Congressional Record, Volume 163 Issue 207 (Tuesday, December 19, 2017)

[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 207 (Tuesday, December 19, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H10201-H10215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1, TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 667, I
call up the conference report on the bill (H.R. 1) to provide for
reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution
on the budget for fiscal year 2018, and ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 667, the
conference report is considered read.
(For conference report and statement, see proceedings of the House of
December 15, 2017, at page H9943.)
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady) and the
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.

General Leave

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill currently
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Today, we are delivering on our tax reform promise to the American
people. For the first time in over three decades, we are delivering a
new Tax Code that provides more jobs, fairer taxes, and bigger
paychecks to Americans across the country.
With this bill, a middle-income family of four earning $73,000 a year
will see a tax cut of over $2,000. Our local job creators will see the
lowest tax rates in modern history so they can invest more in their
workers and in their futures. And our businesses will finally have a
Tax Code that helps them compete and win anywhere in the world,
especially here at home.
This is our moment to make history, to make good on our promise, and
to make tax reform a reality for the first time in 31 years.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, what you are about to hear from our Republican friends
for the next 30 minutes is the following: a mixture of theology and
science fiction. And then they are going to take you to revisionist
history.
This is the most regressive piece of tax legislation that has come
from the Ways and Means Committee in the 25 years that I have been a
member.
This is not about simplification. When you have a chance to look at
the phase-ins and the phaseouts, you will be passed out by the time
they get to the expiration dates.
They say it is about simplicity; it was going to be on a postcard.
You are going to need to carry a billboard around with you to
understand what is in this actual bill.
And here is the best part: when Secretary Mnuchin said, Mr. Speaker,
that under no circumstances would people at the top get tax relief.
Well, I guess if you are formerly in the 39.6 percent tax bracket,
which is summarily lowered to 37 percent, that that is dressed up as no
tax relief for people at the very top. But then again, to help out with
their argument, then they double the exemption on the estate tax, which
will go from $11 million to $22 million.
The people at the bottom in this, they are going to argue: Everybody
gets a tax cut. Well, here is where we go to revised history.
In 2001, President Bush said everybody gets a tax cut. The Federal
budget of $1.3 trillion included a tax cut for everybody. The people at
the bottom got a hundred bucks, and the people at the top got hundreds
of thousands of dollars. This is a creative replay of exactly what
happened.
And then in 2003, they came back and cut taxes again for people at
the very top and blew a huge hole in the Federal deficit, which had
been estimated at the time, after Clinton left on January 19, 2001, to
project surpluses of $5.6 trillion over the next 10 years. Instead, the
Federal deficit mounted to $6.1 trillion.
So here is the simplicity of their proposal today. They are borrowing
$2.3 trillion to give a tax cut to people at the very top of American
society. That is not in dispute.
In addition to borrowing the money, recall that the Federal Reserve
Board said they are projecting, already, three increases next year in
interest rates. We don't know what this is going to look like by the
time they get done, but this, today, is more about ideology than it is
about public policy

[[Page H10202]]

Think of it this way as well: This was done in 1 month. In 1 single
month, the entire revenue system of the United States is being
transformed.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. NEAL. I yield myself an additional 1 minute, Mr. Speaker.
Not one public hearing was held on this bill. And when they say
today, ``Oh, we had 5 years of public hearings,'' we did not have one
hearing on this bill--not one. No witness testimony was sought. No
committee was convened for the purpose of a hearing. And then when we
went to conference, we were all granted an opening statement, and we
got to question the nonpartisan Director of the Joint Committee on
Taxation.
Mr. Speaker, more than anything else today, this is a missed
opportunity where both sides could have accomplished something great
for the American people.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Nunes).
Mr. NUNES. Mr. Speaker, I stood here several weeks ago to speak in
support of the original House-passed tax reform bill. Since then, as a
member of the conference committee, I have participated in the process
of strengthening this bill and making it even more transformative. That
is why I continue to stand in strong support of the bill and conference
report we will be voting on today.
Washington's special interests have distorted business decisions for
too long, and we cannot afford to wait any longer to reform our broken
Tax Code.
Should we fail to act now, businesses will continue to leave the
United States for tax purposes, taking thousands of good-paying jobs--
American jobs--with them. Our small businesses will continue to suffer
the damaging effects of a bewildering and punitive Tax Code that gives
unfair advantages to their larger, well-connected competitors.
But all this will change if we pass this bill.
For years, I have advocated for full and immediate expensing, which
will allow businesses of all sizes to write off costs immediately. This
bill will provide full expensing, which is one of the many progrowth
pieces to this legislation. I am confident my colleagues will soon see
the tremendous effect of full expensing and make the important decision
to extend it before it expires.
Mr. Speaker, I stand here with my colleagues on an historic day in
support of one of the most dramatic reform bills to come before this
body since I came to Congress. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act simplifies the
Code, grows the economy, and allows for strong business investment.
I have said before that I will not accept the status quo of our
broken Tax Code or a minimal reform that merely adjusts rates. Instead,
we must transform the Code into a system that is simpler and fairer and
that encourages economic growth instead of suppressing it. That is what
this bill does, and that is why I strongly support its passage.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Levin), the longest serving member of the Ways and Means
Committee, and a well-deserved 1 minute, I might add.
(Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, in all of my 35 years in Congress, this is
one of the most deceitful bills I have ever seen.
It is deceitful when Republicans say the bill is focused on the
middle class while it is really aimed at making the very wealthy even
wealthier and forcing millions of middle class families to pay higher
taxes.
It is deceitful when they say it makes the Tax Code simpler, even as
the legislation creates complicated new loopholes while allowing
existing ones, such as carried interest, to continue.
It is deceitful when the bill will increase the outsourcing of
American jobs by providing a lower tax rate on foreign investment
compared to investing here.
It is deceitful about the debt. Republicans say don't worry about the
expiring tax provisions, but extending them would raise the bill's
already devastating effect on the deficit to $2.3 trillion.
Republicans are rushing this bill, but, even in their haste, they are
already too late. The majority of the American people already say this
bill is a deceitful sham.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to yield 2 minutes
to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam), chairman of the Tax Policy
Subcommittee.
Mr. ROSKAM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me time.
We have heard some strong language for the past couple of minutes.
This has been described as theology, science fiction, ideology, and now
deceit.
Well, where is the deceit?
The deceit is in the assumption that we can live with the status quo,
Mr. Speaker.
The deceit is a blindness to the recognition that we have a Tax Code
that is literally dissolving underneath us. It is dissolving underneath
us.
And this Congress has an opportunity to do something
transformational, and I propose, along with my colleagues, to be
transformational and opportunistic.
There is a lot of discussion in the subtext of this about class envy
and opportunity and so forth. Here is what I know: It is the status quo
that is serving the few. It is the status quo that is so off-putting
and unsettling and keeps people at arm's length.
What we are proposing is something very different. Mr. Speaker, we
are proposing the economics of opportunity, not the economics of envy;
the economics of buoyancy and the economics of participation.
Therein lies the foundation of this bill. It offers tax relief that
my constituents are longing for, and it offers a business environment
in a milieu that makes things happen, and happen for the good.
So I am pleased, I am honored to be a part of this. I urge my
colleagues to vote ``aye,'' and let us celebrate a job well done.

Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Georgia, Congressman John Lewis, one of the great men of our times.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend and
ranking member, Mr. Neal, for yielding me time.
I rise to oppose this conference report with every bone in my body.
This bill is a $2.3 trillion cowardly gift to Wall Street, the rich,
and the wealthy. This bill was conceived in the darkness of the night
and birthed with the help of their donors and funders.
This bill is not for the people; it is not of the people; and, Mr.
Speaker, it is not tax reform. They reward their donors so that our
children and grandchildren will suffer. This is not fair, it is not
just, and it is below the dignity and the worth of this body.
Mr. Speaker, I have said on many occasions that you cannot get blood
from a turnip; you cannot justify robbing poor Peter to pay billionaire
Paul.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 15
seconds.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, when the bill comes due, the
chickens will come home to roost.
I urge all of my colleagues to be on the right side of history and
vote against this act.
I thank my good friend, the ranking member, Mr. Neal, for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this conference report with every bone
in my body.
This bill is a $2.3 trillion holiday gift for Wall Street, the rich,
and the wealthy.
This bill was conceived in the darkness and birthed with the help of
your donors and funders.
This bill is not for the people. It is not of the people, and, Mr.
Speaker, it is not tax reform.
Working and middle class families, the sick, the elderly, and
generations yet unborn will bear the burden of this reckless act.
To pay for this so-called tax cut, Republicans will destroy the hopes
of those, who dream of affordable, quality health care.
To pay for this tax cut, Social Security, Medicare, and CHIP will be
on the chopping block.
To pay for this tax cut, bipartisan repairs of transportation,
affordable housing, and student debt will be out of reach.

[[Page H10203]]

To pay for this tax cut, every single federal program that matters to
the American people will be dealt a crippling blow.
You reward your donors so that our children and grandchildren will
suffer.
This is not fair. It is not just, and it is below the dignity and the
worth of this body.
Mr. Speaker, I've said on many occasions that you cannot get blood
from a turnip, and you cannot justify robbing poor Peter to pay
billionaire Paul.
Mr. Speaker, when the bill comes due, the chickens will come home to
roost.
I urge all of my colleagues to be on the right side of history and to
vote against this bill.

