[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 66 (Tuesday, April 24, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H3499-H3501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





               WELCOMING FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Francis Rooney of Florida). Under the 
Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2017, the gentleman from South 
Carolina (Mr. Wilson) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of 
the minority leader.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, as we begin this evening, 
I want to begin in my service as co-chair of the French Caucus to 
welcome Emmanuel Macron, President of France, to Washington.
  South Carolina is especially appreciative of France, with our shared 
heritage, particularly as we are very grateful for the Marquis de 
Lafayette, who was so vital in the American Revolution and who actually 
began his service landing in Georgetown, South Carolina.
  It is very significant. I have colleagues from South Carolina, North 
Carolina, and even Florida. We are very grateful to point out that, 
here in the House Chamber, is an indication of the affection the 
American people have for France.
  There are only two portraits here in the House Chamber: President 
George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. So it is quite 
revealing that, indeed, there is great love and affection for America's 
first ally, and how exciting it is that he has arrived here in 
Washington. We are looking forward to the joint session as he speaks to 
Congress and the American people tomorrow morning.


                               Tax Reform

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Last year, House Republicans made 
history by passing the first meaningful tax cuts in 32 years. The last 
time our Tax Code was updated, ``Top Gun'' was the top movie, ``The 
Oprah Winfrey Show'' first aired across the Nation, and the Dow Jones 
Industrial Average ended the year at 1,895.
  For context, today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is over 24,000 
points, which is an increase of nearly 8,000 points, which is a nearly 
20 percent increase since the day that President Donald Trump was 
elected. From that day, the stock market has had a remarkable increase 
because of faith in his business ability, his acumen, and, I believe, 
the success that Republicans would have to cut taxes, cut regulations, 
and create jobs.
  Despite how much our economy has changed, we were still operating on 
a tax structure designed in 1986. But last year, House and Senate 
Republicans came together, inspired by President Donald Trump, to make 
the Tax Code more fair, more simple, and less burdensome for the middle 
class, which then, of course, yields to the increase in the stock 
market, which benefits all Americans.

  I am grateful that families all across America today are already 
seeing the direct benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, with the 
leadership of our chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Kevin 
Brady; the extraordinary service of Speaker Paul Ryan; our leader, 
Kevin McCarthy; our Conference chair, Cathy McMorris Rodgers; and also 
our secretary of the Conference, Virginia Foxx of North Carolina.
  The jobs have been created in such a remarkable way that African-
American unemployment is at the lowest level since the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics started tracking it in 1972. Hispanic unemployment is the 
lowest it has ever been recorded. The level of unemployment for 
American women is at the lowest rate in over 20 years. It was reported 
today that 14 States also have record-low unemployment due to new jobs 
by reducing regulations and taxes, a positive agenda.
  We are here to highlight stories from across North Carolina and South 
Carolina of everyday families and small-business owners getting to keep 
more of their own hard-earned income.
  I will first yield to my good friend Congressman Ralph Norman, who 
represents the Fifth District of South Carolina. Congressman Norman was 
just elected in a special election last year, but already he has been 
here to make a difference on behalf of the people of South Carolina and 
the United States. With his background as a real estate developer, he 
and his wife, Elaine, have proven how to create jobs.
  Congressman Ralph Norman.
  Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to tell you that the Tax Cuts 
and Jobs Act is working. It is working in South Carolina's Fifth 
Congressional District, and it is working across the country. It is 
working for individuals and families who are seeing more money in their 
paychecks each month, and it is working for the companies that are 
investing the savings from tax reform into their employees.
  Over the past few weeks, I have spoken with and visited the 
businesses of South Carolina that are putting these savings right back 
into the local communities. Early this month, LPL Financial announced 
that they will be investing these savings into their employees by 
increasing its 401(k) match to 75 percent and reducing the time for new 
hires to qualify for this match by 6 months.
  As Congressman Wilson said, this personally touches 2,000 
constituents in the Fifth District of South Carolina. That is 2,000 
more families that now have a greater opportunity to save and see the 
light of a brighter future ahead.
  Mr. Speaker, just today, I visited a UPS store in Gaffney, South 
Carolina. Because of tax reform, UPS has announced over $12 billion in 
investments and an increase in pension funding.
  During my UPS visit, I put on a uniform and assisted a delivery 
driver during a ride-along. I heard directly from the hardworking 
employees about how this news will impact them and all of their loved 
ones.
  I don't think I speak just for myself when I say that we want jobs to 
come and stay in America. We want businesses to expand and to hire 
people in our communities. By reducing tax rates and simplifying the 
Tax Code, we are allowing companies to make these investments in their 
employees, in their communities, and in growing their businesses.
  I look forward to continued opportunities to learn, see, and talk 
about the success of this tax reform. We promised fairer taxes, higher 
wages, and more jobs. As Congressman Wilson says, we have delivered.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the 
gentleman for his citation about UPS. I have had the same honor to put 
on the brown uniform to deliver packages. I found out something: the 
UPS employees--also FedEx, DHL, and others--are remarkable people 
delivering American-made products to the American people. What 
wonderful companies these are, and what wonderful employees they are.
  Now I would like to go over some of the specific positive changes to 
our Tax Code that occurred under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
  An average middle class family in South Carolina will save $2,311 
thanks to the tax cuts.
  The child tax credit was doubled. I want to give a lot of credit 
because the reason it was doubled was the great work of our U.S. 
Senator Tim Scott, working with Ivanka Trump Kushner. This was their 
effort to work to make this child friendly, family friendly, looking 
out particularly for persons who are single-parent households. The 
child tax credit was doubled, from $1,000 to $2,000, making it easier 
for single mothers and new families to provide for their children.
  The bill also removed the mandate that required you to buy healthcare 
or pay a penalty. So now people aren't penalized by the government for 
not being able to afford healthcare and health insurance.

