaner and the safety net skimpier for 
     millions of Americans.
       Speaker Paul D. Ryan and other Republicans are beginning to 
     express their big dreams publicly, vowing that next year they 
     will move on to changes in Medicare and Social Security. 
     President Trump told a Missouri rally last week, `We're going 
     to go into welfare reform.'

  Let me take this opportunity to translate into English what phrases 
like ``entitlement reform'' or ``welfare reform'' really mean. What 
they mean in reality are massive cuts to Social Security, Medicare, 
Medicaid, education, nutrition programs, affordable housing, and other 
programs desperately needed by a declining middle class. It means that 
after they pass this so-called tax reform bill, which would provide a 
$200,000 tax break to CEOs who make over $16 million a year, they will 
come back to the floor of the Senate and fight for cuts to Social 
Security for senior citizens trying to survive on $12,000 or $13,000 a 
year. So there are massive cuts for millionaires and billionaires in 
their taxes at the same time as they want to cut Social Security, 
Medicare, and Medicaid for struggling seniors.
  ``Entitlement reform'' means that at a time when millions of seniors 
are splitting their pills in half because they cannot afford the 
outrageously high cost of prescription drugs, Republicans want massive 
cuts to Medicare. It means that when two out of every three nursing 
home residents in this country rely on Medicaid to pay for their long-
term care, the Republicans want to make massive cuts to Medicaid.
  We do not know exactly what form these cuts will take. I think that 
is not yet clear. There has been discussion among Republicans about 
raising the retirement age for Social Security to 70 years of age, 
forcing older workers to work years more before they can get their 
earned retirement benefits.

  Maybe they will cut back on cost-of-living increases through a so-
called Chained CPI--a new formulation that means lower benefits not 
only for seniors but for millions of disabled veterans. They apparently 
believe, for those of you on Social Security now, that the COLAs you 
have been getting in recent years are just too high. That zero percent 
increase you got a couple years ago? It is much too high; we have

[[Page S7834]]

to change the formula and lower benefit increases.
  Maybe they will go back to their long-term dream of privatizing 
Medicare and converting it into a voucher program, which will say to 
the elderly in this country: Here is a check for $8,000. You go out and 
find private insurance on your own. I would say good luck to any 
elderly person in this country who is struggling with heart disease or 
cancer. You see what kind of insurance program you are going to get 
with a check for $8,000.
  I would remind my colleagues that many of these proposals were 
included in the budget resolution the Republicans voted for right here 
on the floor of the Senate. This is not speculation; these are issues 
and items that Republicans already voted for. They already voted for a 
$1 trillion cut to Medicaid, which would throw some 15 million 
Americans off of health insurance. They have already voted in the 
budget to cut Medicare by $473 billion. In my view, the last thing we 
should be doing is giving tax breaks to billionaires while cutting 
programs for the most vulnerable people in our country.
  During the campaign, Donald Trump, as a candidate, promised he would 
not cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. He made that promise 
over and over again. I have some charts. Let me quote some of the 
tweets and some of the things Donald Trump said on the campaign trail.
  This is what he said: ``I was the first & only potential GOP 
candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & 
Medicaid.''
  On another occasion, he said:

       I'm not a cutter. I'll probably be the only Republican that 
     doesn't want to cut Social Security.

  That was January 24, 2015.

       It's my absolute intention to leave Social Security the way 
     it is. Not increase the age and to leave it as is.

  That was Donald Trump on March 10, 2016.
  Here is another quote:

       You know, Paul [Ryan] wants to knock out Social Security, 
     knock it down, way down. He wants to knock Medicare way down. 
     And, frankly--well, two things. Number one, you're going to 
     lose the election if you're going to do that. . . . Now, I 
     want to get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse. I want to do a 
     lot of things to it that are going to make it much better, 
     actually. But I'm not going to cut it, and I'm not going to 
     raise ages, and I'm not going to do all of the things that 
     they want to do. But they want to really cut it, and they 
     want to cut it very substantially, the Republicans, and I'm 
     not going to do that.

  Before I go on to the next quote, I want to tell Donald Trump that, 
as a candidate, man, he was exactly right. This is what he said on 
March 29, 2016. He said that the Republicans wanted to cut Social 
Security and Medicare and Medicaid.
  Well, Candidate Trump, you were exactly right, because that is now 
what we will see in a few weeks or a few months.
  Another quote from Donald Trump as a candidate:

       Social Security faces a problem: 77 million baby boomers 
     set to retire. Now, I know there are some Republicans who 
     would be just fine with allowing these programs to wither and 
     die on the vine. The way they see it, Social Security and 
     Medicare are wasteful `entitlement programs.' But people who 
     think this way need to rethink their position. It's not 
     unreasonable for people who paid into a system for decades to 
     expect to get their money's worth--that's not an 
     `entitlement,' that's honoring a deal.

  Well, there it is. Candidate Donald Trump said over and over again 
that he would not cut Social Security, that he would not cut Medicare, 
that he would not cut Medicaid. In fact, quite correctly, he predicted 
that the Republicans would try to do exactly that.
  Now I would like to talk directly, if I might, to the President of 
the United States.
  Mr. President, on the campaign trail, over and over again, you said 
that you would not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. Today, I 
am asking you nothing more than to keep your word. Don't lie to the 
American people.
  Millions of people voted for you because you said you would not cut 
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Keep your word. Tell Senate 
Leader McConnell and tell House Speaker Paul Ryan that you will veto 
any legislation that cuts these programs.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cruz). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 
notwithstanding rule XXII, the postcloture time on Executive Calendar 
No. 495 expire at 4 p.m. today, December 5; and that if confirmed, the 
motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the 
President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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