{time} 1230

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman
from Tennessee (Mrs. Black), the chairwoman of the Budget Committee and
a member of the Ways and Means Committee.
Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, this is truly a monumental day for the
American people.
During my 7 years here in the House serving on the Ways and Means
Committee, we have studied, considered, and outlined the sorts of
reform that could benefit the American people.
As a conferee for H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, I am proud that
we kept our promise of providing tax relief for hardworking, middle
class families and making the Tax Code simpler and fairer for all.
It has been more than three decades since our Nation's tax system has
been modernized, and this is finally the day to change that.
I want to remind my colleagues that the process began long before
this year. When passage of the budget provided the key, our ideas for
conservative tax reform were finally unlocked and could be pursued for
real tax reform.
Without question, this conference report reflects our shared
conservative principles. The conference agreement addresses the heavy
tax burden weighing down hardworking Americans and holding back job
creators. It brings simplicity to the Tax Code. It helps low- and
middle-income Americans see more of their hard-earned dollars in their
paychecks. It empowers entrepreneurs and small businesses to continue
opening, operating, and expanding on Main Street.
With every major legislative effort, there will be critics. But the
critics have it wrong. The truth is that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
delivers relief at every income level and protects more hard-earned
dollars from taxes. For the average family of four, this legislation
means a tax cut next year of more than $2,000.
The point of this exercise is that we are cutting your taxes, plain
and simple. I urge my colleagues to stand on the right side of history
and support this legislation because the benefits will be felt by all
Americans for generations to come.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the very capable legislator and Democratic whip.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I was here in 1981. They said the 1981 bill
would pay for itself.
David Stockman, a former colleague from Michigan, was here. He was at
OMB. A few years later, he wrote a book and he said: I said it would
pay for itself, and I knew that was not true.
The same can be said of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, history will indeed remember this vote. Future
generations of Americans will remember who cast their votes to raise
taxes on 86 million middle class households and heap another $1.5
trillion in deficits onto our children and our grandchildren.
They will remember who cast their votes for a plan that gives 83
percent of its benefits to 1 percent of the American people.
They will remember that President Trump promised that the middle
class would get a tax cut and wealthy individuals like him would not,
before turning his back on that promise.
They will remember those who cast their vote to kick 13 million
Americans off their health insurance coverage.
They will remember those who acted with the full knowledge that their
votes would trigger a $25 billion cut to Medicare. I know you said you
are going to waive it, which would simply add $25 billion more to the
deficit.
Posterity will also remember those who stood up in the face of this
dangerous and partisan bill and said ``no.'' Those of us who vote
against it are doing so not because we oppose tax reform. On the
contrary. We recognize, as most Americans do, that this bill is not tax
reform. It is a tax giveaway to those who don't need our help, paid for
by those who need it the most. This is reckless and dangerous deficit
spending at its worst.
In 1986, Democrats and Republicans worked together in good faith and
over many months in an open, transparent, and regular order process to
craft real, bipartisan tax reform that helped the middle class without
adding a dime to the deficit. Not a single dime.
This has not been an open process. This has not been bipartisan. This
has not been transparent or through regular order.
This raises taxes, as I said, on 86 million Americans, who will pay
more taxes 10 years from now than they do today. It gives 83 percent of
the tax cuts to the top 1 percent, not the $59,000 family that Paul
Ryan talked about, but to those families making over $900,000 a year.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the
gentleman.
Mr. HOYER. This bill adds $1.5 trillion to the deficit. This is not
tax reform.
So Republicans may pat themselves on the back in the coming days for
having finally passed something out of Congress. Unfortunately, it is a
bad thing. I urge them to remember that this vote may be the most
consequential of their careers, and not positively.
I say to my friends across the aisle: Stand up and say ``no'' with us
and commit to start working on a product all Members of the Chamber can
be proud of, as was the case in 1986. That is what Ronald Reagan did.
In 1986, Reagan did not go down this reckless and irresponsible path.
Stand up for the principles you used to espouse but are now about to
abandon. Stand up for fiscal responsibility. Stand up for the middle
class. Stand up for what the American people hope we would do. This is
not it.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman
from South Dakota (Mrs. Noem).
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a farmer, a rancher, a small-
business person, but most importantly as a mom. I rise to support the
conference report on H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Mr. Speaker, in my home State of South Dakota, the average household
income is $54,000 per year. Out of that $54,000, our families pay
double the national average in energy costs just because of where they
are located. These are hardworking families and they deserve a break.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act gives them that break.
By lowering tax rates, doubling the standard deduction, and doubling
the child tax credit, that family in South Dakota making $54,000 can go
from an $833 tax liability to a $781 tax refund. That is a $1,600
difference in after-tax income. That is $1,600 that can go back to
benefit their families and their communities, rather than into the
greedy hands of those in Washington.
On top of that, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is designed to build a
healthier economy--an economy in which that family making $54,000 can
get a raise, an economy that actually grows jobs.
I am proud to have served on the conference committee that put this
report together. I thank Chairman Brady for his leadership throughout
the process. We worked literally hundreds of hours putting this
together and getting the child tax credit where it is today.
We had vigorous debates about the benefits to rural America. I am
thrilled to be able to go home and tell South Dakota farmers and
ranchers they will have new expensing tools, a new small business
deduction, and significantly lower individual rates.
While I am disappointed that this bill doesn't completely repeal the
death tax, it does provide more relief for producers and small-business
owners.
While no plan is perfect in anyone's eyes, this legislation puts more
money in the pockets of hardworking taxpayers. The bottom line is this:
the American people deserve more control over their paychecks. They
worked for

[[Page H10204]]

that money, and it is time folks in Washington respect that.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. Doggett), a valued member of the Ways and Means Committee.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, between tweets, Trump apparently had time
to take those calls from his rich friends that kept asking for more.
Not even this lapdog Republican Congress initially did enough to
satisfy the Trump family and their billionaire buddies.
Instead of adjusting the differences between the House and the
Senate, Republican conferees, last week, secretly concocted even more
benefits for them. Those real estate moguls, like Trump, who had
already been granted preferential tax treatment, can now take advantage
of an entirely new loophole that was not in either of the previous
bills.
Just in case their endless loopholes left some donor behind, the
Republicans have provided a new, across-the-board tax cut for
billionaires. It is working families who will pay to put the platinum
tinsel on this Christmas tree for the elite.
This is not tax reform. It is a reward for the privileged. It is a
Christmas where working people get to keep the gift wrapping, but the
wealthy and corporate tax dodgers get the gift.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Ohio (Mr. Tiberi).
Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, this is a historic day.
I am reminded that 17 years ago, I got elected to Congress,
campaigning on tax reform and campaigning on the fact that it is not
our money, it is our constituents' money.
Today we are giving the money back to our constituents. To Bob and
Betty Buckeye in Ohio, it is more wages in their pockets.
The bill also includes an initiative that I worked on with Mr. Kind
that is bipartisan, called the Investing in Opportunity Act,
cosponsored by Mr. Neal. This bill, authored by my friend in the
Senate, Tim Scott, will help areas that haven't seen economic recovery
to allow private investment in poor rural and urban areas. Thanks to
Mr. Scott, the bill was in the Senate version and in the conference
committee.
Mr. Neal knows that incentives like that, the low-income housing tax
credit, the new markets tax credit, and the historic tax credit will
help those in communities that have been left behind with more money in
working families' pockets.
I urge adoption of the conference report.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Thompson), a distinguished Vietnam veteran and a well-
known and valued member of the committee.
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, this tax bill is bait and
switch.
Republicans said the tax bill would simplify the tax system and help
working people, not the rich. Well, that is out the window. With this
Republican bill, 86 million middle class households will see their
taxes go up.
Remember when the Republicans said we would be filing our taxes on a
postcard?
The postcard is now gone. Instead of making our Tax Code simpler,
Republicans have made it more complicated. They have even added an
additional bracket.
Their claim that this is not a tax bill that favors the rich and the
corporations, some of which ship jobs overseas, is malarkey. While
there are some tax cuts for the middle class, they are all temporary.
But the breaks for corporations are permanent. That is leaving too many
people behind.
Let's not forget about the State and local tax provision. Because of
the changes the Republicans are making, some home values in some States
are projected to drop by 10 percent.
The richest of the rich are getting a break. The top bracket is
dropping from 39.6 percent to 37 percent. Those folks are not your
working, middle class families. To add insult to injury, it raises our
debt by $2.3 trillion.
It is a bad bill. Please vote ``no.''
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman
from Kansas (Ms. Jenkins).
Ms. JENKINS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding and for his leadership on this very important issue.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to be a voice for Kansans who know our
status quo Tax Code no longer works for them. They know it doesn't work
when it favors special interests over individuals or when it causes
Kansas factories to close, sending those jobs to other countries.
I rise today because Kansans know that without rejuvenated and
sustained economic growth, we will never find the money to pay down our
Nation's debt.
That is why I strongly support H.R. 1, which will close special
interest loopholes and lower rates for everyone--not just the rich, not
just the poor, but everyone.
Individuals in my district will see immediate tax relief with the
doubling of the standard deduction and the child tax credit. We also
lessen the financial burden of education by keeping important college
tax provisions and expanding access to 529 savings plans.
On average, a family of four in my district will see a tax cut of
just over $2,300 because of this bill.
A fairer, simpler Tax Code means every hardworking family will see
the tax relief and economic growth this country rightfully deserves.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Connecticut (Mr. Larson), the former president of the State Senate and
a well-informed member of the Ways and Means Committee.

{time} 1245

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the Congressional Budget
Office's accounting of the $25 billion that will be taken out of
Medicare.

