Settlement Trust Improvement Act of 2017

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and thank him for his superb leadership as the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee. I commend him, and all of our fellow Democrats on the committee, for standing up for the middle class in our country and fighting for the truth and what is in this bill.

Mr. Speaker, this vote today is a defining moment for our country. Our votes today will decide the future of the American middle class and those who aspire to it, the future of our children and our grandchildren, and the future of the United States of America as the land of opportunity.

Today, Republicans have brought forth a bill that is pillaging the middle class to pad the pockets of the wealthiest and hand tax breaks to corporations shipping jobs out of America and drastically increasing the national debt.

The bill Republicans have brought to the floor today is not tax reform. It is not even a tax cut. It is a tax scam. So many people have written in about it who are affected by it, and I will submit all of that for the Record, but I do want to say that this is not only a defining moment, it is a moment of truth.

With straight faces and with the speed of light--I have to give them credit; they raced this thing through in the dark of night--they are trying to sell a bill of goods to the middle class that this is in their interest, that this is a middle-income tax cut.

According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, Republicans are raising taxes on 36 million middle class families.

I associate myself with the very wonderful comments of our distinguished House Democratic whip, Mr. Hoyer, especially at the end when he said: ``Look to your souls, not to your polls.''

I want to speak to Pope Benedict, his encyclical, God is love. It was his first encyclical as pope, and in that encyclical, Pope Benedict quoted the wisdom of St. Augustine.

Seventeen centuries ago, St. Augustine said: ``A state which is not governed according to justice would be just a bunch of thieves.''

Benedict went on to say: ``The state must inevitably face the question of how justice can be achieved here and now.'' And he cautioned against the ``danger of certain ethical blindness caused by the dazzling effect of power and special interests.''

Interesting, in light of the fact that when this bill is brought forward, the

Director of the National Economic Council, Gary Cohn, said: ``The most excited group out there are the big CEOs, about our tax plan.''

Is that about justice?

Congressman Chris Collins said: ``My donors are basically saying, get it done or don't ever call me again.''

Senator Lindsey Graham said: ``The financial contributions will stop'' if this tax scam fails.

Well, he didn't say scam. I am saying scam. That is my word.

Back to the Pope and the Catholic bishops. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote: `` . . . this proposal appears to be the first Federal income tax modification in American history that will raise income taxes on the working poor while simultaneously providing a large tax cut to the wealthy.''

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops went on to say: ``This is simply unconscionable.''

We always begin our session with prayer, and many of us attend mass on the weekend, on Sundays. But we cannot pray and think that that gives us a lesson to prey on people the rest of the week; and that is what this bill does. It preys on the middle class and those aspiring to it. It pillages and loots the middle class. It is a shameful piece of legislation, and the Republicans should know better.

They say it is going to get better in the Senate. Oh my gosh. In the Senate, as Mr. Hoyer pointed out, unanimously, the Senate Finance Committee rejected this proposal already. Was it 26-0? Whatever the number was, the zero loomed large.

But getting back to values, because that is what we are here to do, and what we do in our budget, which the tax bill is a part of. It is supposed to be a statement of values.

In his study of civilization, the great British historian, Arnold Toynbee, found that, at the beginning of a hopeful country, the political leadership formed a creative minority that inspired and led the flowering of civilization. But in some nations, leaders became a dominant minority of ``exploiters, focused on their own wealth and power.

Arnold Toynbee, welcome to the Republican side of the aisle and Congress.

These competing mindsets, he went on, between the dominant minority of exploiters versus the creative minority that inspired and led the flowering of civilization, these competing mindsets and motivations create schisms in the body social and schisms in the soul of the body politic.

And lo and behold, the Republican Party has written a bill, nearly half of the benefits go to the top 1 percent--top 1 percent in our country--and 80 percent of the benefits go to the top 2 percent. This is a defining moment, but it is also a moment of truth

How can the Republicans, with a straight face, say to the middle class: Well, we are doubling this or doubling that? Give with one hand, take with another.

And to hear them cheer, hear them cheer for the provision in here about the estate tax?

Listen to this. You tell me if you think this is fair.

1,800 families in America--not your family farmer. Everybody is taken care of in what we have done already with the estate tax.

In this bill, 1,800 of the wealthiest families, the filers in our country, will, in the life of the bill, get the break of $172 billion; 1,800 families. This is for 1,800 families.

And you know what? The Republicans cheered that; 1,800 families are going to get $172 billion.