  The standard deduction doubled to $24,000 for married couples filing 
jointly. This makes it simpler for couples to file their taxes because 
they will use the standard deduction and won't have to itemize their 
return.
  Corporations that employ people create jobs. Their tax cuts dropped 
from 35 percent to 21 percent. Time and time again, I have heard from 
businessowners who plan to use their extra income to reinvest in the 
company, create jobs, provide bonuses, and raise wages. When taxes are 
low, businesses thrive and jobs are created in the Reagan tradition.
  I am grateful for the leadership of Speaker Paul Ryan, House Ways and 
Means Committee Chairman Brady, and I appreciate the opportunity of 
working with them, in addition to President Donald Trump, for 
delivering meaningful tax relief to the American people. They deserve 
it.

[[Page H3500]]

  Local success of the law was first heralded in the Second 
Congressional District of South Carolina, the central part of South 
Carolina, by Lou and Bill Kennedy of Nephron Pharmaceuticals in Cayce, 
announcing 125 new jobs and a 5 percent pay increase. They said that 
they made this decision as a direct result of the tax bill.
  In fact, I am really grateful that Lou put together a barbecue where 
I was present with Governor Henry McMaster and Attorney General Alan 
Wilson. She made the announcement right there at the barbecue to the 
extraordinary employees of Nephron Pharmaceuticals. They may have been 
the first; they were certainly not the last. I was so grateful.
  I was going through Walgreen's to pick up some pictures that I was 
having developed and I ran into Bill Mooneyhan. Bill is the president 
of the local Cayce-West Columbia Chamber of Commerce. He announced: 
Hey, Joe, because of the tax savings, our business, our auto repair 
shop, is going to add a new bay and create new jobs.
  I said: Hey, Bill, because you announced this to me, you have just 
volunteered for a press conference, which I am really grateful that we 
were able to have with the National Federation of Independent Business, 
NFIB, led by Ben Homeyer in South Carolina.

