[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 207 (Tuesday, December 19, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1723]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             MILLIONS OF AMERICANS NEGLECTED UNDER TAX BILL

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                            HON. DINA TITUS

                               of nevada

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 19, 2017

  Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 1, the 
Republican tax scam. I voted against this bill a few weeks ago and 
again when it was brought before the House on December 19.
   This bill was crafted behind closed doors, without regular order, 
and without thorough public input. The result is legislation that would 
dismantle our health care system, add significant complexity to the tax 
code, and harm my district's seniors, students, and virtually every 
middle-class family.
   Many of my constituents suffered great economic hardship and are 
just beginning to recover from the worst financial crisis since the 
Great Depression. This tax bill is not a way to bolster the recovery 
effort; it is a red herring that relies on the myth of trickle-down 
economics in order to give top earners more breaks.
   Another way the Republican tax bill callously demonstrates a lack of 
concern for the average American that has been left largely out of the 
conversation, is the taxation of our citizens living abroad. I often 
hear from my overseas constituents and American expats I meet around 
the world about the burdens they face with the American citizenship-
based taxation system. Like my constituents in Las Vegas, many of our 
citizens residing overseas are teachers, small business owners, and 
middle-class and working families who would be excluded from the 
benefits of the tax bill. They discuss being dually taxed under the 
current system: first by the local tax authority where they currently 
reside and again by the United States. This is a legitimate problem and 
unfair for the roughly 9 million Americans living abroad. No other 
developed nation has such a system.
   As a member of the Americans Abroad Caucus, I have continued to 
support taking action so that U.S. citizens living abroad are not left 
with the choice of being drained of savings or having to renounce their 
citizenship due to unfair double taxation. Unfortunately, Congress has 
neglected to help this minority constituency for far too long. It is 
discouraging that the tax-writing committees would rather prioritize 
tax cuts on the foreign income of U.S. corporations than provide 
assistance to individual citizens abroad with tax reform.
   I condemn my colleagues who voted for the tax scam conference report 
that will shift money from hard working families in Nevada and around 
the globe to the wealthiest in the nation.

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