Congressional Budget Office,

U.S. Congress

Washington, DC, November 13, 2017.
Hon. Steny H. Hoyer,
Democratic Whip, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Congressman: This letter responds to your request for
information about the effects of legislation that would raise
deficits by an estimated $1.5 trillion over the 2018-2027
period, specifically with respect to a sequestration--or
cancellation of budgetary resources--in accordance with the
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010(PAYGO; Public Law 111-
139).
The PAYGO law requires that new legislation enacted during
a term of Congress does not collectively increase estimated
deficits. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is
required to maintain two so-called PAYGO scorecards to report
the cumulative changes generated by new legislation in
estimated revenues and outlays over the next five years and
ten years. If either scorecard indicates a net increase in
the deficit, OMB is required to order a sequestration to
eliminate the overage. The authority to determine whether a
sequestration is required (and if so, exactly how to make the
necessary cuts in budget authority) rests solely with OMB.
CBO has analyzed the implications of enacting a bill that
would increase deficits by $1.5 trillion over a 10-year
window, without enacting any further legislation to offset
that increase. In accordance with the PAYGO law, OMB would
record the average annual deficit on its PAYGO scorecard,
showing deficit increases of, in the example provided, $150
billion per year. If the bill were enacted before the end of
the calendar year, that amount would be added to the current
balances on the PAYGO scorecard, which for 2018, show a
positive balance of $14 billion. (For years after 2018, the
balances range from a $14 billion credit to a $1 billion
debit.)
Without enacting subsequent legislation to either offset
that deficit increase, waive the recordation of the bill's
impact on the scorecard, or otherwise mitigate or eliminate
the requirements of the PAYGO law, OMB would be required to
issue a sequestration order within 15 days of the end of the
session of Congress to reduce spending in fiscal year 2018 by
the resultant total of $136 billion. However, the PAYGO law
limits reductions to Medicare to four percentage points (or
roughly $25 billion for that year), leaving about $111
billion to be sequestered from the remaining mandatory
accounts. Because the law entirely exempts many large
accounts including low-income programs and social security,
the annual resources available from which OMB must draw is,
in CBO's estimation, only between $85 billion to $90 billion,
significantly less than the amount that would be required to
be sequestered. (For a full list of accounts subject to
automatic reductions, see OMB Report to the Congress on the
Joint Committee Reductions for Fiscal Year 2018, https://
go.usa.gov/xnZ3U.)
Given that the required reduction in spending exceeds the
estimated amount of available resources in each year over the
next 10 years, in the absence of further legislation, OMB
would be unable to implement the full extent of outlay
reductions required by the PAYGO law.

[[Page H10205]]

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall,
Director.

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, it is hard to be here today,
as we approach Christmas, and not look at this bill, knowing that we
have honorable Members on the other side, who, this Christmas, will be
sitting with their relatives, their family members, their mothers and
fathers, their brothers and sisters, and knowing that this creates not
just a $2 trillion debt, but the pay-for--the pay-for--out of the
Medicare program: an automatic cut of $25 billion in a plan that was
never debated. It fulfills a grand vision of Grover Norquist and the
ideology that you took a pledge to. But what about the oath of office,
and a pledge to the Constitution, and standing up for the people of
this Nation, and the very elderly at this Christmas, and throughout the
year, who will need our help?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks
to the Chair.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen).
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
One of my predecessors--a good friend and mentor--was Bill Frenzel.
He was the last Minnesotan to serve on the Ways and Means Committee
when tax reform was passed. It was 1986.
In the 31 years since then, our Tax Code has been one of the most
complicated, unfair, and most uncompetitive in the world. It has led to
a stagnant economy with sluggish growth, with America losing our
manufacturing, our jobs, our innovation, and our headquarters overseas.
But today, that all changes. Today, we will pass and give Minnesota
employers the confidence and the capital that they need to grow their
businesses, to hire more workers, and to give their employees a raise.
This provides middle-income families with tax cuts they need to save
for their future and improve their standard of living. This helps real
people with real needs.
Mr. Speaker, tax reform for me is about one thing and one thing only:
it is about restoring the hope for a prosperous future for ourselves,
our parents, and, most importantly, our children.
Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the report.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oregon
(Mr. Blumenauer), a very capable member of the committee, and a
champion of renewable energy.
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, this bill will be the largest transfer
of wealth in our Nation's history, financed by mortgaging our
children's future with a mountain of increased debt. It is not really
even a policy. It is, rather, a collection of special interest
provisions being sold on a false set of promises.
It is not middle class tax relief. It is, instead, permanent and
massive tax reduction for the largest corporations and wealthy
individuals like Donald Trump. Eighty-three percent will flow to the
top 1 percent.
Everybody else will receive only a small, and temporary, tax
reduction. Ultimately, 86 million Americans, middle class Americans,
will have their taxes increased.
This legislation fails utterly to invest in the American people for
this $2.3 trillion. But it is a bonanza for the attorneys, the
accountants, and the lobbyists finding ways to further enrich the most
privileged in America.
And, for weeks to come, we are going to learn more about the special
gifts hidden within this bill to nail down the last few votes.
No wonder the American public is opposed. They are right, and the
Republicans are wrong.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Nebraska (Mr. Smith).
Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the
tax reform conference report.
This is our great opportunity to reduce the tax burden on Americans
across the economic spectrum, while modernizing our Tax Code for the
21st century.
I would like to take a few moments to discuss what this bill does for
American agriculture.
First and foremost, this bill cuts taxes for most Americans, while
simplifying compliance and transitioning us to a more competitive tax
system internationally.
In addition to retaining the deduction for State and local taxes for
individuals and families up to $10,000, this bill leaves intact the
full deduction for property taxes on ag land and property.
In addition, I am grateful this conference report includes a solution
to concerns raised by agriculture co-ops and their members about the
repeal of section 199.
With commodity prices low, it is important we ensure the Tax Code
continues to work as intended, with co-ops passing along their profits
to their producer owners.
Finally, while I would have preferred we repeal the death tax in
full, doubling the exemption and keeping a stepped up basis will help
provide certainty for more farmers, ranchers, and small businesses.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and the conferees for their work on
this strong product. I am anxious to pass this bill and get it to the
President for his signature.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Kind), a very capable member of the Ways and Means
Committee.
Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, if we are going to borrow $2 trillion from
China over the next 10 years, it better be for a very good reason. And
lavishing huge tax breaks to multinational corporations and to the most
wealthy amongst us is not a good reason.
I am very concerned about many of my fiscally conservative friends
across the aisle. So I offered an amendment that would have expanded
the endangered species list to include fiscally conservative
Republicans because they are about to go extinct under this bill.
And under this bill, they are creating a mess that is going to take
years to clean up because of the potential for fraud and abuse.
Consider this: They are pitting a hastily written bill, drafted
without one hearing, considered without feedback from people back home,
without proper vetting, all over the course of a few short weeks
against some of the smartest accountants and tax attorneys that money
can buy.
Who do you think is going to win that battle?
This is a bill that was drafted of, for, and by the powerful special
interests in Washington, and it should be rejected.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Once again, the Chair reminds Members to
direct their remarks to the Chair.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the majority whip of the Republican
Conference.
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Brady for yielding time
and for his leadership in the entire group of conferees on bringing
this tax cuts and jobs bill to the floor.
I thank President Trump for working with us every step of the way to
bring us to a historic moment where we are actually going to provide
tax relief to hardworking families.
There are those on the other side who would say: Keep all the money
in Washington, stunt economic growth, continue to let America be
noncompetitive where we see jobs go overseas over and over again--large
companies, thousands of jobs at a time moving to foreign countries--
because we have the highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized
world.
Well, Mr. Speaker, it is time for that to end, and we do end that in
this bill. We finally make our country competitive again so we can
bring those jobs back.
Why deny opportunity for so many people who want a chance at the
American Dream?
In our bill, Mr. Speaker, we cut every single tax rate and make it
lower. That is more money in the pockets of hardworking families. On
average, families are going to see over $2,000 more back in their
paychecks every year. That is real money, when you look at, right now,
the average savings for families is $400 in their checking account.
This is real money to help people have better opportunities to go put
more money in their kids' college tuition accounts.

When you look at what this means, it is not only good for economic
growth, creating jobs, and rebuilding our middle class, but it is
historic in the simplification where over 90 percent of

[[Page H10206]]

American families will actually be able to do their taxes on a
postcard. Just think of how simplified that makes the Code.
The last time this was done was in 1986. And when Ronald Reagan was
signing that bill, he talked about how hard it was and how many times
people said it couldn't happen. In fact, Ronald Reagan read a quote
from a headline, and he said: ``The impossible became the inevitable.''
Today, Mr. Speaker, we make that impossible the inevitable again and
restore that hope and opportunity for so many families who just want a
chance at the American Dream. We give them that.
Let's pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act today. Get it on President
Trump's desk so we can finally see this economy going again. What a
great Christmas present this is going to be to the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I urge everybody to vote ``yes.''
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), the very quotable Congressman.
Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, all on a postcard, simple as that. I say
it is a postage stamp mentality. Many of them need counseling in
economics. If they want to keep it simple, let's keep it simple. Very
simple.
How about that couple that wants to send their kids to college and
put a second mortgage on their house. You can't do that anymore. You
cannot do that. That is not a middle class legislation. That is the
stick it to the middle class.
Mr. Speaker, this is serious business. I will tell you what is
simple. If you are born in a family with an estate worth more than $11
million, this Republican Congress is coming to your aid with a $3
million average windfall.
And if this Congress actually still practiced oversight, we would
know from his tax returns that Donald Trump and his family will see
cuts worth millions of dollars per family.
This is not good policy, Mr. Speaker--not at all--and it is
dangerous.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. Marchant).
Mr. MARCHANT. Mr. Speaker, today, we are keeping our promise to the
American people and sending comprehensive tax reform to the President's
desk for the first time in 31 years.
Lowering the tax rates for middle-income families and providing a tax
cut for every income level in 2018 is a very historic Christmas present
delivered to my constituents in north Texas.
This year, our country has--after many long years of low growth--
begun to experience the level of growth and economy that it needs. This
tax cut bill will assure Americans years of sustained high growth and
new jobs.
Mr. Speaker, job creators and investors know that the Tax Cuts and
Jobs Act will create lasting economic growth and a booming economy for
everyone.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill and
deliver tax relief to the American people.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Crowley), the chairman of the Democratic Caucus, a good
friend, and a former member of the committee.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, the Republican bill is unaffordable, with a
$2.3 trillion price tag.
It is inequitable, costing working families more, while cutting taxes
by $200,000 for the top 0.1 percent.
It is a scam, and the American people know it.
Is this bill about helping people who are living paycheck to
paycheck?
Hell no.
Is this bill going to bring back jobs and lift up the middle class?
Hell no.
Is this bill going to make life better for cops, firefighters,
nurses, truck drivers, students, veterans, teachers, and shift workers?
Hell no.
Do you know who this bill is going to help?
Corporate special interests, the wealthiest Americans, and, yes, the
Trump family.
My colleagues, if it looks like a scam, quacks like a scam, it is a
scam.
Can you vote for this bill with a clear conscience?
Hell no, you can't.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are advised to observe proper
decorum in debate.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from New York (Mr. Reed).
Mr. REED. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding to me.
And to the colleague from New York, to all of the people you
referenced in the middle class, I say: Hell yes, they are going to be
helped by this bill.
And do you know what it is going to do? It is going to let them keep
the money in their pocket that they earned, the $1,600, for the average
resident in my district.
And what it is also going to do, Mr. Speaker, is it is going to
create jobs.
And what does a job do for a person?
I will tell you what it does. It not only puts money in their
pockets, Mr. Speaker, but we are going to have a new wave of optimism.
We are going to have a new wave of opportunity, where people will be
able to go to work, soil their hands, and earn their livelihood, which
gives them dignity, which gives them pride, and gives them honor.
This is a new day in America. And with tax reform and tax cuts
coming, I say to all of my colleagues: Join us to stand for those
hardworking Americans, give them their money, and allow us to give hope
and opportunity to all of them going forward.