They cheer the fact that up to $1.5 trillion in tax cuts goes to corporate America, while, at the same time, giving them another tax break to send jobs overseas; at the same time, absolving them of any responsibility when it comes to State and local taxes; while insisting that individuals lose the State and local tax deduction, but corporations do not.

And listen to all of it. Were they cheering when they are saying to a teacher--hear their cheering when they say to a teacher: You may bring supplies to your school because your school and classes need that? God bless you for that. But we are taking away the tax deduction that goes with that.

What? Is that something to cheer about?

They are saying to students who get a $2,500 tax deduction on interest on student loans: Forget about that. Even though it may make the difference between your attending college or not, forget about that. We are too busy giving a tax cut to the 1,800 wealthiest families in America so they can get $172 billion in tax breaks over the next 10 years.

They are saying to families, whether they have a child with a disability, a senior with Alzheimer's, and everything in between: If you have extraordinary medical expenses, and, since 1944, you have been able to deduct them, no more. No more, because we have got to give it to the high end. So take that away.

Do you have any idea what that means to America's working families, and what it means for them if they have Alzheimer's?

We had one person come to our event in San Francisco last week from Barbara Lee's district. She said there was over $170,000 in costs for her because her husband has Alzheimer's. The tax deduction enabled them to survive. She said: I can't even imagine the cruelty that decided that this should happen in this tax bill.

So understand what this means in people's lives, and tell the truth about it. Tell the truth about it.

Republicans want you to believe that their trickle-down tax break for the rich will pay for itself. Never has happened.

As Bruce Bartlett, architect of Jack Kemp's supply-side economics said, ``It is not true,'' that this trickle-down economics pays for itself. ``It is not true. It is nonsense.'' And he went on to say it was ``BS,'' in the full extent of those words.

This tax scam won't create jobs. It won't raise wages. It will only fill the coffers of the donors and the fat cats. The GOP tax scam will add trillions to the debt and stick our children with a bill that you cannot pay off.

And none of us will probably be around by the time the full impact of the hemorrhaging of the debt in the second 10 years of this bill will require big tax increases. Look to the Kansas example.

As I like to say to the Caucus, Mr. Speaker, maybe I have to use my mother-of-five voice to be heard. But as a mother of five and a grandmother of nine, we are supposed to be thinking about our children and their futures, and our grandchildren and their futures.

God willing, one day some of you will have grandchildren. I always ask the question: Do they breathe air? Do they drink water?

Why are you messing that up in other areas of our policymaking here?

But getting back to this. The tax scam won't create jobs. It won't raise wages. As I said: It will only fill the coffers of donors and the fat cats.

This GOP tax scam will add trillions to the debt. Oh where, oh where are the deficit hawks? Have you become extinct? Is there not one among you who understands what this does to the national debt?

And with all due respect to your leader, for him to put at our doorstep the debt, when it was a creation--President Bush went into office on a path from President Clinton of deficit reduction. The last five Clinton budgets were in balance or in surplus. President Bush turned that around by repealing pay-as-you-go. Tax cuts for the wealthy didn't trickle down. Two unpaid-for wars, giveaways to PHARMA, the pharmaceutical industry, taking us to a place--remember September of 2008, when we were in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression?

But anyway, back to here. As Republicans know, our Republican friends have already shown us their playbook. In this bill, corporations will get a cut of $1.5 trillion--the same $1.5 trillion that Republicans plan to slash from Medicare and Medicaid in the GOP budget.

In their bones, the American people know they are getting a raw deal under the Republican bill before us. You know it. You know why you are here. You know what you are doing.

Democrats believe the American people deserve better, a better deal, better jobs, better wages, better future. We want to create good-paying jobs, raise workers' wages, lower the cost of living for families, give Americans the tools

they need to succeed in the 21st century. But you can't do that if you have a budget that does not invest in that future and is hampered by the cuts.

Let's go back to the drawing board. Let's write a bipartisan bill that raises wages, creates jobs, promotes growth, and reduces the deficit. To get to that place, we want to go to the table in a bipartisan way. What are you afraid of? In a bipartisan way, let's put together a tax bill that is good for the American people instead of one that does violence to the American Dream.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote ``no'' and to demand a better bill for America's working families.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' fabulous statement about this tax bill.

United States Conference of

Catholic Bishops,

Washington, DC, November 9, 2017.

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Representative: Decisions about taxation involve

fundamental concerns of ``justice and equity'', with the goal

of taxes and public spending ``becoming an instrument of

development and solidarity'' (Mater et Magistra, 132;

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, no. 355). On

October 27, the USCCB offered six moral principles to guide

debate on tax reform, centered on care for the poor and

concern for families. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017

contains many fundamental structural flaws that must be

corrected. As currently written, the proposal is

unacceptable.

