[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 20563-20565]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            TAX REFORM BILL

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, with this week's passage of the Tax Cuts 
and Jobs Act, many throughout the country are rightly celebrating the 
first substantive reform of our Nation's Tax Code in more than three 
decades.
  While the popular narrative surrounding this bill has been that 
Congress has moved quickly to pass this legislation, I don't think 
anyone who has worked on tax reform over the last several years would 
agree with that assessment. This week's success is made possible by 
years of hard work and the efforts of countless policymakers, experts, 
advocates, and public servants.

[[Page 20564]]

  Over the last several years, I have come to the floor on many 
occasions to advocate for tax reform. I am glad today to be able to 
rise and acknowledge the efforts of many people whose work made the 
historic occasion possible.
  First, I would like to thank those Members who went before us. Former 
Chairmen Camp, Grassley, and Baucus spent the better part of the decade 
laying the groundwork for this effort.
  I also want to thank Senator Wyden, who, along with Chairman Baucus, 
worked with me on the Finance Committee over the last several years as 
we produced reports and options papers, convened bipartisan working 
groups, and held more than 70 hearings to discuss tax policy.
  While I have been disappointed that my Democratic colleagues have 
opted not to participate in this year's efforts to produce this 
particular bill, they definitely contributed to this knowledge and 
policy base we worked from to put our legislation together.
  For years, I have reiterated the importance of Presidential 
leadership when it comes to tax reform. I am grateful that President 
Trump has been willing to engage with Congress on this issue and to put 
some political skin in the game in order to move us forward.
  From the outset of this administration, Secretary Mnuchin and 
Director Cohn have been actively working to make this success a 
reality. I thank them for their engagement in this effort and the work 
they and their staffs have put in.
  From the Treasury staff, I would like to thank Justin Muzinich, Dan 
Kowalski, and Jay Mackie.
  From Director Cohn's staff at the National Economic Council, I need 
to thank Jeremy Katz and Shahira Knight.
  From the White House, thanks to Mark Short, Amy Swonger, Andy Koenig, 
Joseph Lai, and Jim Goyer.
  These staffers from the administration have worked for the better 
part of the year with leaders from both Chambers to produce this bill 
and get it over the finish line. Their success is shared with our 
colleagues over in the House, led by Chairman Brady and Speaker Ryan. I 
thank my colleagues for their hard work and their willingness to find 
common ground when many believed that it was impossible to do so.
  From the Ways and Means staff, I want to thank David Stewart, Matt 
Weidinger, Allison Halataei, Rick Limardo, and Paul Guaglianone. 
Special thanks is owed to the committee tax staff: Barbara Angus, 
Aharon Friedman, John Sandell, Victoria Glover, John Schoenecker, Randy 
Gartin, Aaron Junge, Donald Scheider, Danielle Dubose, Kathryn Chakmak, 
and Loren Ponds.
  From the Speaker's office, I want to thank Jonathan Burks, Austin 
Smythe, George Callas, Derrick Dockery, and Josh Althouse.
  From the House majority whip's office, I need to thank both Marty 
Reiser and Kelly Hudak.
  Of course, here in the Senate, we have been ably led by the majority 
leader. I want to thank Senator McConnell for his commitment to get 
this done and for his leadership throughout this entire endeavor.
  From the leader's staff, I want to thank Sharon Soderstrom, Brendan 
Dunn, Antonia Ferrier, Hazen Marshall, Erica Suares, Terry Van Doren, 
Don Stewart, and Jane Lee.
  Joining Senator McConnell, as always, has been our distinguished 
majority whip. I thank Senator Cornyn for his efforts in shoring up 
support and addressing our Members' concerns from the beginning of this 
process until final passage of the conference report.
  From the whip's staff, I want to thank Monica Popp and Sam Beaver.
  Of course, when it came time to draft the Senate's tax reform 
legislation, most of the real work was done in the Finance Committee. 
The committee bill was truly a shared product that included the input 
and addressed the interests of every majority member on our dais. 
Without their work, we wouldn't have had a bill, and without their 
commitment to seeing this through, we wouldn't have gotten to where we 
are.
  I want to thank Senators Grassley, Crapo, Roberts, Enzi, Cornyn, 
Thune, Burr, Isakson, Portman, Toomey, Heller, Scott, and Cassidy for 
the months of work they put into producing and passing this 
legislation. I also need to thank their staffs who, until this week, 
haven't slept in months.
  My thanks also go to the tax staffers on the committee, namely, Chris 
Allen, Joseph Boddicker, Chris Conlin, Shay Hawkins, Randy Herndon, 
Bart Massey, Monica McGuire, Mike Quickel, Zachary Rudisill, Andrew 
Siracuse, Robert Sneeden, Derek Theurer, and Mark Warren.
  My thanks go, as well, to the committee's legislative directors: 
Charles Cogar, Ken Flanz, Chris Gillott, Brad Grantz, Amber 
Kirchhoefer, Kurt Kovarik, Jessica McBride, Sarah Paul, Landon Stropko, 
Jay Sulzmann, Stephen Tausend, Pam Thiessen, and Christopher Toppings.
  Of course, when the Democrats signaled their refusal to even meet on 
tax reform, we knew we would need a well-crafted budget resolution with 
the right instruction to get tax reform passed. So I need to thank my 
good friend, Chairman Enzi, and the Budget Committee for their work, 
which made a seemingly mundane and tedious process look easy.
  From the Budget Committee staff, I want to thank Joe Brenckle, Jim 
Neill, Betsy McDonnell, Matt Giroux, Paul Vinovich, Becky Cole, Eric 
Ueland, Steve Townsend, Jeremy Dalrymple, and Thomas Fueller.
  Once we had a resolution, we had to hold a markup. In the Finance 
Committee, that can be a challenging process, particularly on a bill 
this big and complex.
  Thankfully, we have been ably served by a professional staff who 
helped us through that whole process, namely, Joshua Levasseur, Jewel 
Harper, Joe Carnucci, Mark Blair, Athena Schritz, Susanna Segal, Eliza 
Smith, Tim Corley, and Michael Pinkerton.
  The Joint Committee on Taxation was also critical throughout the 
committee process, as well as when we moved the bill onto the floor. 
They worked countless hours doing the work that often just made 
everybody mad at one point or another. Theirs is an often thankless but 
really critical job, and I am grateful for their dedication and 
earnestness.
  Specifically, I need to thank Tom Barthold and his team for making 
sure both parties in the House and the Senate were getting all the 
information that was needed, at times under challenging time 
constraints. Tom does a terrific job for the Senate, and I personally 
appreciate him and value him as a friend.
  After moving a mark through the committee, we relied on assistance 
from the Senate Legislative Counsel's office to put together the 
legislative text. That was a critical step, and we could not have done 
it without Mark McGunagle, Jim Fransen, and their team.
  Then as we began to prep the bill for the floor, we spent countless 
hours debating different provisions before the Parliamentarian. This 
process can be difficult, and I would like to offer my thanks to our 
Parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, and her team for the hours and 
days they put into helping us comply with the rules of the Senate.
  As the bill neared its final phase, we were grateful to be able to 
work with Senator Murkowski on the second title of the bill, and as we 
moved to conference committee, Senator Murkowski's counterparts in the 
House also played an instrumental role in helping to finalize this 
legislation.
  Of course, there are those who work hard to make sure things go 
smoothly here on the floor. I thank the majority floor staff for their 
assistance, particularly, Laura Dove, Robert Duncan, and Megan Mercer.
  As I said, this has been a long process, and throughout this entire 
venture, I have had the benefit of working with a skilled and committed 
staff. My staff have sacrificed time, energy, sleep, and, in some 
cases, likely their physical and mental health for the passage of this 
bill. It has been an incredible effort, and I need to thank all of 
them.

