[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 28, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1271-S1272]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Tax Reform

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I have been coming to the floor to talk 
about the many ways the tax relief law has helped people all across 
America.
  Last week, there were even more examples. One thing we saw was the 
``Economic Report of the President'' that came out last Wednesday. This 
is a report from the top economists at the White House. According to 
the report, the tax relief law that we have passed and signed into law 
is going to raise

[[Page S1272]]

the average wages for working families across this country by over 
$4,000 in the long run. That is a huge raise. This report said that 
more than 4 million workers are also getting one-time cash bonuses and 
other benefits. These one-time cash bonuses mean a great deal to 
American families. It says that so far, over $2 billion in cash bonuses 
have been given.
  Today in Wyoming, we heard another great report that Taco John's--an 
establishment at which I frequently ate lunch when I was in the Wyoming 
Legislature, as did so many members of the Wyoming Legislature. They 
are providing bonuses for employees. That is another case in point. The 
reason they say they are doing it is the tax relief tax cut benefits 
that people all across the country are receiving as a result of the tax 
law we passed.
  If you remember, a lot of Democrats predicted gloom and doom if we 
were to pass this piece of legislation. Nancy Pelosi actually said it 
was Armageddon. She said it was the end of the world. Well, with all of 
these workers getting bigger paychecks and more take-home pay, 
Democrats have now started to panic. Nancy Pelosi said all the benefits 
people are getting under the tax law are ``crumbs.'' That is what she 
called them, but that is not what people across the State of Wyoming 
are calling them.
  I received a note the other day from a man who said he heard all the 
rhetoric from Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats. He said: ``Here is what 
the crumbs mean to a fellow working in Casper, Wyoming.'' He said that 
the first thing he noticed was that his take-home pay was higher in his 
latest paycheck. He figures that the tax cut works out to about a 2-
percent raise for him. He and his wife decided to put that money 
straight into his retirement savings plan and invest it. He figures 
that over time, as those investments grow, it could add up to an extra 
$97,000 by the time he is ready to retire. He said: ``A few crumbs over 
time really do matter.''
  There was a second part of his story about what the Republican tax 
relief means for him and his family, and that is the bonus. Because of 
the tax cuts, his employer gave him a bonus of $1,500. He said: ``I 
plan to enjoy the summer just a little bit more with this surprise 
income.'' He said he is investing the tax cut in his retirement, and he 
is investing the bonus in creating additional memories with his family 
today. He said that it means they are going to take an extra camping 
trip to Yellowstone this summer. They will enjoy ``a few more cookouts 
with families and friends this summer to savor the memories that this 
tax reform is providing.''
  That is what it means for people across the country--memories, family 
activities, vacation, and a better retirement--all of those things 
because of the tax law and tax relief passed for the American people. 
They are going to do things they like doing, everything from going on 
vacation to going out for ice cream.
  Tax reform has been very good for people in Casper, WY. It is good 
for his family. He wrote to tell me about it. It is good for the local 
businesses that he will be supporting, where he will be spending his 
money, traveling around the State, going on vacation, camping trips, 
cookouts, and making memories. They are not crumbs.
  I don't know why Democrats who voted against the tax cuts even came 
to Washington in the first place. I do know that Republicans came here 
with a purpose--a purpose to give families more opportunities to invest 
in their futures like this man is doing.
  There was another new survey that came out last week. They talked 
with heads of companies across America, and they talked about the 
confidence index that we are seeing nationwide. That is because of the 
tax relief law. The survey found that 89 percent of these business 
leaders are confident in the U.S. economy's prospects this year. It is 
at an alltime high.
  Look at 2016--the last year of the Obama administration--and 2017 and 
2018. That is an enormous jump from the 39 percent that business 
leaders were feeling in terms of confidence back in 2016. It is even 
bigger than last year, when 80 percent said they were confident. The 
reason for the jump is simple. When we look at what has changed since 
2016, there were a couple of very big things.
  First is the way that Republicans have been cutting back on 
Washington's burdensome, punishing, and destructive regulations. It is 
going to save Americans a lot of money and a lot of time.
  The second thing that happened is that Republicans in Congress passed 
the tax relief law. That is why millions of Americans are getting a pay 
raise. That is why Americans are more confident about our economy. The 
business leaders are right. They should be confident about the state of 
America's economy because Republicans are just getting started.
  Our economy should have been growing much more quickly ever since the 
recession ended almost 9 years ago, but it didn't during the last 
administration because the politics and the policies of the Democrats 
in Washington held our economy back. Now we have Republican policies, 
and the economy is much stronger. America's economy grew by just 1.8 
percent in 2016. That is tepid growth compared to what we expect and 
what we are used to. Last year, it grew by 2.5 percent. We added 2.2 
million jobs in 2017. Confidence is soaring.
  Democrats don't want to hear about it. They don't want to talk about 
it. They don't want to hear from their constituents who are getting a 
raise and getting more money in their paychecks. They consider it 
crumbs. They almost appear to be rooting for the economy to stall. Some 
may want the economy to look more like it did when they were in charge.
  The American people are going to look at what the Democrats did and 
realize that what the Republicans did made a huge difference in their 
lives. People are going to look at the fact that every Democrat in the 
Senate voted against the tax cuts. Then people are going to look at 
what Republicans have done and what it means for people's take-home 
pay. That is why Republicans are here. It is what we promised to do. 
That is what we are going to continue to do.