Care for the Poor. Doubling the standard deduction will

help some of those in poverty to avoid tax liability, and

this is a positive good contained in the bill. However, as

written, this proposal appears to be the first federal income

tax modification in American history that will raise income

taxes on the working poor while simultaneously providing a

large tax cut to the wealthy. This is simply unconscionable.

The nonpartisan congressional Joint Committee on Taxation

(JCT) indicates that by 2023 this tax plan will raise taxes

on average tax payers making between $20,000 and $40,000 per

year. Taxes for this group will be raised again in 2025, and

again in 2027. Taxes will also increase on average taxpayers

earning between $10,000 and $20,000 in 2025. The federal

poverty line is $12,228 for one person, and $24,339 for a

two-parent family with two children. Nearly one in three

Americans live in a family with income below 200% of the

poverty line. Meanwhile, average taxpayers who make over $1

million experience dramatic tax cuts for the same periods. No

tax reform proposal is acceptable that increases taxes for

those living in poverty to help pay for benefits to wealthy

citizens.

Several other tax provisions that assist the working poor

and others who may struggle economically are also eliminated,

including:

the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, which incentivizes hiring

of the disabled, veterans, those who have been unemployed for

long periods, and individuals receiving federal poverty-

related assistance;

the tax deductions to reduce the burdens of tuition and

student loans;

the income tax credit to persons who retire on disability;

the deduction for state and local income and sales taxes,

which may impact people in higher tax states;

the tax deduction for employee business expenses; and

tax incentives to employers and employees to help with

moving expenses for a new job.

Strengthening Families. Society, in Pope Francis' words, is

in ``debt'' to the family. The family is the most important

institution in society because education, formation, and care

for the human person, especially children, take place more in

the family than anywhere else. Expanded access to schools of

choice is a positive step in this legislation, and we would

encourage Congress to go even further by empowering more

parents in directing their child's education. We also

appreciate that the legislation recognizes unborn children as

eligible beneficiaries for parents' 529 education savings

account contributions.

However, this tax plan places new and unreasonable burdens

on families, especially those who welcome life or experience

serious hardships:

It removes the adoption tax credit which provides important

and life-affirming assistance for families to adopt children

desperately in need of love and support.

The plan also repeals the exclusion for adoption assistance

programs, which allows a family to exclude money paid by an

employer for adoption costs up to the amount of the adoption

tax credit as an alternative. This exclusion also allows

those who adopt a child with special needs to receive the

full value of the exclusion regardless of actual adoption

costs.

Eliminating the credit and exclusion sends the wrong

message about our national priorities, which ought to protect

life, strengthen families, and affirm the value of every

human being. The savings to society from children finding

loving homes is well beyond any revenue lost due to the

credit and exclusion.

It eliminates the personal exemption. Even with the

doubling of the standard deduction, some larger families will

pay more, including many two-parent families with more than

three children, and single-parent families with more than one

child. It is laudable that the child tax credit has been

expanded and removes the marriage penalty. However, the

modest increase in the credit does not fully compensate for

the elimination of the personal exemption for some larger

families. Moreover, because the child tax credit only remains

refundable up to $1,000, lower income families will get no

additional benefits from the child tax credit, while

suffering the full loss of the personal exemption.

It eliminates the out-of-pocket medical expenses deduction

for families facing serious or chronic illness.

It eliminates tax incentives to employers to provide

dependent care assistance or child care. The family

flexibility credit, at $300 per taxpayer, is some help, but

is set to expire after five years and does not offset the

greater losses.

It eliminates the qualified tuition reduction for children

of teachers, which will raise taxes on educational

institutions and disrupt family arrangements.

It repeals mortgage tax credit certificates, which are only

available for first-time home buyers under certain income

thresholds.

Other aspects of the plan also have consequences for

families. By creating stricter rules around parents' social

security numbers, the plan makes it more difficult for

immigrant taxpayers to receive the Child Tax Credit or the

Earned Income Tax Credit for their families, or to receive

assistance in seeking advancement through education.

