[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15485]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TAX REFORM AND THE BUDGET

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, yesterday, Chairman Hatch held another 
hearing on a subject that is incredibly important to the economic 
future of our country: tax reform.
  For too long, our economy has failed to live up to its full 
potential. For too long, Americans have suffered through stagnant 
paychecks, a lack of steady work, and retirement that can seem to slip 
further away by the day. These are the forgotten men, women, and 
families of the last decade. For many Americans living on the coasts, 
working in Silicon Valley, or in finance, the recession of 2008 to 2009 
may seem like just a moment in history, but for too many Americans, the 
last 10 years have been a lost decade where our economy has stumbled 
along and opportunities have declined for American workers and their 
families.
  Tax reform represents the single most important thing we can do today 
to get our economy back on track and give American workers a leg up. It 
is our once-in-a-generation opportunity to replace an outdated tax code 
that holds us back with one that works for American families and small 
businesses. We want to lower taxes and simplify rates. We want to 
expand job creation and grow paychecks. Put another way, we want to 
take more money out of Washington's pocket and put it in yours. That is 
the essential goal of tax reform. That is our message to the American 
people. It is what I believe. It is what Chairman Hatch believes. It is 
what Chairman Enzi believes as well.
  Chairman Enzi has an important role to play in this process, too, 
because later today he will lead his committee in marking up a 
comprehensive budget for fiscal year 2018 that will help our country 
achieve balance by reining in Federal spending. It will also help our 
economy grow, and one of the ways it will do so is by providing 
legislative tools to advance tax reform. I thank the Budget Committee 
for all its good work so far, and I look forward to its continued 
efforts to get our fiscal house in order and our economy back on a path 
to solid growth after the lost decade of disappointment I just spoke 
about.

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