[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 89 (Thursday, May 25, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2608-H2609]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          DEBT CEILING CRISIS

  (Ms. McCOLLUM asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I rise today to call attention to House 
Republicans' lack of good faith negotiations to avoid a devastating 
default on our Nation's debt.
  The Congressional Budget Office shows that extending the Trump tax 
cuts would add $3.5 trillion to the deficit. Yet, House Republican 
leaders have introduced legislation to make these tax cuts for the rich 
permanent and increase the Federal deficit, while at the same time they 
are holding our economy hostage by demanding disastrous funding cuts to 
air traffic and rail safety.
  As we approach Memorial Day, Republicans are breaking the promise to 
our veterans.
  President Biden already lowered the deficit by $1.7 trillion. His 
budget would cut the deficit by another $3 trillion by eliminating 
wasteful spending on Big Oil and Big Pharma, closing tax loopholes for 
corporations, and ensuring everyone pay their fair share.
  House Republicans created this crisis, and they can prevent this 
devastating default.
  Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record a 
report from the Senate Committee on the Budget.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer). Is there objection to 
the request of the gentlewoman from Minnesota?
  There was no objection.

        [From U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget, May 16, 2023]

   Extending Trump Tax Cuts Would Add $3.5 Trillion to the Deficit, 
                            According to CBO


   new report finds Republicans' giveaways to the wealthy and large 
  corporations are significantly more costly than previously estimated

       Washington, D.C.--According to a report released today by 
     the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), extending 
     the Trump tax cuts would add $3.5 trillion to the deficit 
     through 2033.
       Written at the urging of Senator Whitehouse (D-RI), 
     Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and Senator Wyden 
     (D-OR), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the new 
     report finds the Republicans' policy priority is a half a 
     trillion dollars more costly than previously estimated. House 
     Republicans' legislation to make permanent the Trump tax 
     cuts--and blow up the federal deficit--comes at the same time 
     they are holding the federal debt limit hostage to extract 
     disastrous spending cuts to programs and services like 
     veterans' support, opioid treatment, law enforcement, and 
     affordable energy.
       The new report comes the day before a Senate Budget 
     Committee hearing on how the Bush and Trump tax cuts for the 
     wealthy and corporations have driven recent and projected 
     federal deficits. They have been the largest driver of 
     deficits over the past two decades and account for 57 percent 
     of the increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio since 2001.
       MAGA Republicans don't give a d--- about the deficit, and 
     today's estimate of the cost of kickbacks for their friends 
     and donors is further proof,'' said Senator Whitehouse. 
     ``Republicans racked up the national debt by giving tax 
     breaks to their billionaire buddies, and now they want 
     everyone else to pay

[[Page H2609]]

     for them. It is one of life's great enigmas that Republicans 
     can keep a straight face while they simultaneously cite the 
     deficit to extort massive spending cuts to critical programs 
     and support a bill that would blow up deficits to extend 
     trillions in tax cuts for the people who need them the least.
       Three and a half trillion dollars is an eye-popping long-
     term price tag for the Trump tax law that Republicans swore 
     up and down would pay for itself,'' Wyden said. ``Republicans 
     who say they're worried about the deficit have brought our 
     economy on the brink of default, and yet they want to run up 
     the debt by locking in the Trump tax law that remains 
     horribly skewed toward corporations and the wealthy. The 
     Republican game plan is clear. For every penny they give in 
     tax handouts to the rich, down the road they're going to 
     demand equivalent cuts that boot people off their health 
     care, increase child hunger, and raise the cost of living for 
     typical Americans.
       According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 
     extending the Trump tax cuts would create a windfall for the 
     top 5 percent of income earners, who would receive nearly 40 
     percent of the benefits in the first year alone, making this 
     legislation one of the most regressive and expensive tax 
     giveaways in history. The average taxpayer in the top 1 
     percent would save nearly $26,000 in just that first year.
       CBO's previous cost estimate for extending the Trump tax 
     cuts was $3 trillion through 2032, but the 10-year budget 
     window now includes more years post-expiration. The new 
     estimate is part of a larger report analyzing alternative 
     assumptions about spending and revenues. It also includes a 
     projection that permanently extending the enhancements made 
     to the Affordable Care Act's premium tax credits--originally 
     enacted in 2021's American Rescue Plan Act and extended 
     through 2025 by 2022's Inflation Reduction Act--would cost 
     $300 billion, a fraction of the cost of extending the Trump 
     tax cuts.

     

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