Progressivity of the Tax Code. Pope St. John XXIII wrote

that a progressive tax code is required by ``justice and

equity.'' The ``Unified Framework,'' upon which this tax plan

was based, promised that any new tax code would be ``at

least'' as progressive as the present code. This plan breaks

that promise. It raises taxes on the working poor, while

simultaneously providing large tax breaks to high-income

taxpayers. It also repeals the estate tax (which applies to

the estates of single people valued at more than $5.5 million

and married couples valued greater than $11 million), and

eliminates the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) which was

designed to prevent high-income earners from avoiding tax

liability through loopholes. In the years that the working

poor suffer a tax increase under this bill, millionaires and

billionaires will see significant tax decreases. This must be

fixed. Those who stand to benefit the most from proposed tax

policies ought to be the ones to bear most of the risk

associated with them, rather than those who are struggling

and in need.

Adequate Revenue for the Common Good and Avoiding Future

Cuts to Poverty Programs. The state has a legitimate role in

promoting the common good, and a legitimate interest in

collecting taxes to do so. This tax plan, by design, will

result in a nearly $1.5 trillion deficit over ten years. Even

with the potential benefits of economic growth from

individual and corporate tax cuts--which cannot be

guaranteed--the poor should not be the ones to finance these

changes. Undoubtedly, the deficit will be used as an argument

to further restrict or end programs that help those in need,

programs which are investments to help pull struggling

families out of poverty. Repeal of the AMT and estate tax

alone comprise a good portion of the deficit that is built

into the plan. Rather than exploring even modest reductions

to these dramatic cuts for the wealthiest, the bill raises

taxes on the vulnerable and creates a strong incentive to cut

the social safety net.

Incentive for Charitable Giving and Development. Doubling

the standard deduction will bring tax relief to many people.

However, for those who give to charity, it will make the

charitable deduction increasingly a benefit only available to

high income families. An ``above-the-line'' deduction would

incentivize and assist charitable giving at all income

levels, and increase the amounts people can give. It would

also guard against a multi-billion-dollar decrease in

charitable giving that this plan would otherwise cause,

shrinking civil society and cutting income to nonprofits that

help the poor, just as government aid to the poor is

jeopardized, as noted above. By and large, money given to

charity helps those in need. The tax code should encourage

voluntary association, mutual aid, and a culture of giving,

helping rather than hurting groups that will be asked to do

more for the poor in the days ahead. Similarly, this plan

will lower the value of affordable housing and community

revitalization incentives. Public-private partnerships that

benefit the poor and the greater community should not be

discouraged.

Because tax policy is far-reaching, Congress must provide

ample time for Americans to discuss the complexities of these

reforms and fully understand their effects. The current

timetable does not provide adequate time for that discussion.

In many ways, this legislation is unacceptable in its present

form and requires amendment. It must be changed for the sake

of families--the bedrock of our country--and for those

struggling on the peripheries of society who have a claim on

our national conscience.

Sincerely,

Most Reverend Frank J. Dewane,

Bishop of Venice, Chairman, Committee on Domestic

Justice and Human Development.

Most Rev. George V. Murry, S.J.,

Bishop of Youngstown, Chairman, Committee on Catholic

Education.

Most Reverend Oscar Cantu,

Bishop of Las Cruces, Chairman, Committee on International

Justice and Peace.

I return to one of their statements: `` . . . this proposal appears to be the first Federal income tax modification in American history that will raise income taxes on the working poor while simultaneously providing a large tax cut for the wealthy.''

The Senate is not going to make it better. They have already said they are raising taxes on those making under $75,000 and giving tax cuts to the wealthy. They have already said they are going to take affordable care away from 13 million Americans.

I don't know how that is making it better. That might be something you applaud, but I certainly hope you would not vote for it.

Mr. Speaker, first, I love this 1 minute, and I try not to abuse it too much, but I am going to right now.

Mr. Speaker, I want to start off by thanking Chairman Kevin Brady and all of the members of the House Ways and Means Committee for this job well done.

Mr. Speaker, we are in a generational defining moment for our country, and what we are doing here--what we are doing here--is not just determining the kind of Tax Code we are going to have, what we are doing here is determining the kind of country we are going to have.

Right now, because of this anemic economic recovery--don't forget, we had the worst recession in our lifetimes in 2008, and ever since then this economy has been flat. This economy has been way under its potential. This economy has been growing at a limp 1 to 2 percent.

Do you know what that means for hardworking taxpayers? Do you know what that means for Americans? Nobody gets a wage increase. Living standards are stagnant. Economic anxiety is high.

Seventy-eight percent of our workers in this country today are living paycheck to paycheck. Most Americans say that they don't even have $500 in their bank account for an unexpected emergency or an expense. This is the economic anxiety that is for real in this country today. Instead of thinking about getting ahead, families are just struggling to get by.