{time} 1300

Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis), a very knowledgeable Member from the
city of Chicago and champion of all things Chicago.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, any way you cut it, with
this bill, the rich will get richer, the poor will get poorer, and
middle class families will get shafted. Thirteen million Americans will
lose their health coverage, and people with preexisting conditions can
forget it.
Then the writers of this bill will be coming after entitlement
programs, after Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, SSI. We are down
to the wire, and no matter what is said, this bill raises the debt,
raises taxes on middle-income families, and provides wealthy
individuals and corporations with big tax cuts they don't need.
It is a sad day for my district; it is a sad day for the State of
Illinois; it is a sad day for the United States of America; and I will
vote ``no.''
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from North Carolina (Mr. Holding).
Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be here today to support this
much-needed overhaul of our broken Tax Code. The status quo we have
seen over the past decade is unacceptable, and this bill will finally
provide much-needed relief to working families and put our economy back
on the path to stable and sustained growth.
This bill restores the global competitiveness of American businesses
by lowering the corporate rate and moving toward a territorial system.
Further, H.R. 1 provides our small businesses the lowest tax rate in a
generation, ensuring that these job creators are able to reinvest more
of their hard-earned money in our future.
Instead of handing over more of their money to the government, small
businesses can hire that extra employee, open that second location, or
buy that new piece of machinery or lab equipment that they need to take
them to the next level by putting in place a Tax Code that encourages
growth and rewards investment. It is projected there will be over
10,000 new full-time jobs created in my State of North Carolina.
I am proud to support this transformational bill that will bolster
growth and investment here at home, leveling the playing field for U.S.
businesses.
Further, I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to
ensure that Americans across the globe have a similar level playing
field through a system of residence-based taxation.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Higgins), a capable member of the Ways and Means Committee.
Mr. HIGGINS of New York. Mr. Speaker, the rich and wealthy corporate
winners of this Republican tax scam love company, and they just got the
company of 14 United States Senators who will personally benefit from a
new 20 percent deduction for wealthy

[[Page H10207]]

real estate investors with no employees to pass that benefit on to.
One Senator who voted against the bill, before he announced he was
voting for it, stands to gain $7 million annually and personally. The
Senator said he was unaware of the provision and that he did not read
the bill.
Mr. Speaker, the conference committee, the reconciliation process,
was to narrow the differences between these two bad bills, not add new
provisions that benefit rich Senators. This bad bill just took a
dramatic and potentially illegal turn that should be fully investigated
before a vote is taken today.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from California (Mr. McCarthy), the majority leader of the House.
Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I want to thank the
gentleman.
Today, we will take a vote that every Member on this floor will
remember. The country will remember. Then next year, when people check
their checks and realize they have more money, they are going to
remember who voted for status quo and who voted to make America's
comeback.
I want to thank the chairman, Kevin Brady, for that work.
Now, Mr. Speaker, a month ago, when the House passed an earlier
version of this bill, I said that, for all the jobless, for everyone
who hasn't gotten a raise in years, for the parents, for the small-
business owners, and for anyone who ever dreamed of being that
entrepreneur and a small-business owner, we heard you. This bill is the
start of their comeback, and when they win, well, that is the start of
America's comeback.
Our country has faced some tough times. I don't have to tell you
about that. And for too long, year after year, more and more Americans
gave up hope. They were out of work. Or maybe they had a job, but they
could not see past the next month or even the next week. They watched
factories and businesses close up shop and move out, even moving out of
the country.
Nobody wants to see their communities hollow out. Nobody wants to
feel like they live in a nation in decline. That is not who Americans
are. Frankly, Mr. Speaker, we are not a country that gives up on hope.
This legislation and the Republican Party's entire economic plan, they
are giving people hope.
You can see it in the stock market. For every American who vests
their retirement in a 401(k), 84 times it has set a new record since
last year's election alone.
You can see it in companies like Broadcom. You know, Broadcom was a
company created in America, but they are not domiciled here today. They
moved to Singapore simply over our Tax Code.
So for those who want the status quo and want to keep Broadcom in
another country, go ahead and vote ``no.'' For those who believe in the
hope of this country, even greater, looking at this bill, Broadcom said
they are coming back to America.
Mr. Speaker, you know what that means? $20 billion in revenue in just
a year. That means $3 billion every year invested in R&D; $6 billion
every year invested in manufacturing. Those are jobs we all dream
about, and the action of this bill is making it happen.
You can see it in the faces of families who learn that next year
thousands of dollars that they earn won't go straight to Washington; it
will actually stay right at home. And this is all in an environment of
disinformation and fear-mongering. I mean, I have seen what has been
said, and, to me, it is absurd.
Mr. Speaker, Leader Pelosi said that this bill was, and I quote,
``Armageddon'' and ``the end of the world.'' Now, Mr. Speaker, I
listened a great deal to what my counterpart on the other side, the
minority leader, has said, and I have read when The Washington Post
analyzed what she had said.
Now, when you say something that could be a little off and don't have
all the information, they have this rating for you. She has had a
rating on this. She did not get one Pinocchio. She did not even get
two. She didn't even get the extreme of three. She got the most
Pinocchios you can say when it is totally false, four, for her
conversation about this bill.
Mr. Speaker, in such times when the other side will say anything to
win their political game, I recommend that folks actually look at the
bill: doubling the standard deduction; lowering rates; simplifying the
Code so you don't spend weeks, you spend minutes; doubling the child
tax credit; ending the individual mandate; lowering taxes on small
businesses to the lowest it has been in 40 years; creating incentives
for business to invest and hire. That is not a recipe for Armageddon.
That is hope for a nation to come back.
The American people see through all this rhetoric, and they are going
to feel it next year when they check their paychecks and they see they
keep more money because of the vote today. They are going to feel it
next year and the years after and when they get that raise they have
been waiting for. They are going to feel it more and more as companies
announce coming back home. They are bringing jobs right back to the
USA. They are going to feel it when we start looking to the future not
with fear, but with hope.
I won't accept the status quo. But there will be some in this body
who will vote for the status quo. I won't accept failure.
Now, I do not believe anybody in this body was elected to preside
over America's decline. I recently was overseas, and I was sitting at a
dinner table with some elected leaders from other countries, some
Americans who were working in other countries, and I asked them: What
is the impression of what is happening in America today? I thought the
reports I would get would be a little different.
Do you know what they said to me? They said: America is back. You are
now tackling big items again. Not only are you going to lead your own
country, but you will help, again, lead the world. They were fearful of
the competition of rising America one more time.
So don't vote for the status quo. Vote for a tax cut. Vote for
reform. Don't vote because some leader whipped you and intimidated you.
Vote for your constituents. Vote for your country, and vote to raise
the paychecks of America.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, the stock market has been going up since March
of 2009, and we have had 88 straight months of economic growth.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms.
Sewell).
Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, the Republican majority is
ramming this tax bill through, calling it a Christmas gift to the
American people. I have never seen such intellectual dishonesty in my
life. It is more like the Grinch who stole Christmas.
In poll after poll and through elections in New Jersey, Virginia, and
my home State of Alabama, the American people continue to send a
message that they do not want this tax bill to move forward. But here
we are watching the fiscal hawks of the Republican Party blow through
every red light on the way off the cliff, adding $1.5 trillion to the
deficit.
What is the rush, I ask you. Last week, the American people in my
home State of Alabama spoke up and spoke out. We deserve to have our
duly elected Senator to vote on this bill.
What is the rush? Not one hearing, not one expert testifying, and no
regular order. I ask you, Mr. Speaker, what is the rush?
I believe the rush is because they know this is not tax reform. It is
a tax sham. The American people deserve better. My constituents from
Alabama deserve better. We should vote ``no'' on this tax bill.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Missouri (Mr. Smith), the secretary of the Republican Conference.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent the folks
of southeast Missouri. The district that I represent, the average
median income is right at $40,000. It is one of the lowest average
median incomes in the country.
I have asked my folks back home, just last week, if they support this
tax bill, and, in fact, 67 percent say they support the Trump tax bill.
Mr. Speaker, $40,000 back home is a salary. It is not a Christmas bonus
that people get in New York City or California. $40,000 is their
salary.
Mr. Speaker, let me give you some facts: Mr. Speaker, the first
$24,000

[[Page H10208]]

that people earn in southeast Missouri will be at a zero percent tax
rate. A family of four that makes $55,000 will pay zero in income tax.
When you look at a median average income in southeast Missouri being
$40,000, we are winners. What you are hearing on the other side is
complete, false, and absolute lies.
Mr. Speaker, I ask this body to support the conference committee.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Washington (Ms. DelBene), who is very successful.
Ms. DelBENE. Mr. Speaker, in this tax bill, Republicans have gifted
the wealthiest corporations and individuals with massive new tax cuts
and loopholes to take advantage of. But when I go home to my district,
there isn't a mother working two jobs to put food on the table or a
farmer struggling through a bad year or a senior trying to pay for a
prescription who has ever told me that tax reform means corporate cuts
on the backs of them and their families.

