[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 58 (Wednesday, April 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          REPUBLICAN TAX BILL

  Mr. SCHUMER. Thank you, Mr. President.
  Before I get to the substance of my remarks, I remind my dear friend 
the majority leader that the vast majority of the benefits of this tax 
break, this tax cut, went to the wealthiest of Americans and large 
corporations. What are they doing with the money? They are using most 
of it for buybacks. That was a buyback. They buy back their own stock. 
The CEO--already a rich guy--is making more money. The shareholders, 
one-third of whom are out of the country and most of whom are in the 
top 10 percent of America, make more money. The middle class and rural 
America particularly are left behind in this bill.
  We could have done a tax bill where the benefits went to the middle 
class--not just some--10, 20 percent--but all. So this bill is a bit of 
a fake. There are small benefits for the middle class, along with harm 
to their healthcare. The things put in this bill are going to raise 
many people's premiums far more than their small tax break.
  Let's be honest about this. This bill was done for the rich and the 
wealthy in power, and there were some benefits to the middle class, but 
it could have been so much better. Our Republican colleagues listened 
to the wealthy special interests, the large contributors, and that is 
how this bill came about.
  By the way, because it creates a deficit of $1.5 trillion--and I 
remind our leader that rural America really cares about deficits--there 
are a lot of Republicans, particularly the more conservative ones, who 
say: Now let's cut Medicare and Social Security. How is an elderly 
person in rural America going to feel about that?
  I would simply say that this bill was not the right remedy for 
America, which is owed a lot better.

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