Think about all the moms and the dads and the hardworking taxpayers going to bed tonight and not sleeping, worried about what comes next week. This is not how it should be. This is not how it is in this country traditionally.

We need to restore growth. We need to restore opportunity. We need to restore this beautiful thing we affectionately call the American idea. Passing this bill is the single biggest thing we can do to grow the economy, to restore opportunity, and to help these middle-income families who are struggling.

People always ask: Well, what is in it for me? How do I benefit from this?

I am a chart guy.

Why is this important? What this shows you, under this plan, the average family at every income level gets a tax cut, a tax cut at every average level.

What this chart shows you, the people here who are struggling, the people here who are in middle-income brackets, the people here in low income trying to become middle income, they get the biggest tax cuts.

This plan is good for people in all walks of life all across the country, and the bigger relief goes to those who need it most.

Let's put it into numbers.

A typical household of four people, they make $59,000 in this country. That family of four gets an $1,182 tax cut the first year alone.

The median family income, Mom, Dad, two kids, the median family income in America today is $87,000. That family will get a $1,941 tax cut right away, year one. If you are one of those 57 percent of Americans who say you don't even have $500 to go through an emergency, this really helps you.

Let's talk about those people who itemize their taxes, who live in high-tax States. Let's talk about a couple making $1115,000, living a high-tax State. Let's say they have $8,400 in a mortgage interest payment and $6,900 in property taxes for the year. They can still write all of those off under this plan, and they will still see a tax cut of $1,130; if they have kids, an even larger tax cut.

Not only do people get to keep more of their own money in their own pocket, but we dramatically simplify the tax system. We make it more fair.

Today, 7 out of 10 Americans don't itemize their deductions. That means 70 percent of Americans take what we call the standard deduction for their taxes. It is just that. It is standard. It is straightforward. You are not taxed on that income.

But over the years, Washington has piled on special interest loophole after special interest loophole after special interest loophole. These loopholes are skewed to the people who are wealthy, who are well connected, who can afford all the tax lawyers and all the accountants to navigate the Tax Code so they can get a good deal. But if you are not in that group, if you don't have the lawyers and the accountants and you are just scraping away with your middle income, you don't get those deals.

What we want to do is take those loopholes away, make it fair for everybody, lower tax rates, and make it easy.

Here is how easy this gets. We are going to make it so easy that, by doubling the standard deduction, 90 percent of Americans, 9 out of 10 Americans, will be able to fill out their taxes on a form the size of a postcard. What this means is, for a single person, you don't pay taxes on your first $12,000 of income. For a married couple, you don't pay taxes on your first $24,000 of income.

Here is the basic philosophy. Instead of jumping through all the hoops that the IRS puts in front of you, instead of doing what the special interest groups say you need to do in order to get some of your money back, we basically say: Keep your money in the first place. It is your money. Do what you want with it.

All of this is about tax relief. It is about fairness. It is about simplicity. It is about easing the stress and anxiety that is in this country.

What we really need to do is we need better jobs, more jobs, faster economic growth, higher wages.

This brings us to the way we tax ourselves as businesses. This brings us to what do we do to make America the most competitive place in the world.

Here is the real problem we have got when it comes to the way we tax our businesses. We are the worst in the world at it. We, right now, tax our businesses at the highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world.

What does that do? Well, let me give you an example of where I come from.

In Wisconsin, the example is Johnson Controls. Johnson Controls is a company with a history dating back, in our State, to the 1880s. It was the biggest company we had headquartered in Wisconsin. Not anymore, because Johnson Controls is an Irish company, and their Irish tax rate is 12\1/2\ percent.

This is happening all over the country. Companies, just to stay competitive, are becoming foreign companies. And when the headquarters of that company leaves your hometown, when the headquarters of that business and that employer leaves your State and goes to another country, there goes the United Way Campaign. There goes the white- collar jobs. There goes the manufacturing. There goes the research and development. There goes America's competitiveness.

What is worse is all these foreign companies are buying U.S. companies because it is cheaper because of taxes.

Here is what we do. Instead of being the worst in the pack, we leapfrog ourselves by bringing that tax rate down

to 20 percent. Because, guess what. When you tax your businesses at much, much higher tax rates than our foreign competitors tax theirs, they win and we lose. We have got to stop losing. We have got to start winning. That is what this does.

What is even more impressive about this is it lowers taxes for those small businesses, those mom-and-pops even more. We have got to make sure that our businesses, the job creators of America, have every incentive to stay here, have every incentive to build here, have every incentive to hire here.

