[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19439-19440]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          NORTH CAROLINA IS THE NUMBER ONE STATE FOR BUSINESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, recently, Forbes magazine reported something 
that we North Carolinians have known for some time: North Carolina is 
the number one State for business.
  To give credit where it is due, the Tar Heel State's successful 
business atmosphere is in large part due to the North Carolina 
Legislature which has cut personal and corporate tax rates since 
Republicans assumed the majority in 2010. This year the legislature 
enacted a budget that reduces the State's flat personal income tax rate 
from 5.499 to 5.25 in January of 2019.
  In 2013, elected officials in Raleigh created an impressive 
probusiness policy agenda that reduced the State's corporate income tax 
from 6.9 percent in 2013 to 3 percent in 2017, which will drop to 2.5 
percent in 2019. This progrowth corporate income tax reduction has 
played a pivotal role in making North Carolina attractive to 
businesses.
  The State of North Carolina is a wonderful place to start a business 
and to live, and people from other States are moving to the State in 
droves. Migration rates to North Carolina consistently rank in the 
highest percentiles in the Nation. Our State ranks second in lowest 
business costs in terms of labor, energy, and taxes. With rankings like 
that, it is no wonder that businesses rightly choose to operate out of 
North Carolina.
  As a former small businessowner, it is a pleasure to hear that Forbes 
had recognized North Carolina's business bona fides. Thanks to the 
North Carolina Legislature, small and big businesses in North Carolina 
are competitive on a domestic and global scale.
  Mr. Speaker, the officials in Raleigh worked hard to ensure North 
Carolina would become the most competitive State for business in the 
country. Here in Washington, we are building upon the success of North 
Carolina and bringing about a tested policy recipe for economic growth: 
fairer, simpler, and lower taxes.
  Whether you are an individual struggling to make sense of your tax 
burden before April 15, or an American corporation that is trying to 
compete with America's competitors, or a small business that has faced 
the IRS's stifling complexity, you know that our Tax Code is broken. I 
have heard enough from Fifth District families, businesses, 
millennials, and other budding entrepreneurs to know that Congress must 
act now to bring about the economic expansion that Americans need and 
deserve.
  That is why I was proud to cast my support in favor of H.R. 1, the 
Tax Cuts

[[Page 19440]]

and Jobs bill. This bill is Congress' answer to the will of the people. 
It delivers much-needed tax relief to taxpayers by lowering every 
marginal tax rate on the books that applies to working Americans. It 
enables our businesses to win here at home and expand our Nation's job 
growth. It will boost paychecks for generations to come.
  By doubling the standard deduction, even more Americans will no 
longer need to itemize their deductions. For married couples filing 
jointly, this translates to $24,000 yearly that is free from Federal 
taxes. By lowering the crippling taxes on businesses, workers will see 
an increase in their wages.
  A report from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation found that a middle-
income family in North Carolina would see its aftertax income increase 
by $2,366. The same foundation found that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 
will create 975,000 new jobs nationally and grow wages by 4.4 percent 
for middle-income households.
  As we have seen in North Carolina, when governments simplify and 
lower taxes, citizens reap the rewards of economic expansion, job 
growth, and higher wages. Despite all of the hard work done by North 
Carolina's Legislature and despite our State being rated the number one 
in which to do business, it is being held back by the Federal Tax Code. 
The current Tax Code is littered with trillions of dollars in special 
interest tax breaks that have held people back.
  Even though North Carolina is number one, you will find that the four 
highest earning counties in the United States are all near Washington, 
D.C. The spending of the Federal Government fueled by the Tax Code and 
its giveaways undermine the foundations of our economy.

                              {time}  1030

  These special-interest tax carve-outs are driven by--you guessed it--
special interests. It is time we stop rewarding the closely connected 
here in Washington and keep taxpayer dollars where they belong, with 
American workers, job creators, and businesses.
  It is time the Federal Government stopped using the Tax Code to 
engineer people's decisions and allow Americans to live their lives 
based on their desire for higher wages, entrepreneurism, service, and 
economic exchange.
  I urge my colleagues to follow North Carolina's lead and support the 
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to lower taxes and increase paychecks, wages, and 
job growth, and to fix the Tax Code.

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