[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 76 (Thursday, May 4, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1525-S1526]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Budget

  Mr. President, the budget President Biden released a few weeks ago 
is, perhaps, most notable for two things: the incredible levels of 
spending it proposes and its proposed $4.7 trillion in tax hikes.
  Again, in light of what I just mentioned with respect to the debt and 
the deficit, it seems ironic that you would put a budget on the table 
that would dramatically increase the amount of debt. At the end of the 
10-year period, the debt would be $50 trillion. It would increase $17 
trillion under the President's budget, but it also includes $4.7 
trillion in tax hikes on top of the hundreds of billions in tax hikes 
the Democrats passed last August as part of the Inflation Reduction 
Act.
  One thing that always strikes me when the President talks about tax 
hikes is how little his tax plans have to do with things like economic 
growth and prosperity.
  Taxes, of course, have a huge impact on our economy and our capacity 
for prosperity. I don't need to tell anyone that. The more in taxes 
that individuals and businesses pay to the government, the less money 
they have to save, spend, and grow.
  You would think that everyone would be able to agree that our tax 
system should promote both individual prosperity and economic growth. 
But, as I said, when you hear the President talk about taxes--
specifically about raising taxes, since that is mostly what the 
President talks about on the tax front--you don't usually hear him 
focusing on the ways in which his tax plans will help grow our economy. 
His interest in taxes is not in growing our economy; it is in financing 
the growth of government and furthering a highly partisan, progressive 
social agenda.
  President Biden and Democrats have big plans for expanding the 
Federal Government, and to do that, they need more taxpayer money. They 
regard tax policy not as a way to help secure economic prosperity but 
as a way to collect that money so they can follow through on their 
plans for new and ever-expanding government programs. They spend 
little, if any, time considering how their high-tax agenda might damage 
our economy or burden American families.
  I would say that is a striking contrast to how Republicans think 
about taxes. Republicans' primary interest when it comes to tax policy 
is not about how to bring in more money for the Federal Government; it 
is about how to help our economy grow to expand prosperity for all, 
which, in the end, always brings in more revenue for the government. 
When the economy is growing and expanding, people are paying more in 
taxes. We believe that tax policy should be pro-growth, pro-
opportunity, and pro-taxpayer.
  The historic reform of our Tax Code that we passed in 2017 is a 
perfect example of this. Prior to our 2017 legislation, the Tax Cuts 
and Jobs Act, our Tax Code was not working for taxpayers or for our 
economy. It was taking too much money from Americans' paychecks. It was 
making it difficult for businesses large and small to create jobs, 
increase wages, and to grow. It contained perverse incentives for 
companies to park profits abroad and avoid manufacturing things here in 
the United States.
  Republicans knew that if we wanted our country to thrive, our 
outdated Tax Code needed to change, so we set to work to reform our Tax 
Code to help grow our economy and allow Americans to keep more of their 
hard-earned money.
  We lowered tax rates across the board and simplified the Tax Code so 
that hard-working Americans would pay less in taxes and spend less time 
filing them every April.
  We lowered tax rates for owners of small and medium-sized businesses, 
farms, and ranches and made it easier for them to recover the cost of 
investing in their businesses, which in turn freed up cash for them to 
invest in their operations and in their workers--i.e., higher wages.
  We lowered our Nation's massive corporate tax rate, which prior to 
the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was the highest corporate tax rate in the 
developed world. We did that to make American businesses more 
competitive in the global economy and empower them to invest in wages 
and benefits for their workers. And it worked.
  We brought our international tax system into the 21st century so that 
American businesses would no longer be operating at a disadvantage next 
to their foreign counterparts. That also worked.
  In the wake of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, incomes grew. Unemployment 
fell to a 50-year--50-year--low. The poverty rate fell to its lowest 
level ever--ever--recorded in American history. Black Americans and 
Hispanic Americans saw record-low rates of poverty and record-high 
increases in income. The income gap narrowed. Business investment 
increased. Inversions--that is tax-speak for companies moving their 
headquarters overseas--stopped. And the list goes on. Companies created