What is more, we are finding that by doing this, we are going to get faster economic growth. We are going to get more jobs. We are going to get higher wages, better take-home pay.

Let me just break it down in simple numbers.

The Tax Foundation ran the numbers. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation said, with this bill, we will get faster growth, about 3\1/2\ percent faster economic growth. We will get about 890,000 new jobs. They estimate that in New York State alone, 57,834 new jobs; In Wisconsin, 17,999 new jobs; in California, 101,422 new jobs; in Texas, 74,037 new jobs. You get these new jobs when you grow this economy. You pass this bill, you grow this economy.

So why do we do all of this? Because it is about giving people more take-home pay. It is about raising wages. It is about helping families that are struggling to get ahead. It is about getting Washington out of the business of picking winners and losers and giving the American people the kind of economy they deserve, the kind of economy we can have.

This just shows you that across every income scale across the board, wages will go up because we are going to grow the economy. Most of the wage growth goes to the people who need it most, people who are in the middle, people who are struggling. That is why we are here.

Right now, we are in the middle of a long day where people are working tooth and nail in their jobs. We are right here in the middle of a day where America's workers are trying to figure out how they are going to make ends meet, how they are going to keep up with everything.

Those people, the hardworking taxpayers of this country that we represent, that is why we are here. This is why we are doing this. They are the foundation of this country. We are here today for them.

The special interest groups are trying to protect their piece of the pie. All the negativity you see out there, there is probably a special interest group back there trying to keep their special niche in the Tax Code.

It is high time we root that out, we don't settle for the status quo, and we give people the kind of Tax Code that they need and they deserve. It has been 31 years since we last did this, and it is finally time that we get the general interests of this country to prevail over the special interests in Washington.

We know that this brings more fairness. We know that this increases take-home pay, bigger paychecks, and we know that this grows the economy and creates more opportunities.

Faster economic growth is not going to fix every problem America has, but faster economic growth is going to help us solve every problem America has.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues today to raise their gaze and do something bold, to see the forest through the trees, to think about the people we are here to actually represent, to think about the people who are struggling, who are going to go to bed tonight and probably not sleep because they are worried about what is going to happen tomorrow. That is what this is. This is one of the most historic and the biggest things that we will ever do.

And the reason is because this is one of the biggest things we can do to improve people's lives, to revitalize that beautiful American idea, to spread liberty and freedom. This is something that is going to refresh our confidence in ourselves and our confidence in each other.

Enough settling. Enough giving in. Let's start to reclaim our future right here in this moment, in this Chamber. In this moment, let's pass this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 4 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, as we wind down this debate on tax reform or, what we should really call it, tax cut, I think that we should tabulate this as a missed opportunity. This could have

been done between the two parties. Instead, much of this was constructed without any Democratic input.

Reminder: In 1986, the historic Tax Reform Act included President Reagan and Speaker O'Neill, Chairman Rostenkowski, Dick Gephardt, and Bill Bradley. In this instance here, 32 years later, not one hearing was held on this tax bill that is about to be voted on in the next 45 minutes.

The significance of that is that there was never any back-and-forth, and in 1986, expert testimony was sought from 450 witnesses. We had not one witness who commented on the legislation.

It has been advertised as a middle class tax cut. Wait until you get the bill. How can you say that this is a middle class tax cut and compare that to repeal of the estate tax?

How many middle class people in America pay the estate tax?

That is how many people pay the estate tax. No middle class American pays the estate tax. There is no such thing as a death tax, in addition to which a middle class tax cut is described as doing away with the alternative minimum tax. 4.5 million families pay an alternative minimum tax in America. That is it.

I fixed the problem years ago for the middle class, and 27 million people stopped paying AMT. So now we are down to people at the very top.

So how are we paying for this? Or how are they paying for it, better, because they are not going to get much help on this side?

Well, they decided that that teacher who used to have $250, that they could deduct on their income taxes, that is going to be abolished.

So if you have Alzheimer's and you exceed the 10 percent number in terms of cost in your healthcare for caring for that loved one at home who is sick or has dementia, that is how they are going to pay for the tax cut. They are going to take that away.

State and local property taxes, they are going to take that away--the deduction. They are going to pare back the mortgage interest tax deduction. All of this advertised on the basis of a middle class tax cut?

People at the bottom end are not going to get much from this tax cut. I want to take you back again, as I have repeatedly, because I have cast three great votes in this House during my 29 years: against the Iraq war, and there weren't many of us; against the cuts in 2001; and against the tax system in 2003; all advertised as progrowth economics.

