[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 25, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3523-S3524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         One Big Beautiful Bill

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, next year, if Congress fails to act, a 
typical family will face a $1,700 tax hike. A typical family in South 
Dakota will face a $2,500 tax hike. Republicans are determined to make 
sure that doesn't happen.
  Later this week, we will consider our reconciliation bill that will 
prevent that tax hike by extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. I 
say ``extend,'' but we are doing a lot more than just extending the 
2017 tax cuts. We are making them permanent. In some cases, we are even 
improving on them.
  Our 2017 tax relief legislation lowered tax rates for every income 
group. It doubled the child tax credit. It nearly doubled the standard 
deduction. The bill we are voting on this week will make all of that 
permanent, and it will go even further when it comes to the child tax 
credit, increasing it to $2,200 per child and linking it to inflation--
again, permanently.
  We are not stopping there. Our bill suspends taxes on tips, boosting 
the income of millions of Americans who earn tip income. It suspends 
taxes on overtime pay for millions of American workers, meaning police 
officers, firefighters, nurses, and others will be able to keep more of 
what they earn when they spend long hours away from their families. And 
an increased standard deduction for seniors will allow them to reduce 
their tax burden even further. The American people have better uses for 
their hard-earned money than sending it to Uncle Sam. And this bill 
will permanently ensure Americans can keep more of what they earn.

[[Page S3524]]

  The other legacy of the 2017 tax cuts is how they boosted our economy 
by lifting the tax burden on America's job creators. We lowered tax 
rates for owners of small- and medium-sized businesses, farms and 
ranches. We 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 their workers. These and other major reforms 
helped kick-start our economy.
  And in the wake of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, our economy grew at a 
substantially better rate than projected. Real wages increased. 
Unemployment fell to a 50-year low. The poverty rate fell to the lowest 
level ever recorded. Business investment increased. Everywhere you 
looked, there was positive economic news.
  Mr. President, we were able to make some of the business tax reforms 
permanent in 2017. And now we have an opportunity to make the rest of 
these pro-growth policies permanent. That includes lower rates for 
small- and medium-sized businesses, the job-creating 199A small 
business deduction, and full expensing for new equipment and for 
domestic research and development.
  Once again, we are going beyond just making the 2017 tax relief 
permanent. We are setting our country up for a brighter future by 
further advancing a pro-opportunity, pro-growth Tax Code.
  Our bill includes full expensing for new factories and factory 
improvements so we can expect to see more growth and more jobs for 
American workers and more goods made in America. It raises the death 
tax threshold to $15 million and links it to inflation permanently, 
which will spare countless family farms, ranches, and small businesses 
from a potentially devastating tax and the headaches and expense of 
planning for it.
  And an entire generation of Americans will be able to access new 
investment accounts when they reach adulthood that can be used toward 
their education, to start a business, to buy their first home, and to 
get a running start on the American dream.
  Mr. President, this is a good bill. It is going to be great for our 
country. The Council of Economic Advisers, which accurately predicted 
the economic growth and higher wages in the wake of the Tax Cuts and 
Jobs Act, released its forecast of the Senate bill this morning. It 
contains a lot of good news, starting with as much as 4.9 percent 
higher GDP in the next few years. That means more jobs. It means bigger 
paychecks, as much as $10,000 per year for a typical family. It means 
more opportunity. Believe it or not, it means more revenue, revenue 
that we bring in in the right way--by growing our economy--not by 
raising taxes. In fact, the same forecasters who got the effects of the 
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act right are estimating as much as $6 trillion in 
deficit reduction stemming from the bill's pro-growth policies.

  Mr. President, we are well on our way to getting this bill passed 
this week, which means we are well on our way to a stronger and more 
prosperous America. That means Americans keeping more of their hard-
earned money; it means American businesses growing and investing in our 
country and our workers; and it means a thriving economy like we had 
before the pandemic.
  Republicans are ready to deliver.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant executive clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Schmitt). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.