                              {time}  2015

  NFIB is the largest small business organization in America, and it is 
bottom's up. The leadership really follows the directions of their 
local members. So all of us truly appreciate NFIB.
  In February, I visited with Norman Dunagan, owner of Whiskey Alley 
restaurant and Dumpster Depot, which is a recycling facility in Aiken, 
South Carolina. I took this opportunity to congratulate him on his 
expansion resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He opened a third 
business last year due to the confidence in President Donald Trump and 
the House Republican leadership. All three of his small businesses are 
thriving and providing much-needed new jobs.
  That day I also met with Clancy Cipkala, president and CEO of Solara 
Hospitality of West Columbia. Solara Hospitality is providing bonuses 
for their hotel hourly associates due to the tax cuts passed by the 
Republicans. In Orangeburg, South Carolina, South State Bank provided a 
$1,000 bonus to their employees. In a rural area like Orangeburg, a 
$1,000 bonus can make a huge difference for families. It can provide an 
opportunity for families to buy extra school supplies, pay down debt, 
make an investment in the future, start or add to an emergency fund, or 
take a much-needed family vacation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished congressman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Pittenger), who represents the beautiful Ninth District 
of North Carolina, which includes substantially the extraordinary city 
of Charlotte, which is such a center for job creation of the Carolinas.
  Mr. PITTENGER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his leadership 
and for providing this opportunity tonight for us to highlight the 
significance and the importance of this tax bill for the American 
people.
  Mr. Speaker, when I lived in Washington, D.C., in 1980, it came out 
of the malaise of an economy that wasn't growing. No jobs, no 
opportunity. And Ronald Reagan had a vision for a different America, 
and I worked hard on his campaign. He changed the whole structure of 
our Tax Code and reduced the regulations that moved this economy 
forward. Unprecedented growth in jobs. Eighteen million jobs came out 
of that economy.
  And that is what this vision of President Trump and this Congress is 
about today. Who would have thought a year ago--just a year ago--that 
America would be experiencing what it is today: companies like Apple 
reinvesting $350 billion; ExxonMobil, $50 billion. You have 
unemployment that has plummeted to a 49-year low. U.S. manufacturing is 
expanding at the fastest rate in 14 years. Consumer confidence is at a 
17-year high. Wages are up. Opportunities are up.
  I had a gentleman come to me just this last week who owns two 
restaurants in Charlotte. He said: Thank you for your tax cut. I am now 
going to expand and build another restaurant out at the lake, and I can 
do that because I have got the capital to go reinvest.
  You know, we have constrained this economy and the American people by 
these burdensome tax rates that are not competitive. Companies have 
been going to the rest of the world--Ireland, U.K., Germany--and 
leaving America because we weren't competitive with our Tax Code. Now 
they are coming back. Now companies in America are expanding.
  You take just an individual. I had a lady at a gas station the other 
day. I was getting my gas, and she was pumping her gas. She looked at 
me, and she said: Are you Congressman Pittenger? I said: Yes, ma'am. 
She said: Thank you. I am a single mom. I have got that little baby in 
the back seat, and what you have done for me is give me another $150 a 
month, and I really can't tell you how much I appreciate what you are 
doing.
  Eighty-two percent of American people are going to get a pay raise. 
They are getting it right now. And that is the difference. The proof is 
in the paycheck. Americans know that. Regardless of what the left says, 
the media says, or anyone else, the reality is jobs are expanding, 
paychecks are going up, people are getting bonuses.
  In Charlotte alone, we have Bank of America giving out bonuses; we 
have Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, SteelFab, American Airlines, so many. 
Five hundred companies in this country have given out bonuses to their 
folks, and probably so many more we don't know about.
  So I want to commend Chairman Wilson for his leadership. I thank him 
for making sure that the American people know what is yet to come. We 
have just scratched the surface on the opportunity and the growth and 
the jobs that will be there for the American people.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
the points he makes of where people can look at their paycheck and see 
they are keeping more of their own money. This is not from the 
government. This is their own money. How important this is, and how it 
enables families to have a better life. And for the young people of our 
country, how positive this is. I thank the gentleman for reiterating 
that point.
  The Business Roundtable, an association of America's largest 
employers, is reporting that tax reform has already produced wage 
increases, bonuses, increased matches for retirement savings, lower 
prices for consumers, investment in facilities, and tens of thousands 
of new American jobs as a direct result of tax reform.
  As I indicated, we have the lowest unemployment among African 
Americans ever. We have the lowest unemployment among Hispanics since 
it has ever been determined. It is so exciting. Fourteen States have 
the lowest level of unemployment in recorded history. Among women, we 
have the lowest level of unemployment in 20 years. Everybody benefits 
from the tax cuts. This is so positive.
  The Business Roundtable members alone have provided over $545 million 
in bonuses to their employees, with bonuses, wage increases, and a 
range of other employee benefits to 1.6 million workers, along with 
$1.2 billion in charitable contributions. According to the Tax 
Foundation, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will significantly lower marginal 
tax rates and the cost of capital, which would lead to a 1.7 percent 
increase in the gross domestic product over the long term, 1.5 percent 
higher wages, and an additional 339,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

  They also say it will spur an additional $1 trillion in Federal 
revenue from economic growth, with approximately $600 billion coming 
from the bill's permanent provisions and approximately $400 billion 
from the bill's temporary provisions over the budget window.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the congresswoman from the Fifth District of 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx). Congresswoman Foxx is secretary of the 
Republican Conference, she is a remarkably determined former community 
college president, and she also is very much appreciated as the 
chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Then she is 
particularly fortunate; she lives and has a beautiful home in 
Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina, some of the most beautiful 
mountains in the world of western North Carolina.