{time} 1315

They know Republicans always promise that the benefits will trickle
down to working people, but they never do and they never will. What is
worse, Republicans have made it clear that cuts to Social Security,
Medicare, and Medicaid are next.
This bill takes care of corporate special interests, the wealthy, and
the well connected, while putting middle class Americans' finances and
healthcare on the chopping block.
We need tax reform that helps middle class families. This bill does
the exact opposite. I urge my colleagues to oppose it.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman
from Indiana (Mrs. Walorski).
Mrs. WALORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support today of H.R. 1,
the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
If you believe the rhetoric you hear, you may think this bill means
the world is ending. I guarantee you, it is not.
The truth is this tax cut bill means a brighter future for the
hardworking people and hardworking Americans who will have more money
in their pockets and a better shot at the American Dream.
Here are the facts: we are cutting taxes for Americans at all income
levels. We are doubling the standard deduction. We are doubling the
child tax credit and preserving the adoption tax credit. We are keeping
deductions for charitable giving, mortgage interest, medical expenses,
and student loan interest. We are improving 529 education plans and
leaving retirement savings alone. People will be able to keep more of
their money they earn and spend less time filing their taxes.
Mr. Speaker, this isn't just a good bill, this is a great bill. This
isn't the Apocalypse. It is a new day in America.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to make history and support this
momentous bill.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Judy Chu), the former revenue commissioner of the State
of California, who is going to tell us about the State and local tax
deduction ending.
Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, we were promised a middle
class tax cut. This is not it. What we have instead are tax cuts for
the wealthiest paid for by the rest.
So what happened?
Maybe Trump thinks multimillionaires are the middle class or maybe
this all is just a tax scam.
To see how working families will pay for corporate interest, all you
have to do is read the bill, which is hard to do, because it was
written overnight behind closed doors.
Tax cuts: they reduce the tax rate for the wealthiest from 39.6
percent to 37 percent.
State and local taxes: they cap the deduction to just $10,000. But in
my State of California, the average deduction is $18,500, meaning
families will be forced to pay taxes now on twice their income in order
to give a staggering tax break to corporations.
So hear this: 83 percent of the benefits of this bill goes to the top
1 percent.
Who gets cut?
Seniors, families, children.
Is this the right thing to do?
The answer is a resounding no.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Michigan (Mr. Bishop).
Mr. BISHOP of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Tax
Cuts and Jobs Act today.
At its core, reforming our Nation's Tax Code is about how we, the
policymakers, view the role of government in our economy and society.
Over the past 10 years, the American people have seen a stagnant
economy and a steady decline in labor force participation. Meanwhile,
the government has grown to an unprecedented level, the economy has
slowed, and our debt has nearly tripled. All the while, government has
given away sweetheart deals to select companies, leaving Main Street
job providers to hold the bag.
But all of that ends today. Today we reduce the burden on job
creators and families. Today we create an environment that will
generate real economic growth.
The conference committee report before us today is about our
constituents, about allowing our constituents and neighbors to keep
more of their hard-earned money. For starters, we double the standard
deduction, which means for joint filers, the first $24,000 of their
income is free from Federal income tax liability. That is real money
back in the pockets of working class families across America.
The plan expands the child tax credit to $2,000 per child to help
families with the cost of raising children. For students struggling
with debt, the bill preserves the student loan interest deduction and
graduate students will continue to receive tuition tax waivers tax
free.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from New
York (Ms. Velazquez), who will tell us about the great harm that this
does to New York and to the island of Puerto Rico.
Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, after Hurricane Maria, Members of
Congress on both sides of the aisle, including the Republican
leadership, went to Puerto Rico. They looked the Puerto Rican people in
the eye and promised to help.
This bill betrays that promise. It treats Puerto Rico as a foreign
jurisdiction, levying new taxes on companies operating there, creating
incentives for them to leave the island. All told, these provisions
will cost Puerto Rico more than 200,000 jobs.
That is how they help Puerto Rico?
This bill is morally bankrupt. It harms American citizens everywhere,
especially the 3.5 American citizens in Puerto Rico. Vote ``no.''
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Arizona (Mr. Schweikert).
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I am going to give everyone a slightly different view.

There was an interesting editorial this weekend in The Wall Street
Journal, and it basically said: Hey, those on the left look at income
inequality. Those on the right, we look at economic expansion, economic
growth.
They are both honorable, but if you actually look at the data of the
last 10 years and our own CBO projections of the next 10 years, 1.8
percent GDP, we are in incredible trouble, because you actually look at
what happens when you have this flatlined economic expansion and
growth, and income inequality gets dramatically worse. You look at the
charts when we have had times of economic growth, it closes and
everyone gets a better chance.
If you actually do care about the promises we as a government have
made to retirees, working people, veterans, young people, we will not
have the resources if we continue for the next 30 years, as our own CBO
says, of 1.8 percent growth. Status quo is devastating.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South
Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), the assistant Democratic leader.
Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the Ryan-McConnell tax
scam bill. This bill should be named the ``Republican Donor Class
Relief Act'' because that is what it is, and several of my Republican
colleagues and many in the media have admitted as much.
This tax scam represents a grotesque set of priorities revealing deep
depravity of American values. One of the first

[[Page H10209]]

principles of our Judeo-Christian value system is grounded in what we
do ``for the least of these.''
From the outset, this bill violates that principle by lowering the
marginal tax rates on the wealthiest among us by 2.6 points, while
raising those rates on the least among us by 2 points.
This tax scam bill adds insult to that injurious act by doubling the
estate tax exemption from $11 million to $22 million.
The Republicans add further insult to injury by lowering the tax
rates for corporations by 14 points while raising tax rates on 86
million middle-income families. It makes the tax cuts for corporations
permanent and the miniscule individual cuts temporary, while also
kicking 13 million people off their health insurance and increasing
premiums for millions more.
The tax scam caps deductions for State and local taxes and home
mortgages and adds over $2 trillion to the deficit. Our children and
grandchildren will be left with the bill.
Mr. Speaker, history will not treat kindly the crass cruelty of this
so-called Christmas gift for hardworking Americans.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus).
Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Tax Cuts and Jobs
Act.
Today we move away from a trickle-down government redistribution
economy to one that is bottom up, organic, and growing. While the
trickle-down government of the last 8 years was great for Washington
and the 1 percent, it did little for the rest of the country.
Today we turn the tide and put money back in the pockets of
hardworking taxpayers and Main Street businesses. This bill gives
immediate relief to moderate income and middle class families.
A single mom earning $41,000 with one kid will see a tax cut of
$1,300, while a family of four making $73,000 will get more than $2,000
back.
The questions are: Will we vote together and put this money back into
the pockets of hardworking Americans? Or will we keep that money here
in wealthy Washington, D.C.? Will we vote together to level the global
playing field for America's businesses and end the unfair status quo
that sends American companies and jobs overseas?
It is an easy choice, Mr. Speaker: vote ``yes'' on this bill and
let's make America prosperous again.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Pelosi), the Democratic leader.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and I
salute him for his extraordinary leadership and being a champion for
America's working families. I commend him and the Democratic members of
the House Ways and Means Committee for putting forth the facts on what
is in this bill.
Mr. Speaker, today we choose what kind of country America will be:
one that champions the ladders of opportunity for all or one that
reinforces the power of the wealthiest and well connected.
Outside the Congress, the American people have already made their
decision. Polling shows that Americans oppose the GOP tax scam by a
margin of 2 to 1. Hardworking families see right through the brazen con
job Republicans are trying to sell them.
So why aren't our Republican colleagues standing with their
constituents? Why aren't they joining us on insisting on A Better Deal
for American families? Why aren't they joining us in demanding that we
write real bipartisan tax reform that puts the middle class first?
Because helping the middle class has never been their goal.
From day one, the donors, lobbyists, and the wealthy and well
connected came first. The Frankenstein monster of giveaways and special
interest loopholes we are voting on today proves it, and this monster
will come back to haunt them, as Frankenstein did.
Republicans claim that their bill is a middle class tax cut. The fact
is, according to the Tax Policy Center, their bill raises taxes on 86
million middle class households.
When The Washington Post asked Edward Kleinbard, former chief of
staff for the Joint Committee on Taxation, if the tax package in
aggregate would mean a middle class tax cut, he said: ``That is
delusional or dishonest to say. It is factually untrue. The only group
you can point to that wins year after year and wins in very large
magnitude is the very highest incomes.''

That is from the Joint Committee on Taxation former chief of staff.
The only greater delusion in this bill is the ludicrous Republican
insistence, their claim that these giveaways to the wealthiest will pay
for themselves.
Bruce Bartlett is the architect of Jack Kemp's supply-side economics.
As Bruce Bartlett has testified in our hearing and in public, when it
comes to tax breaks for the wealthy paying for themselves, he said:

It is not true. It is nonsense. It is BS.

He said the whole words.
In a few minutes, Republicans will vote to explode catastrophically
our national debt at minimum of $1.5 trillion, likely $2.2 trillion or
more.
Where are the vaunted Republican deficit hawks? Are they endangered?
Are they extinct? Do they care about the deficit when we pass giveaways
for the rich and big corporations?
They don't care about deficits, then. Tax breaks for the rich,
corporate tax breaks: they don't care about the deficit.
Do Republicans only care about the deficit when the issue is helping
children, seniors, our veterans, who are a large part of hardworking
Americans?
My colleagues, my fellow Americans, remember this vote. Remember the
vote, when they will cheer at the end of this vote, they will stand up
and cheer, adding trillions to the national debt in order to give tax
breaks to the wealthiest 1 percent and to big corporations. They will
cheer that.
They will cheer when they say we can't afford to protect the health
of our innocent children. They will cheer that.
Remember, they will cheer when they tell you we can't afford the next
step, we can't afford Medicaid, Medicare, and a dignified retirement
our seniors spent a lifetime earning. That is an applause line for
them.
Remember this day when Republicans cheer for a bill that hands a
$4,000 child tax credit to families of four earning $400,000 a year. If
you earn $400,000 a year, you get $4,000 in a child tax credit.

