[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 200 (Thursday, December 7, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7899-S7900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          REPUBLICAN TAX BILL

  Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, Mr. President, on the issue of taxes, with the 
passage of the Republican Senate bill last Friday, the Republican Party 
has shrugged off its history as the party of tax cuts and become the 
party of tax hikes on the middle class. The Republican tax bill will 
end up raising taxes on millions of middle-class families to pay for 
corporate welfare.
  As our Republican colleagues march us toward an enormous corporate 
tax cut, we have seen numerous companies start to announce plans to buy 
back more of their stock--not build factories, not create jobs, but to 
buy back their stock, which, of course, benefits the CEOs because the 
stock price goes up.
  T-Mobile has announced $1.5 billion in stock buybacks; Mastercard, $4 
billion; Bank of America, $5 billion. Just this morning, three or more 
companies announced hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of buybacks. 
These companies, I would say to President Trump and I would say to my 
Republican colleagues, are not announcing new investments in their 
workforce or wage increases, as Republicans promised they would. They 
are announcing stock repurchasing programs that benefit their wealthy 
investors.
  The tax bill will also saddle the next generation of leaders with 
larger deficits and debts, limiting our ability to make the kinds of 
investments we need to be making in education, infrastructure, and 
scientific research--a far surer path to good-paying jobs and raising 
wages than giving corporate America, already flush with cash, even more 
stock buybacks. For the same reason, those increased deficits, 
Republicans are now coming back and saying that they want to slash 
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, making it even harder in 
America to access affordable healthcare and retire with dignity.
  Speaker Ryan admitted it yesterday. He said: ``We're going to have to 
get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the 
debt and

[[Page S7900]]

the deficit,'' and he specifically mentioned Medicare. They first 
create the deficit by these huge tax cuts for the wealthiest 
corporations and individuals, and then they take it out on the middle 
class by saying: We have no choice but to cut Medicare. What is the 
matter? I hope the American people will see this. I hope some of the 
news channels and radio commentators will note this, since those are 
the people who listen to them.
  By the way, that is only what we know about the bill. It was muscled 
through the Chamber with such reckless haste, we are finding errors and 
consequences every day. In yesterday's POLITICO, Greg Jenner, a former 
top tax official in Bush's Treasury Department who helped write the 
1986 tax reform bill, was quoted as saying:

       The more you read [of the Republican tax bill], the more 
     you go, ``Holy crap, what's this?'' We will be dealing with 
     unintended consequences for months to come because the bill 
     is moving too fast.

  That is a Republican, a former tax official from President Bush's 
Treasury Department.
  When we were debating the Affordable Care Act--a process that took 
over a year--the esteemed majority leader admonished: We need to slow 
down and get this right.
  The tax bill, by comparison, spent hardly 2 weeks in the House and 3 
weeks in the Senate, and it is a lot worse for the average middle-class 
person. I would say the same thing to the majority leader that he said 
to us: Slow down and get this right. There is no need to rush this 
hastily considered, highly complex, hugely consequential tax bill 
before some artificial deadline.
  We have a responsibility to get this right for the American people, 
particularly the American middle class. I still believe the way to do 
it is through an open, transparent, and bipartisan debate.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Maryland is 
recognized.

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