[[Page 20565]]

  I want to single out my chief tax counsel, Mark Prater. I think 
everyone in this Chamber and everyone in Washington would agree that we 
could not have done any of this without Mark.
  I also need to thank my staff director, Jay Khosla, who has been the 
tip of the spear, managing the incoming and outgoing issues with 
apparent ease. I also want to thank his assistant, Jason Stegmaier, for 
helping to keep Jay from forgetting the important details, like 
remembering to eat lunch.
  I want to thank my entire tax staff: Jennifer Acuna, Tony Coughlan, 
Christopher Hanna, Alex Monie, Eric Oman, Marty Pippins, Preston 
Rutledge, and Nick Wyatt.
  I need to thank the members of my senior team as well: Matt Hoffmann, 
Jeff Wrase, Julia Lawless, Jennifer Kuskowski, Chris Armstrong, Bryan 
Hickman, and Shane Warren.
  I want to thank my communications staff on the committee: Katie 
Niederee, Nicole Hager, and Joshua Blume.
  I also want to thank a couple of former Finance Committee staff 
members, specifically, Chris Campbell, my former staff director, who 
helped to set the stage for this entire effort, and Jim Lyons, my tax 
counsel who passed away last year, much to the sorrow of us. He spent 
years working on tax reform, and I know we all wish he could have been 
here to celebrate with us this week.
  From my personal office staff, I want to thank my legislative 
assistant, James Williams, and Matt Sandgren, my chief of staff.
  There are many more people who deserve thanks this week--far too many 
to mention at this time. They are not forgotten, though, believe me.
  We have done a good thing here this week. This is truly a historic 
success.
  Some of our colleagues on the other side last night said that the 
American people will remember what happened here this week. To that, 
all I can say is that I hope they do. This new tax law will do a lot of 
good for a great number of people throughout our country, and I am 
humbled to have been a part of the efforts of so many people who were 
willing to get this thing done for the American people.
  I am grateful to my staff. I am grateful to the staffs of our 
Senators on the committee. I am grateful for everyone involved in the 
Finance Committee and for the good efforts that they put forward. But I 
am really grateful that I serve in the U.S. Senate, the greatest 
deliberative body in the world, and this is a perfect illustration of 
why.
  I am very grateful to be able to stand on this floor and show my 
complete devotion to this wonderful government. To both sides of the 
floor--Democrats and Republicans alike--I am grateful. I am grateful 
that we have this Constitution to guide us, and I am grateful that for 
the most part, we have abided by it.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Oklahoma.

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