[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 143]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           JUMP-START AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Williams) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. Speaker, last November, the American people spoke 
loud and clear about wanting real change in Washington. The American 
people want Washington to work for them--no more empty promises and no 
more talk.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people want their government to act, and 
Congress' time to act is now. I come here today to offer a solution to 
an issue that has been discussed, but not truly acted on, for decades. 
Time and time again, from Congress to Congress, lawmakers come down to 
this floor to talk about the need for tax reform.
  As a current small business owner for all of my working life, I 
understand what is killing small businesses firsthand. Since I came to 
Congress, I have been outspoken on the need to reform our Tax Code, and 
I have a proposal to make it happen. My tax reform plan will simplify 
our Tax Code. It will give job creators the tools they need to succeed 
and empower America's greatest asset--the American worker. My tax 
reform plan will do exactly what its name says it will do--jump-start 
America.
  Today, the Internal Revenue Code is often called complicated, 
uncompetitive, and unfair; and rightfully so. According to the Tax 
Foundation, Federal tax laws and regulations have grown to more than 10 
million words in length. Imagine how much easier tax season would be 
for all of us if we shrank our individual income tax thresholds to two 
brackets. What if our Tax Code actually put American taxpayers first, 
in other words, treated us like a customer?
  The United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the free 
world. Sure, deductions, exclusions, and tax credits occasionally lower 
that rate, but these add further to the Tax Code's complexity, and they 
allow carve-outs for special interests.
  To those who believe our corporate tax rate is okay the way it is, I 
ask you to consider why American companies are moving their 
headquarters overseas. In order to incentivize these companies to 
return their investments in expansion and employment back home in 
America, my plan will implement a permanent tax holiday to allow 
repatriation of funds at 5 percent.
  While the corporate tax rate is putting the United States at a 
disadvantage in the global economy which we all live, the most unfair 
tax facing many Americans is inheritance tax. The death tax, as it is 
more commonly referred to, is a form of double taxation that can take a 
generation's worth of sweat equity and hard work and destroy it if a 
family business, for example, is passed down to a next of kin.
  That is what nearly happened to me after the death of my parents. 
Fortunately for me, I was able to gather the resources to keep my 
father's business afloat. Many of my friends have not been so lucky.
  We cannot force owners and operators to sell off parts of a business 
just so the Federal Government can collect a few extra dollars equal to 
less than 1 percent of Federal revenue. Especially considering our 
government is running a huge deficit and a $20 trillion national debt, 
I would argue that the private sector is a much better steward of 
budgeting, investing, and creating return on investment than the 
Federal Government. That is why Jump-Start America will repeal the 
death tax once and for all.
  These are a few of the notable reforms of Jump-Start America that I 
talk about on the road in Texas and nationwide. Jump-Start America has 
gained the support of Americans for Tax Reform and former Congressional 
Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin. It was called ``a good 
plan'' by the Cato Institute.
  As a small business owner, I can tell you my plan will put people 
back to work, encourage business and individuals to spend money they 
didn't have before, and grow the economy. It is a thing called the 
American Dream. While Jump-Start America is a small business 
perspective on tax reform, it will benefit every American individually 
and our Nation as a whole.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues, especially the newer Members, to 
familiarize themselves with my plan as we work to implement an 
aggressive pro-growth agenda under new leadership on the other end of 
Pennsylvania Avenue.
  In God We Trust.

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