[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 65 (Monday, April 23, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2334]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Tax Reform

  Mr. President, on another matter, in the last several weeks, we have 
focused on the contrast between the economic policies that my 
Democratic colleagues favor and the policies this Republican President 
and Republican Congress have put into effect.
  Under nearly a decade of Democratic leadership, the American people 
saw slow and insufficient growth. For most workers in most industries, 
significant wage growth was nearly nonexistent; new opportunities were 
few and far between; and the new prosperity that was created was spread 
unevenly across the country.
  Metropolitan areas with more than 1 million residents did OK under 
Democratic policies. Big cities captured nearly three-quarters of the 
limited job growth and more than 90 percent of population growth 
between 2010 and 2016. The rest of America fell further and further 
behind. Year after year, rural America, suburban America, smalltown 
America, and small cities across the country saw almost no progress. 
That is not a record to be proud of, and it is not one that Republicans 
would stand for. That is why we are implementing an inclusive 
opportunity agenda to get wages, opportunities, and prosperity growing 
again for all Americans.

  We have cut job-killing redtape and passed historic tax relief for 
middle-class families, workers, and job creators. It is delivering 
results for Americans whom the Obama economy left behind. I hear 
frequently from workers and small business owners in my State about how 
lifting these burdens is changing their lives.
  I recently heard from Senator Grassley about the good things tax 
reform is doing in the State of Iowa. In Cushing, IA--population 220--
the Anfinson Farm Store is using the new Tax Code to raise worker wages 
and give employees bonuses. Across the State, the 162 full-time 
manufacturing workers at Dyersville Die Cast are receiving their own 
tax reform bonuses. Iowa families will see lower heating and cooling 
bills, since tax reform is letting the State's utility companies 
deliver $147 million in consumer savings. Iowans should be proud that 
both of their U.S. Senators voted for the historic reform that made all 
of this possible.
  South of the border, in Missouri, it is a different story. There, 
too, tax reform is a big win for working families and small businesses. 
From big employers like Walmart to local businesses like Mid-Am Metal 
Forming, Missouri workers are reaping the benefits, but, unfortunately, 
only one of Missouri's Senators voted for it. The State's senior 
Senator voted on strict party lines to block these historic tax cuts 
from reaching workers and families.
  Maybe my Democratic colleagues still prefer the leftwing policy 
playbook that funnels jobs and prosperity into the biggest and richest 
cities but does very little for States like Missouri and Iowa. I am 
proud of Republicans who are taking things in a different direction, 
and all kinds of Americans are doing better because of it.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.