[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 20555]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            TAX REFORM BILL

  Mr. SCOTT. Thank you, Mr. President.
  This week, we took a major step toward helping the middle- and 
working-class family by passing the first significant tax reform 
package in a generation.
  I wanted to take a few minutes to thank a lot of folks for their 
efforts, hard work, and dedication to this process. At the Member 
level, both Leader McConnell and Chairman Hatch did amazing work 
leading us through this process.
  I also had the privilege of working as part of the Core 4, with Pat 
Toomey, John Thune, and Rob Portman, over the past year developing this 
bill. Those three guys are some of the hardest working Members we have.
  I also thank Marco Rubio for his dedication to improving the child 
tax credit, as well as Mike Lee and Ivanka Trump.
  We were also able to include my Investing in Opportunity Act as a 
part of the legislation. This is legislation that will help distressed 
communities throughout the country. More than 50 million Americans 
today live in those distressed communities, and the Investing in 
Opportunity Act can usher in trillions of dollars of investment to 
improve the quality of life and create a spark in some of the most 
challenging areas of our country economically.
  I thank my House sponsor of the bill, Pat Tiberi, and my Democratic 
cosponsors, Cory Booker and Ron Kind.
  We could not have gotten this far without the hard work and 
dedication of the Finance Committee staff. I thank, in particular, Jay, 
Mark, Jeff, Jenn, as well as the entire Finance team for their amazing 
work.
  I also want to take a few minutes to thank my staff. I have been 
blessed with an amazing staff here on Capitol Hill, one of the hardest 
working staffs I have ever seen. I want to start off by thanking my tax 
guru, Shay Hawkins, who has done a tremendous job of leading us through 
this process--fielding thousands of calls and responding to tens of 
thousands of emails. I would also like to thank my LD, Charles Cogar, 
for his dedication and his leadership through this time. My chief of 
staff, Jennifer DeCasper, has done an amazing job of making sure we 
stayed focused on the objective. The objective was not to simply pass 
legislation; the objective was, in fact, to change lives where we live, 
to help the average American experience a little more hope, a little 
more opportunity by keeping a little more of their money. I also thank 
my commerce director who has done a fabulous job, Sean Smith, in making 
sure we communicated effectively the message of hope and opportunity, 
and my scheduler, Brie Kelly. Thank God for someone who could keep me 
moving in the right direction. One of the hardest jobs in Washington is 
being a scheduler for a Member, and being a scheduler for this Member 
is perhaps the hardest job of scheduling.
  My entire team worked diligently, long hours, but that is why we are 
here. We are here to work long hours, but to produce results--
unparalleled results--that will make the American people have just a 
little more confidence in their elected officials.
  Finally, I have to thank the good people of South Carolina. I was 
first elected to Congress in 2010, and one of my first pieces of 
legislation was the Tax Reform Act of 2011--February of 2011--to lower 
the corporate tax rate and to work on restructuring our Tax Code.
  Since my first days in Congress, I have been working on this issue. 
The good people of South Carolina allowed me to serve as a Senator. I 
was elected in 2014 and reelected in 2016. I will continue to make sure 
my focus is back at home, where the good South Carolinians who elected 
me have given me a great privilege.
  I will focus on the fact that our work, our dedication should be 
focused on those folks. The good news is, during this holiday season, 
we believe this tax reform package will be an early Christmas present.
  Let me just say to all the folks, no matter what side of the aisle 
you are on, no matter where you live in this country, we are blessed--
truly blessed--to live in the greatest country on God's green Earth. 
Merry Christmas, and may the good Lord bless us with an amazing new 
year.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.

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