[[Page S1526]]

new jobs. They invested in their employees, and they opened new 
opportunities for American workers by moving production and capital 
into the United States. Contrary to what some of my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle would have you believe, the Tax Cuts and Jobs 
Act also helped increase revenues to the Federal Government.
  In short, tax reform helped create an economic environment for 
American businesses and American taxpayers to prosper, with some of the 
biggest benefits going to lower and middle-income Americans.
  Our economy's rebound from COVID--and much of the strength it still 
has after 2 years of Democrat-fueled inflation--is in large part due to 
the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
  We are at an inflection point right now when it comes to tax policy 
and to our economy. Key parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are set to 
expire in the not too distant future, and certain provisions--
provisions that help boost American innovation and make it easier for 
small- and medium-sized businesses to thrive--have already expired.
  There are two ways we could go. We can either maintain and build on 
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act policies designed to help businesses grow and 
expand opportunities for American workers or we can move in the 
direction the President is moving, which is dismantling pro-growth 
provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and making tax hikes the focus, 
with the intent not of growing the economy but of growing the Federal 
Government.
  I, for one, believe we should be focusing on tax policies that help 
spur economic growth and help allow Americans to keep more of their 
hard-earned money. I intend to do everything I can to preserve the 
economic benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by working with my 
colleagues to expand and make permanent its policies.
  Even the President has grudgingly agreed that the lower rates for 
individuals making under $400,000 should be continued, and I hope he 
will work with Members of Congress to make that happen in the very near 
future. But we need to extend not just the lower individual rates that 
Republicans implemented but the other tax policies that helped American 
businesses grow, ensured more individuals can save for their 
retirement, and provided new opportunities for Americans to invest in 
their future.

  American workers don't just need reasonable tax rates; they also need 
a thriving economy, the kind of economy that produces good jobs and 
good wages and rewarding careers. That is the kind of economy the Tax 
Cuts and Jobs Act helped create, and that is the kind of economy we 
need to be fighting to create for the future.
  The massive tax hikes President Biden is proposing would tear down 
the tax structure the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created and drag our 
economy and the American taxpayers down with it.
  I will do everything I can to prevent the President's job-killing tax 
hikes from being implemented. We don't need a pro-government Tax Code; 
we need a pro-growth, pro-opportunity, and pro-taxpayer Tax Code. For 
the sake of all the South Dakota families and businesses I am lucky 
enough to have the opportunity to represent and all the hard-working 
families and businesses across our great country, that is the kind of 
Tax Code I will continue to fight for.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.


 Supporting Americans Wrongfully or Unlawfully Detained Abroad Act of 
                                  2023

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, from dark prison cells in Tehran to the 
FSB's prison in Moscow, autocrats and dictators are unjustly detaining 
innocent Americans as pawns to advance their geopolitical goals. So I 
come to the floor today, as families of these Americans have gathered 
in Washington, to shine a spotlight on the plight of their loved ones 
and to support passage of the Supporting Americans Wrongfully or 
Unlawfully Detained Abroad Act of 2023, which is a bipartisan effort I 
am leading with the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, 
Senator Risch, as well as Senators Shaheen and Hagerty.
  This bill would make a simple yet meaningful change to lessen the 
burden on these families as they work toward the release of their loved 
ones. It would allow the State Department to cover travel and lodging 
costs for families to advocate for their loved ones' release in 
Washington. It would also advance efforts to support the mental health 
and well-being of detainees and their families.
  It will eliminate a completely arbitrary distinction under U.S. law. 
Currently, if your loved one is being held hostage by a nonstate 
actor--for example, a terrorist group like ISIS or al-Qaida--the 
government pays the costs for limited family travel to Washington, but 
if your loved one is being unlawfully detained by a foreign 
government--Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and the like--there is no such 
funding available. This doesn't make any sense, and Senator Risch and I 
are trying to fix it on behalf of American families who find themselves 
in unbearably difficult and painful circumstances.
  This bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee. Let me repeat that--unanimously. It is not and should not be 
controversial. This is the least we can do for families who lie awake 
wondering if their son or daughter, sister or brother will return home, 
who wonder if there is something else, just one more thing they could 
do to make a difference that would break the deadlock of their loved 
one's captivity--maybe one more meeting with a U.S. Government official 
or a Member of Congress; maybe the right confluence of events to bring 
their child back home.
  So I ask this body to give these families just a little bit of peace 
as they navigate an unimaginable nightmare. Surely cutting a bit of 
redtape, getting them a train ticket or a plane ride to Washington once 
or twice a year, is not too much to ask.
  I am here to seek passage of this bill. I was going to seek a 
unanimous consent request. I understand that my colleague, the Senator 
from Kentucky, Senator Paul, has a fiscal issue. I just met with him. 
We look forward to hopefully working it out and then being able to 
return to the floor to seek its passage.
  Until then, I yield the floor.
  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. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I don't think I really need to do this 
with the length of my speech, but just in case it runs up against the 
vote, I ask unanimous consent to be able to finish my speech.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.