[[Page H3501]]

  

  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Wilson for leading the 
Special Order on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. I will agree with him; the 
Lord has blessed me with living in one of the most beautiful places in 
the world, the Fifth District of North Carolina. I am very, very 
grateful for it.
  Last week, tax day was, for once, an occasion to celebrate because 
this was the last time Americans filed under the broken 32-year-old Tax 
Code. Next tax season, they will file under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 
passed by this Congress last December.
  Across the Fifth District of North Carolina, the Tax Cuts and Jobs 
Act has already relieved North Carolinians who are cashing bigger 
paychecks and benefiting from the country's lowest unemployment rate 
since 2000. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, North Carolina 
added 9,000 jobs this February alone. And thanks to lower rates for 
individuals and small businesses under the new code, North Carolinians 
are keeping more of their hard-earned money. And as Congressman Wilson 
points out, it is their money, not the government's money.
  This year, married couples in the Fifth District who take the new 
standard deduction could receive a tax cut to the tune of $1,834. For 
the over 52,000 taxpayers of the Fifth District who have small business 
income, these tax savings are not crumbs, as my colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle falsely assert. A restaurant owner in Mount Airy 
recently told me that allowing immediate capital expensing under the 
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act empowered her to purchase a new $20,000 piece of 
equipment for her business.
  You spoke of the Business Roundtable. The Business Roundtable reports 
that 68 percent of business leaders similarly expect their capital 
spending in the next 6 months to be at its highest in 15 years. This 
increased purchasing power for the backbone of our economy is evidence 
that progrowth tax cuts work.
  Continued growth is also expected by the Congressional Budget Office. 
The CBO estimates, for every one-tenth percent increase in GDP, nearly 
$270 billion is added to revenue over 10 years. After years of malaise 
under the Obama administration, even modest increases in GDP growth 
caused by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will substantially contribute to a 
leveling off of the deficit. And for the first time since 2008, the 
CBO's budget and economic outlook revised its upward economic potential 
for 2018. Under current conditions, it notes that 3.5 percent growth is 
possible.
  In further good news, Fifth District businesses share this optimism 
and are investing more in their employees and communities. Just last 
week, as part of its initiative to invest in community health with its 
tax savings, BlueCross and BlueShield of North Carolina gave $1 million 
to Winston-Salem State University's nursing school. North Carolina is 
projected to have the second largest nurse shortage in the Nation. This 
investment will develop the Fifth District's medical workforce and 
increase access to high-quality healthcare, especially in rural areas.
  This is just one of the many examples that illustrates how 
philanthropy has fostered and communities are developed when the 
government scales back.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that House Republicans kept our promise to 
bring about more jobs, fairer taxes, and bigger paychecks for 
hardworking Americans; but I am more proud of the hardworking men and 
women in the Fifth District who are seizing the opportunities unleashed 
by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to create wealth and serve their 
communities.
  Again, I thank Congressman Wilson for his leadership on this Special 
Order and for allowing us to correct the record that has been distorted 
about this bill and bring to the American people the facts about this 
wonderful Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman 
Virginia Foxx for her comments. And I thank her, as an educator, for 
educating the American people and bringing to the attention of the 
American people the real facts of the benefits of the tax cuts.
  Congress today appreciates that Americans should keep their hard-
earned tax dollars, and it is shocking to hear the other side of the 
aisle say that they would repeal the tax cuts if they get a majority in 
the House come November, resulting in tax increases on American 
families, destroying jobs. Sadly, I suspect a lot of families and 
businesses being highlighted today will be shocked--but maybe not so 
shocked--to hear that Democrats are campaigning on raising taxes, 
destroying jobs.
  I sincerely hope that Americans across the country know that 
Republicans will continue to do all that we can to our ability to 
increase take-home pay to families, reduce the tax burdens on seniors, 
and create more efficient and effective government that works for you 
and provides opportunities for the young people of America.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and 
extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of 
this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from South Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance 
of my time.

                          ____________________