[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 199 (Thursday, December 12, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S7003]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Tax Reform

  Madam President, now, on taxes, this month marks 2 years since 
President Trump and the congressional Republicans passed a trillion-
dollar tax cut for large corporations and the richest Americans. 
Republicans make many promises to sell this legislation as a boom for 
jobs and middle class. They were outlandish at the time, and now, 
recent history has proven them even crazier. Two years later, these 
phony promises have not come close to living up to their billing.
  President Trump promised the tax bill would benefit middle-class 
America, creating a $4,000 raise for every American family. No way. Ask 
the average American family. The rich Americans will say yes. The top 1 
percent will say yes, but, of course, they received a tax cut 64 times 
the size of the one given to the middle class. President Trump and 
Republicans promised the bill would prompt businesses to increase 
investments into their companies, leading to job growth and higher 
wages. This, too, has proved a fantasy. Less than 5 percent of all 
workers in America were ultimately promised pay increases or bonuses as 
a result of the tax cut.
  Out of 5.9 million employers, only 413 announced bonuses to workers 
or wage hikes. Do you want to know where the lion's share of that 
Republican tax cut went? Shareholders, not workers. In the 2 years 
since the tax bill, the annual total of corporate stock buybacks have 
shattered records over $1 trillion in 2018.
  It is impossible to look at the last 2 years with a straight face and 
say that the Republican tax cut was designed or is helping middle-class 
families. If anything, the Republican tax bill exacerbated the already 
staggering inequalities of work and wealth in our country. We need to 
start moving the needle in a completely opposite direction. Next year, 
voters will have a chance to make that happen by voting for a change in 
the Senate leadership.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.