{time} 1330

But if you are poor, a single mom, a mother of two earning only
$14,500, guess how much you get?
Seventy-five dollars. Seventy-five dollars.
Today we gather on this floor in the midst of a holy season. In this
season, we celebrate the miraculous blessings of God. We reflect on the
wondrous joy of children and our responsibility to them.
We remember our duty to live justly. For those of us blessed to serve
in this Congress, we must remember our special responsibility to govern
fairly, to meet the needs of all of God's children.
In this holy time, the moral obscenity and unrepentant greed of the
GOP tax scam stands out even more clearly.
As the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said early on, ``. . .
this proposal appears to be the first Federal income tax modification
in American history that will raise income taxes on the working poor
while simultaneously providing a large tax cut to the wealthy. This is
simply unconscionable.''
They will be cheering it. Unconscionable. Remember what the Bishops
said.
Now, here, get back to the Republicans. This is in sharp contrast to
the words of Senator Hatch. Now, he is the chairman of the Finance
Committee in the United States Senate and an author of this bill. He
said: ``I have a rough time wanting to spend billions and billions and
trillions of dollars to help people who won't help themselves, won't
lift a finger, and expect the Federal Government to do everything.''
How about that?
Tell that to the moms we just saw speaking out with their children,
children with disabilities, who wonder how this could be so cruel.
This is an act of misery, but not according to Senator Hatch. And
that is in terms of getting back to our Bishops. In his encyclical, God
is Love. And I have said this to my colleagues before, but with,
obviously, no effect on the Republican side.
Pope Benedict quoted the urgent moral wisdom of St. Augustine 17
centuries ago, my colleagues. Seventeen

[[Page H10210]]

centuries ago, St. Augustine said: ``A State which is not governed
according to justice is just a bunch of thieves.''
Pope Benedict went on to say: ``The State must inevitably face the
question of how justice can be achieved here and now.''
In his words, he cautioned against ``the danger of certain ethical
blindness caused by the dazzling effect of power and special
interests.''
Mr. Speaker, is there justice in a bill that rewards corporations
shipping jobs overseas? Jobs of hardworking American men and women and
veterans, shipping those jobs overseas? Is there justice in that?
No, I don't think so.
Is there justice in a bill that spikes healthcare premiums and may
add 13 million Americans to the ranks of the uninsured?
No justice there.
Is there justice in a bill that raises taxes on 86 million middle
class families?
Here we are. Raises taxes on 86 million middle class families, and
they try to present the delusion that it is a middle class tax cut.
Is there justice in a bill that hands a breathtaking 83 percent of
its benefits to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans? Eighty-three
percent of its benefits to the top 1 percent?
Is there justice in a bill that explodes the national debt to give
the wealthy and the well connected a break and sticks the debt with our
children? Is that justice?
I didn't think you thought so. I wish our Republican colleagues would
join us.
This GOP tax scam is simply theft, monumental, brazen theft from the
American middle class and from every person who aspires to reach it.
The GOP tax scam is not a voice for an investment in growth or jobs. It
is a vote to install a permanent plutocracy in our Nation. They will be
cheering that later.
It does violence to the vision of our Founders. It disrespects the
sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, who are a large part of our
middle class, and to whom we owe a future worthy of their sacrifice. It
betrays the future and betrays the aspirations of our children.
It morally demands a ``no'' vote from every Member of this House of
the people.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from California (Mr. McClintock).
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I opposed the original House bill
because it severely limited or abolished broad-based deductions,
resulting in higher taxes for many families in high-tax, high-cost
States like California.
Thanks to Chairman Brady's leadership, this bill has largely
addressed these objections and, in combination with much lower rates,
it assures that nearly every California taxpayer will pay lower taxes.
More important still is the higher wages and better jobs it means for
all Americans.
Last Friday, I toured a local company that makes the active
ingredient for certain drugs, yet the actual medicine is not produced
here. It is produced in Ireland.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair has detected a disturbance in the
gallery in contravention of the law and against the rules of the House.
The Sergeant at Arms will identify the person or persons responsible
and have them escorted from the House Chamber.
The gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) is recognized for his
remaining 20 seconds.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I was saying that the actual medicine,
the ingredient is produced here, but the actual medicine is produced in
Ireland, solely because of our uncompetitive corporate tax.
Because of this tax reform, the company plans to grow dramatically
here at home, employing hundreds of new workers. That is what the
Democrats mean by tax breaks for the wealthy.
The proof of these policies will come over the next year, and every
American will be able to decide for themselves if they are better off
because of it. I am now highly confident their answer is going to be a
resounding ``yes.''
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire as to how much time is
remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts has 4\3/4\
minutes remaining.
Mr. NEAL. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 4 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, there is only one fundamental question today: Who gets
to decide? When Americans work hard for their money, who gets to decide
what you do with it? Is it you? Or is it some nameless, faceless
government worker here in Washington?
When a family with young children is working feverishly to fund their
kids' future, who gets to decide how they spend their money: them or
Washington?
The single mom fighting every day trying to get by and give a good
life to her daughter, who decrees where her money goes?
When a Main Street businessowner works late into the night and
through the weekend, risking every penny they own to reach their dream,
who gets that meager profit each day? Does it go to you, who earned it,
exhausted at the end of a long day? Or is it grabbed by a Federal
Government who doesn't even know your name except on April 15?
Our communities have watched their companies, jobs, and futures move
overseas for too long. Our local businesses have been fighting other
countries with one hand tied behind their back from an old, outdated
Tax Code. They deserve a new Tax Code that allows them to compete and
win anywhere in the world, especially here at home.
When they compete and win, who decides where that money goes?
Today, Washington says spend it overseas. Our new Tax Code says bring
it home, spend it here in America to grow our jobs, our paychecks, our
communities. That is why this moment is so important.
Opponents of this tax bill don't really worry about tax cuts for the
rich. They worry about tax cuts for you because if you spend your
money, they can't. If you have the first claim over your earnings, they
no longer do. And if your dreams come before theirs, everything in
Washington changes, everything.
Given a choice between the Federal Government and you, we choose you,
the hardworking American taxpayers. We choose you, the only special
interest that truly matters.
Americans deserve a Tax Code for a new era of American prosperity. We
deliver on that promise because it is your money.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their
remarks to the Chair.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
So, in 1 month, we have taken the entire revenue system of the
country without one public hearing, without any witness testimony,
without the solicitation of one expert. ``We,'' meaning the Republican
majority. They have decided to go forward with this reckless plan.

Contrast this with Reagan and O'Neill and Rostenkowski and Packwood
in 1986.
When Gephardt and Bradley first offered their bill in 1982 on tax
reform, 4 years ensued before the measure came to the floor for
passage, and, in that time, 450 witnesses offered testimony. Every
expert from every nook and cranny in America was invited to offer their
vision of what a better tax system might look like. And those
individuals--and I knew them all because I went to the committee when
Mr. Rostenkowski was the chairman--saw that as the fabled achievement
of their time in a bipartisan manner.
Do you know what else?
Secretary Reagan and Chief of Staff Jim Baker sat through the markups
on that tax reform measure.
Now, Secretary Mnuchin, instead, has said, nobody at the top will get
a tax cut. And then they cut the rate from 39.6 at the top to 37. Well,
nobody at the top will get a tax cut.
We are going to double the exemption on this estate tax so that you
might now keep $22 million rather than $11 million, without any
formalization of taxation.
My friend, Mr. Brady--and he is my friend--he spoke before about the
people's money.

[[Page H10211]]

Well, you know what the people's responsibility is?
A million new veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. That is the
people's responsibility.
When we talk about responsibility and the people's money, Medicare is
the people's responsibility. Social Security is the people's
responsibility.
As we celebrate the extension of life expectancy in America, Medicaid
today now cares for people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. That
is the people's responsibility.
They have carefully taken theology and wed it to science fiction.
Remember what we heard around here all these years?
Don't worry, tax cuts pay for themselves. That was the offering in
2001, $1.3 trillion worth of tax cuts.
Well, we get to 2003, another $1 trillion worth of tax cuts. By the
way, there was time in between for a repatriation holiday, at 5\1/4\,
all advertised on the basis of job creation, and layoffs ensued almost
the next day.

