[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 66 (Tuesday, April 24, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2360]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               TAX REFORM

  Mr. McCONNELL. Now, Madam President, on one final matter, the passage 
of Republicans' historic tax reform last December was just the latest 
illustration of the diverging paths Republicans and Democrats envision 
for our economy.
  For the better part of the last decade, our Democratic colleagues' 
ideas ran their course. We were promised that they would help us 
recover from the financial crisis. But it wasn't a recovery for all 
Americans. In fact, the path put forward by our Democratic colleagues 
had two distinct lanes. The express lane was for major cities like New 
York and San Francisco. Urban areas with more than 1 million residents 
captured 90 percent of the Nation's population growth and nearly 75 
percent of new jobs created between 2010 and 2016. Seventy-five percent 
of new jobs created between 2010 and 2016 went to these large urban 
areas.
  Those select communities actually made up some ground, but working 
families and job creators in America's smaller cities, towns, and rural 
communities were stuck in the slow lane. There, job opportunities dried 
up as investment dollars hit the road. There, Americans learned what it 
feels like when Washington, DC, leaves you behind. But, fortunately, 
these communities are among the first to feel the benefits of the new 
Republican approach.
  The historic tax relief we passed last year cut taxes for American 
families and gave employers more flexibility to expand, hire, and give 
their workers bonuses, raises, and new benefits.
  As my colleague Senator Young reports, the results in Indiana are 
adding up. He heard from a Hoosier in Cedar Lake who is expanding his 
family milk-hauling business, and a Kokomo small business owner who is 
now hiring more workers. I recently read that over in Ellettsville, one 
family has found an additional $200 in their monthly paychecks--enough 
to cover a week's worth of groceries.
  I don't think my colleagues across the aisle intended to make life 
more difficult for middle-class families across the country. It is just 
that these leftwing policies make it harder, not easier, for American 
workers and job creators to actually get ahead. But when my Democratic 
friends had the chance to join us and deliver historic tax relief to 
American families, they stood firm and tried to block tax relief on a 
party-line basis. One of Indiana's own Senators tried to block all that 
good Indiana news from happening.
  I am proud that Republicans overcame that obstruction and got tax 
reform accomplished for all Americans.

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