There was no economic growth in the tax cuts of 2001, which totaled, by the way, $1.3 trillion. For people who said at the time, ``everybody gets a tax cut,'' they were correct. Then you looked at the distribution tables to see what people got at the top and then what people got at the bottom. Then we came back in 2003 and cut another trillion dollars in taxes--advertises progrowth economics--zippo growth occurred.

Then, by the way, the granddaddy of them all: How about repatriation. Repatriation, bringing back those earnings to the United States for investment in job growth, at, by the way, 5\1/4\ was the tax burden they carried, all based on job growth. It was for stock buybacks, dividends, and layoffs.

We had a chance here to do something historic. We had a chance here in this debate and discussion because there is a genuine affability on that committee. We had this opportunity to take the Tax Code and transform it for the gig economy in the modern age. We didn't do that, though. Four days we had to examine this tax proposal with no hearings. Not one chance for a Democratic amendment to proceed.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2\1/2\ minutes.

Mr. Speaker, let me acknowledge the support of the Democratic staff that are here as well: Kara Getz, Karen McAfee, Aruna Kalyanam, Peg McGlinch, Deva Kyle, Ji Prichard, and Suzanne Walsh. They did a magnificent job as well, and we are much dependent on the good staff work, particularly, on the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I spoke earlier of the missed opportunity that we have here. We have a real problem in America with labor participation rates. Six million job go unanswered every day now in America, 18,000 precision manufacturing jobs in New England, and 1 million tech jobs, because skill sets don't align with the job opportunities that are out there.

Two million Americans sit home with opioid addictions who should be in the workforce. This was a chance to invest in human capital as well, to invest in our community colleges, to invest in apprenticeship programs. Yes, the other challenge that we have in America is, clearly, to invest in vocational education for many of the jobs that are available.

Instead, we pushed that off to the side and decided that, once again, if we just had tax cuts, all of these challenges and problems would go away.

The idea of investing in the human side of American opportunity is then

people do what we would like them to do in terms of home buying, raising families, caring for neighborhoods, and practicing the art form of citizenship.

Once again, what we are witnessing today--and we need to be alarmed about it--is the greater and greater conservation of wealth in America. Now, I understand it is complicated. It has to do much with technology and globalization, but it is also about the gig economy, and we, today, reward capital more than we reward labor.

When we get done, if they are successful on the other side, we are going to further concentrate wealth amongst those few families in America. We serve here in the House of Representatives, not in the House of Lords. This is not about peerage, where you are entitled to a seat in this House of Representatives. That is what is wrong. That is what Jefferson and Madison envisioned when they signed those bonds of the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution to break with Europe. We don't practice divine right here.

I wish the outcome here today, Mr. Speaker, would have been more genuine and it would have been different.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), a very capable legislator, the Democratic whip.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the very capable Democratic leader.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young).

Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to work with the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) on this important issue for the Alaska Native community. Under the tax bill, Alaska Native Settlement Trusts would be unintentionally subject to a higher tax rate.

I thank him for bringing this to my intention. I assure him that I will focus on this in conference as we finalize individual rate structures between the House and the Senate. I also look forward to working with him to advance the provisions of his bill in this important area.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, this historic legislation before us today represents a crucial step to fulfilling our tax reform promise to the American people, but it is not the final step. We are Republicans. We believe the Tax Code doesn't belong to Washington. It belongs to the American people. We will continue to work to make it better and improve at every step of the way.

Before I make final remarks, I want to thank all of our Ways and Means Committee members who have done so much and worked so hard, as well as every Member of this House who helped make this opportunity real for the American people.

I also want to say how grateful I am to everyone at the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation and the House Office of the Legislative Counsel. Their careful analysis contributed so much to this bill.

Finally, I want to give special recognition to Barbara Angus, the chief tax counsel on the Ways and Means Committee, and all of our staff on the committee, who put their hearts and their souls and many sleepiness nights in the development of this bill. I can't thank them enough for their hard work and dedication.

Mr. Speaker, the House of Representatives is, by its very design, the Chamber of Congress closest to the American people. Today, this House-- the people's House--will pass historic legislation to improve the lives of Americans nationwide.

For too long, this broken Tax Code has put the needs of the people second, propping up Washington's special interests at the expense of hardworking Americans.

For too long, this broken Tax Code has rewarded companies for outsourcing American jobs instead of encouraging them to create jobs here at home.

For too long, this broken Tax Code has eroded America's economic leadership around the world.