{time} 1345

This money is going to be used for stock buybacks and dividends.
There will be little investment in this lost opportunity where we
should have invested in community colleges and vocational education and
apprenticeship programs.
Six million jobs in America go unanswered every single day because of
a skills alignment problem and also the horror of what opiate addiction
has done across the United States. It has sidelined 2 million people.
What they are telling us today is the following: We have got tax
simplification. What happened to the postcard? As I said earlier, we
are going to have to carry around a billboard for tax simplification to
figure out what is in it. They keep talking about phase-ins and
phaseouts. I am telling you, we will all be passed out by the time they
get done with this. This is more complexity.
And wait until people have a chance over the next few weeks to sort
through what is in this bill. But here is something you might give some
thought to: the bottom quintile, you are going to get $60 a year. The
second quintile, you are going to get $380 a year. The top 1 percent,
they are going to get $51,000 a year. The top 0.1 percent, they are
going to get $193,000 a year, all in the name of middle class tax
relief.
As we proceed to the holiday, they are telling us this is their
Christmas present. And you know what they are doing with it? It is
going to be Christmas hangover debt, and they are putting it on the
credit card and adding $2.3 trillion to the Federal debt.
Merry Christmas.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan), who has devoted his life to this moment and
tax reform, our Speaker of the House.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman
yielding time to me.
First, I want to start off by thanking all of the members and the
staff of the Ways and Means Committee for all of their hard work in
putting this bill together. I want to thank them for this.
I want to personally thank one of my predecessors from the Ways and
Means Committee, who helped lay the foundation to get us where we are
today, and that is Dave Camp. Dave Camp did a lot to help us get to
where we are.
I want to, most of all, commend and express my profound admiration to
the architect of this measure, Chairman Kevin Brady.
His endless patience and his persistence and his great demeanor have
seen this through and gotten us to where we are today.
My colleagues, this is a day I have been looking forward to for a
long time. We are about to achieve some really big things, things that
the cynics have scoffed at for years, decades even; ideas that have
been worked on for so long to help hardworking Americans who have been
left behind for too long.
Today--today--we are giving the people of this country their money
back. This is their money, after all.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair notes a disturbance in the gallery
in contravention of the law and against the rules of the House.
The Sergeant at Arms will identify the person or persons responsible
and have them escorted from the House Chamber before proceedings will
resume.
The Chair will also remind all persons in the gallery that they are
here as guests of the House and that any manifestation of approval or
disapproval of the proceedings in the House are in violation of the
rules of the House.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin, the Speaker of the
House.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I would simply like to remind my
colleagues and the Speaker that my minute can last for as long as I
want it to last.
Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, today we are giving the people their
money back. The bottom line here is the typical family making the
median income in America will get a $2,059 tax cut next year alone.
What this is is real relief for families who are living paycheck to
paycheck, struggling to make ends meet.
They hear about the economy getting better. They turn on the TV, and
they see the stock market going up, but now we need to make sure that
these people in our communities and our country, who are struggling,
see their own personal economy getting better, and that is what this is
all about.
We have got to understand that times are tough for a lot of people in
this country right now. Today, this is about how much better things can
be. This is about more jobs, fair taxes. It is about bigger paychecks.
It is about faster growth and upward mobility. It is about a strong
economy that makes all of us stronger and healthier. Those are the
effects, those are the benefits, of tax reform.

Here is the heart of it, and here is why this is so vital that we do
this. Here is what it speaks to and what I truly believe is a
generational defining moment for this Nation.
Our Tax Code is so broken that it undermines the very thing that
makes our Nation exceptional in the first place. It punishes hard work.
It discourages our entrepreneurial spirit. It dims freedom and free
enterprise. It limits the potential of our own people.
When Americans see good jobs going away, when Americans wake up and
they see the companies that they grew up with in their communities
going away, they wonder if we have lost something bigger.
The mission that drives us here today is to restore this beautiful
American idea. What is that idea? That the condition of your birth does
not determine the outcome of your life. You can work hard, play by the
rules, get ahead, and make a better life for yourselves and an even
better one for your kids.
It is that sense of possibility. We want people to be free to strive
to make the most of their lives. We want a country with the resilience
to endure and tackle all of its challenges.
Mr. Speaker, economic growth and job creation will not solve all of
our problems, but it will help make all of our problems much easier to
solve. This is the direction that we are choosing here today because we
know exactly where the status quo leads us.
For years, the powers that be have blocked and stonewalled reform
under the umbrella of an arrogant, condescending, and paternalistic
ideology--an ideology that seeks to limit mobility, to limit
aspirations, to accept less in our lives. It is a view of the world
that sees life and the economy as a zero-sum game. Your gain comes at
my loss; therefore, we can't do it.
Look at where this got us: the worst recovery since World War II,
flat wages, and an economy just limping along. Stagnation is a breeding
ground for a class-based society where elites predetermine the outcome
of our lives. That is not the American idea.
They will tell you this: Just hand over more freedom to the unelected
bureaucrats, and they will figure it out, they know more, we will all
just be okay. Hand over more of your hard-earned dollars to the IRS,
and it will all be okay.
There is your scam right there. We know, given the opportunity, there
are no limits to what our people, our fellow citizens, our brothers and
sisters can

[[Page H10212]]

do. Yet for years now, this Tax Code has been skewed to the well
connected, full of special interest carve-outs and loopholes.
Meanwhile, the hardworking family in America has got to jump through
all the hoops that the IRS can muster. Reform means we bring rates down
at every level. We clear out these loopholes so that people can just
keep more of what they earn in the first place, because it is their
money in the first place. No special favors, just basic fairness.
Reform means simplification, too. Nearly 9 out of 10 Americans will
still be able to do their taxes on the form the size of a postcard.
That is amazing.
And given the opportunity, there are no limits to what our workers
and our entrepreneurs can do.
Yet while the world has changed, while the world has become more
competitive, closer, smaller, our Tax Code has not. Instead of leading,
we have been falling behind to the point where we now are the worst in
the industrialized world at how we tax our businesses.
We tax our businesses a whole lot more than our foreign competitors
tax theirs. They win; we lose. That is not fair.
It is basically open season for our competitors to come in and take
our jobs overseas under the current Tax Code. Reform means we go from
the back of the pack to the front of the pack.
Instead of the slow growth that we have been slogging through for
years, we want to get back to real sustained economic growth. We want
to build an opportunity economy where there is more demand for higher
paying jobs. That is the whole purpose of all of this. Make sure that
people can grow up and reach their potential. Make sure that the jobs
are there to give people the careers they want so they can reach their
potential, so their families can reach their potential. That is why we
are doing this.
This is, without question, the single most important thing we can do
to, once again, make America the best place to do business.
There is more than that in this bill. With this bill, were are
finally restoring the freedom to make our own healthcare choices. By
repealing the individual mandate at the heart of ObamaCare, we are
giving back the freedom and the flexibility to buy the healthcare that
is right for you and your family.
Finally, we are doing something truly to put America in the lead. We
are doing something historic to develop our own energy resources. Some
people have been working here since I was in the second grade on this
project. After decades and decades in this Chamber, we are opening up a
small, nonwilderness area of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge for
responsible development. It is the most ambitious step we have taken in
years to secure our own energy future.
This is one of those times to just take a step back. Let's just take
a minute, collect ourselves, and step away from the noise.
We talk a lot in this job about turning points. There is no doubt
that we are at one of those turning points right now. This one will
determine the kind of country we are going to have this century.
But too often, we have seen before how doubt creeps in, how the
tyranny of short-term thinking takes over, and history--history--fails
to turn.
There is, after all, a reason that this has not been done in 31
years. This really is a generational defining moment. And let's let
this generational defining moment be defined by optimism, not by fear;
by the rising aspirations of our people and not the doom and gloom of
managed decline that we have become too familiar with.
This is our chance. This is our moment. Let's turn at this turning
point. Let's reclaim the principles that have guided us for
generations. Let's recapture our destiny for generations to come so
this beautiful story of the American idea is repeated and repeated and
passed on to the next generation, a nation more united, more confident,
more prosperous, and, Mr. Speaker, more free. Pass this bill.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, let's pass this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Budget Committee, I
rise in strong and unyielding opposition to the Conference Report for
H.R. 1, the so-called ``Tax Cut and Jobs Act,'' which more accurately
should be called the ``Republican Tax Scam Act.''
With this Conference Report House and Senate Republicans have pulled
off a near-impossible feat: they have taken a bad bill and made it
worse, much worse.
I oppose this cruel and immoral $1.7 trillion tax giveaway to wealthy
corporations and the top one percent because it raises taxes on poor,
working, and middle class families; explodes the deficit by adding an
additional $2.2 trillion over ten years; and will require an estimated
$5.4 trillion cut in funding for the programs ordinary Americans depend
on for health security, educational opportunity, and economic progress.
Mr. Speaker, Americans are not fooled; they know trickle-down
economics has never worked, and they see right through this phony tax
plan and recognize it for the scam that it is.
That is why Americans reject this Republican tax giveaway by an
overwhelming 2:1 margin.
Here are just a few of the myriad reasons why this Republican Tax
Scam is by far the most unpopular tax measure ever considered by the
Congress:
1. Raises taxes on 86 million middle class families;
2. Gives 83 percent of the tax cuts to the wealthiest 1 percent and
explodes deficit by $1.7 trillion;
3. Gives new tax breaks to corporations shipping American jobs
overseas which will eliminate jobs and drive down American wages and
salaries.
4. The $1.5 trillion deficit that will be created by the GOP Tax Scam
will be used by the Republicans to justify devastating cuts in Medicare
and Medicaid.
This Republican tax plan is even more toxic to my constituents in the
Eighteenth Congressional District of Texas.
Mr. Speaker, as you may know, my constituents and others in Texas are
still struggling to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane
Harvey, the worst storm ever to make landfall in the continental United
States.
And by margins exceeding 90 percent, they reject:
1. Any cuts to Medicare or Medicaid to finance tax cuts for wealthy
corporations and the top 1 percent;
2. Eliminating the mortgage interest deduction;
3. Eliminating the deductibility of state and local taxes;
4. Eliminating existing deductions for student loan interest or
making taxable college endowment funds or college fellowships expenses.
Mr. Speaker, my constituents, and Americans across the country,
oppose this unfair Republican tax giveaway because nearly half of the
$1.7 trillion tax cut goes to just the top one percent.
In fact, the average annual tax cut for the top one-tenth of one
percent is $320,000; for the top one percent it is $62,000, and for
those earning $1 million a year it is $68,000.
Nearly 25 percent of the tax cut goes to households in just the top
one-tenth of one percent, who make at least $5 million a year (2027).
While super-wealthy corporations and individuals are reaping
windfalls, millions of middle-class and working families will see their
taxes go up:
1. 13 million households face a tax increase next year.
2. 45 million households face a tax increase in 2027.
3. 29 million households (21 percent) earning less than $100,000 a
year see a tax increase.
On average, families earning up to $86,000 annually would see a $794
increase in their tax liability, a significant burden on families
struggling to afford child care and balance their checkbook.
It is shocking, but not surprising, that under this Republican tax
scam, the total value of tax cuts for just the top one percent is more
than the entire tax cut for the lower 95 percent of earners.
Put another way, those earning more than $912,000 a year will get
more in tax cuts than 180 million households combined.
The core of this Republican tax scheme is a massive tax cut from 35
percent to 20 percent for corporations, but that is not the only way
that the wealthy are rewarded.
The massive tax cuts for corporations are permanent but temporary for
working and middle-class families.
Another immoral aspect of this terrible tax scam is that it abandons
families that face natural disasters or high medical costs by repealing
deductions for casualty losses and medical expenses.
Mr. Speaker, in what universe does it make any sense to eliminate, as
this bill would, a deduction for:

[[Page H10213]]

1. teachers who purchase supplies for their classroom;
2. moving expenses to take a new job and taxes employer-provided
moving expenses; or
3. dependent care assistance, making it harder for families to afford
day care, nursery school, or care for aging parents?
This Republican tax scam jeopardizes American innovation and
competitiveness by eliminating the deduction for student loan interest,
which affects 12 million borrowers, and cuts total education assistance
by more than $64 billion.
Under the extraordinary leadership of President Obama and the
determined efforts of ordinary Americans, we pulled our way out from
under the worst of the foreclosure crisis when the housing bubble burst
in 2007.
Inexplicably, Republicans are now championing a tax scheme that will
make the homes of average Americans less valuable because deductions
for mortgage interest and property taxes are much less valuable than
under current law.
A tax plan that reduces home values, as this one does, puts pressure
on states and towns to collect revenues they depend on to fund schools,
roads, and vital public resources.
Mr. Speaker, an estimated 2.8 million Texas households deduct state
and local taxes with an average deduction of $7,823 in 2015.
But this is not the end of the bad news that will be delivered were
this tax scam to become law, not by a long shot.
The proposed elimination of the personal exemption will harm millions
of Texans by taking away the $4,050 deduction for each taxpayer and
claimed dependent; in 2015, roughly 9.3 million dependent exemptions
were claimed in the Lone Star State.
Equally terrible is that this Republican tax scam drastically reduces
the Earned Income Tax Credit, which encourages work for 2.7 million
low-income individuals in Texas, helping them make ends meet with an
average credit of $2,689.
The EITC and the Child Tax Credit lift about 1.2 million Texans,
including 663,000 children, out of poverty each year.
So to achieve their goal of giving more and more to the haves and the
``have mores,'' our Republican friends are willing to betray seniors,
children, the most vulnerable and needy, and working and middle-class
families.
The $5.4 trillion cuts in program investments that will be required
to pay for this tax giveaway to wealthy corporations and individuals
will fall most heavily on low-income families, -students struggling to
afford college, seniors, and persons with disabilities.
America will not be made great by financing a $1.7 trillion tax cut
for the rich by stealing $1.8 trillion from Medicare and Medicaid,
abandoning seniors and families in need, depriving students of
realizing a dream to attend college without drowning in debt, or
disinvesting in the working families.
America will not be positioned to compete and win in the global,
interconnected, and digital economy by slashing funding for scientific
research, the arts and humanities, job retraining, and clean energy
just to pay for a tax cut to corporations and individuals who do not
even need it.
Mr. Speaker, the tax scheme presented here by Republicans is not a
plan but a scam that represents a betrayal of our values as a nation.
This tax scam is not a revenue policy adapted for the real world that
real Americans live in but a fantasy resting on the monstrous belief
that the wealthy have too little money and that poor, working, and
middle-class families have too much.
Our Republican friends continue to cling to the fantasy belief that
their tax cuts for the rich will pay for themselves despite all
precedent to the contrary and evidence that their tax scheme is
projected by experts to lose between $3 trillion and $7 trillion.
Mr. Speaker, in evaluating the merits of a taxing system, it is not
enough to subject it only to the test of fiscal responsibility.
To keep faith with the nation's past, to be fair to the nation's
present, and to safeguard the nation's future, the plan must also pass
a ``moral test.''
The Republican tax bill fails both of these standards.
I strongly oppose the Conference Report to H.R. 1, the ``Republican
Tax Scam Act,'' and urge all Members to join me in voting against this
reckless, cruel, and heartless proposal that will do nothing to improve
the lives or well-being of middle and working class families, and the
poor and vulnerable `caught in the tentacles of circumstance.'
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 667, the previous question is ordered on
the conference report.

Motion to Recommit

Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the conference
report?
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I certainly am.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to
recommit.
The Clerk read as follows:

Mr. Neal moves to recommit the conference report on the
bill H.R. 1 to the committee of conference with instructions
to the managers on the part of the House to disagree to
section 11042 and part VIII of subtitle A of title I of the
conference substitute recommended by such committee.

Mr. BRADY of Texas (during the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous
consent to dispense with the reading.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The motion is not debatable.
Without objection, the previous question is ordered on the motion to
recommit.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 and clause 9 of rule
XX, this 15-minute vote on the motion to recommit will be followed by
5-minute votes on:
Adoption of the conference report, if ordered; and
Suspending the rules and passing H.R. 4323.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 191,
nays 236, not voting 4, as follows:

[Roll No. 691]

YEAS--191

Adams
Aguilar
Barragan
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brady (PA)
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capuano
Carbajal
Cardenas
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Crist
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael F.
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Espaillat
Esty (CT)
Evans
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Gomez
Gonzalez (TX)
Gottheimer
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hanabusa
Hastings
Heck
Higgins (NY)
Himes
Hoyer
Huffman
Jackson Lee
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Khanna
Kihuen
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster (NH)
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham, M.
Lujan, Ben Ray
Lynch
Maloney, Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McCollum
McEachin
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Moulton
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Nolan
Norcross
O'Halleran
O'Rourke
Pallone
Panetta
Pascrell
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Rosen
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Soto
Speier
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tonko
Torres
Tsongas
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters, Maxine
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth

NAYS--236

[[Page H10214]]

Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Dunn
Emmer
Estes (KS)
Farenthold
Faso
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flores
Fortenberry
Foxx
Frelinghuysen
Gaetz
Gallagher
Garrett
Gianforte
Gibbs
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Griffith
Grothman
Guthrie
Handel
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice, Jody B.
Higgins (LA)
Hill
Holding
Hollingsworth
Hudson
Huizenga
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurd
Issa
Jenkins (KS)
Jenkins (WV)
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Katko
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger
Knight
Kustoff (TN)
Labrador
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Latta
Lewis (MN)
LoBiondo
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
MacArthur
Marchant
Marino
Marshall
Massie
Mast
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mitchell
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Newhouse
Noem
Norman
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Palmer
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Pittenger
Poe (TX)
Poliquin
Posey
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Rice (SC)
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney, Francis
Rooney, Thomas J.
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Rouzer
Royce (CA)
Russell
Rutherford
Sanford
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smucker
Stefanik
Stewart
Stivers
Taylor
Tenney
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IA)
Zeldin

NOT VOTING--4

Brat
Bridenstine
Kennedy
Pocan

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). The Chair notes a
disturbance in the gallery in contravention of the law and against the
rules of the House.
The Sergeant at Arms will remove the person or persons responsible
from the House gallery.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). There are 2 minutes
remaining.

{time} 1420

Messrs. STEWART and REICHERT changed their vote from ``yea'' to
``nay.''
So the motion to recommit was rejected.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the conference report.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. This is a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 227,
nays 203, not voting 2, as follows:

[Roll No. 692]

YEAS--227

Abraham
Aderholt
Allen
Amash
Amodei
Arrington
Babin
Bacon
Banks (IN)
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Bergman
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (MI)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blum
Bost
Brady (TX)
Brat
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Budd
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Cheney
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comer
Comstock
Conaway
Cook
Costello (PA)
Cramer
Crawford
Culberson
Curbelo (FL)
Curtis
Davidson
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Dunn
Emmer
Estes (KS)
Farenthold
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flores
Fortenberry
Foxx
Gaetz
Gallagher
Garrett
Gianforte
Gibbs
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Griffith
Grothman
Guthrie
Handel
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice, Jody B.
Higgins (LA)
Hill
Holding
Hollingsworth
Hudson
Huizenga
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurd
Jenkins (KS)
Jenkins (WV)
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Katko
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
Kinzinger
Knight
Kustoff (TN)
Labrador
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Latta
Lewis (MN)
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
MacArthur
Marchant
Marino
Marshall
Massie
Mast
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mitchell
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Newhouse
Noem
Norman
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Palmer
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Pittenger
Poe (TX)
Poliquin
Posey
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Rice (SC)
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rokita
Rooney, Francis
Rooney, Thomas J.
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Rouzer
Royce (CA)
Russell
Rutherford
Ryan (WI)
Sanford
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (TX)
Smucker
Stewart
Stivers
Taylor
Tenney
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IA)

NAYS--203

Adams
Aguilar
Barragan
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brady (PA)
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capuano
Carbajal
Cardenas
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Crist
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Donovan
Doyle, Michael F.
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Espaillat
Esty (CT)
Evans
Faso
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Frelinghuysen
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Gomez
Gonzalez (TX)
Gottheimer
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hanabusa
Hastings
Heck
Higgins (NY)
Himes
Hoyer
Huffman
Issa
Jackson Lee
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Khanna
Kihuen
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
King (NY)
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster (NH)
Lance
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham, M.
Lujan, Ben Ray
Lynch
Maloney, Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McCollum
McEachin
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Moulton
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Nolan
Norcross
O'Halleran
O'Rourke
Pallone
Panetta
Pascrell
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Rohrabacher
Rosen
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (NJ)
Smith (WA)
Soto
Speier
Stefanik
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tonko
Torres
Tsongas
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters, Maxine
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
Zeldin

NOT VOTING--2

Kennedy
Pocan

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). The Chair notes a
disturbance in the gallery in contravention of the law and against the
rules of the House.

[[Page H10215]]

The Sergeant at Arms will ensure that the person or persons
responsible are escorted from the gallery.

{time} 1427

So the conference report was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

____________________