This country used to be the standard-bearer worldwide for competitive tax systems. Not anymore. Now the United States is barely a spec in the rearview mirrors of so many of our international competitors.

In our businesses, our workers, our Made in America products, which are the best in the world, are bearing the consequences of Washington's failure to act. That stops now, and it stops with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

With this historic bill, we will provide real simplicity for every taxpayer, we will deliver real fairness to every hardworking American, we will be more competitive than ever, we will win worldwide and here at home, and we will see better jobs and bigger paychecks in every community of this great Nation so people can keep more of their hard- earned dollars.

With this bill, we will deliver a new Tax Code built for a new era of American prosperity.

So to Washington's special interests, who are now being propped up by absurd carve-outs and loopholes, get ready to stand on your own. To our international competitors, who are now leading the pack, get ready to have some company. To the American people, who have waited years for tax reform, get ready for the tax relief you deserve.

Today, this House--the people's House--is taking action on the most transformational tax overhaul in a generation, and we are taking action today. It is time for this old, broken Tax Code to go. It is time to put the American people first.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), our majority whip and a tremendous leader on tax reform.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), our majority leader and a champion for tax reform.

Mr. Speaker, no one man has plowed the field for tax reform for more years, more boldly, or more effectively than the Speaker of the House.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan).

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I want to thank the gentleman. I want to thank him for all those Americans out there who have waited decades for this, for the hours that he has listened, for the numerous hearings he has gone through to get us to this day.

Mr. Speaker, I stand before this body, but I want to speak to the people watching us at home right now and who will hear us in the hours and days to come. I want to speak to the people who stretch their budgets to get to the next paycheck. I want to speak to the people who are starting to wonder if the American promise no longer applies to them.

You need a comeback. America needs a comeback.

If we are successful today and in the weeks to come, you will keep more of the money that you earned. You will have more in your paycheck. Your life will improve. If we succeed, you will succeed, but if the leaders and obstructionists on the other side of the aisle win, you will lose. You see, they want Washington insiders and bureaucrats to keep more of your hard-earned income. They think it is theirs to spend. We think it is yours.

Now, I have tried my best to understand their opposition, and I have listened to the pessimistic leaders of a party that once upon a time claimed they stood for the common man.

Without a shred of evidence, they are certain our plan won't work. They drum up a stale argument from 30 years ago, saying all this bill does is help the rich. They call it a middle class tax hike.

That same paper our colleague just held also has fact checkers, but the fact checkers gave them not one, not two, not even three, but the most Pinocchios you can give, four, for that lie.

Every honest person sees this as a tax cut for hardworking Americans. This bill increases the child tax credit, increases the standard deduction, increases wages, and is already bringing back jobs to America.

The fact is the first $55,000 an average family of four earns will not face a single penny of income tax, not a single penny.

So what are these party leaders defending by their opposition?

It is not the people. After all, there is not a single person I have ever met in this Nation who wants higher rates, lower wages, fewer jobs, and a more complicated Tax Code. No, they aren't defending the people.

They are defending loopholes for the special interests, corporate welfare, and carve-outs for lobbyists. They are defending the abusive tactics of the status quo at the IRS.

You know what I find most absurd? They are defending the reckless tax-and-spend policies of broken States across this country. They have made it their mission to increase taxes on our fellow citizens. My friends on the other side of the aisle have the audacity to call this a tax increase. In the end, they are defending a broken status quo.

You know what I think, Mr. Speaker? I think that voting ``no'' on a plan with lower taxes, higher wages, more jobs, and a simpler system, that isn't about Republicans and Democrats. Voting ``no'' is telling the American people you do not have faith in them to rise if they are given a fair shot.

Mr. Speaker, I have a simple question for this House and for everyone who is watching at home: Do you want higher taxes and less money in your pockets or do you want lower taxes and more money?

I think we have sent a message to the doubters and the critics. The American people do not want hard work to be punished. We do not accept decline. We do not accept that Washington knows how to spend our money better than we do.

I have a different message for the American people: To those trying to find a job, that long search is coming to an end. This is your comeback.

To those sick of just getting by and fighting for a raise, this is your comeback.

To those struggling to keep your small business afloat, to pay your employees, to help your neighborhood, this is your comeback.

To every American who ever dreamed of being an entrepreneur and owning a small business, this is your comeback.

To every mother and father starting a family, raising your kids, and trying to give them more of an opportunity than you ever had, this is your comeback.

Now, I put hope in the American people. This bill puts hope in our American people because we trust the people. That is the start of America's comeback.