Tax Reform
Mr. President, during the 8 years of the Obama administration, our economy failed to live up to its full potential-- meager growth rates, wages that failed to keep pace, and a decline in opportunities. Middle-class families were hurting,…
Mr. President, during the 8 years of the Obama administration, our economy failed to live up to its full potential-- meager growth rates, wages that failed to keep pace, and a decline in opportunities. Middle-class families were hurting, and they needed policies that would allow the economy to begin to grow again. Unfortunately, the last administration often gave them exactly the opposite. Some were sins of commission, such as making things worse with an aggressive regulatory rampage. Others were sins of omission, such as failing to address an outdated tax code that has made American companies increasingly uncompetitive in a global economy and, as a result, has moved investment and jobs offshore.
Then, in November Americans chose to go in a different direction. They elected a pro-growth President who would sign legislation from a pro-growth Congress. Ever since, we have been working to turn the tide back in favor of the middle class. We have undertaken what has been described as the ``most ambitious regulatory rollbacks since Reagan.'' We have pursued policies that can once again encourage job growth and American investment.
Just last week, the administration and congressional leaders and, most importantly, the chairmen of the Senate Finance and the House Ways and Means Committees issued a joint statement outlining shared principles for unleashing the American economy through comprehensive tax reform. Comprehensive tax reform represents the single most important action we can take now to grow the economy and to help middle-class families finally get ahead. It is no secret that the current Tax Code is overly complex and highly punitive and makes it harder for individuals and small businesses to succeed.
Fortunately, we now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fundamentally rethink it. It has been over three decades since that last happened. In the years since, the international economy has grown much more competitive. American workers and American businesses have only found it harder to keep up with foreign contenders. Put simply, the rest of the world is running circles around us in this area, making it more difficult for American firms to hire, invest, and compete.
The time has come to fix this so we can help our economy grow and help the individuals and families we represent realize their true potential. For families, we want to make their taxes simpler, fairer, and lower. For small businesses, we want to provide the conditions they need to form, invest, and grow. For all American businesses and their employees, we want to ensure they have the best chance to compete with foreign companies and succeed. We want a tax system that encourages American companies to bring jobs home again.
These are some of the key goals of tax reform. They sound like goals we should all share, regardless of party. For years, the tax-writing committees have focused on this particular subject--holding hearings, soliciting input from stakeholders, and considering the views and priorities of Members, both on and off these committees. They are eager now to begin the process of developing tax reform legislation that achieves the shared goals I outlined above.
The administration and congressional leaders stated:
We have always been in agreement that tax relief for
American families should be at the heart of our plan. . . .
And we are now confident that . . . there is a viable
approach for ensuring a level playing field between American
and foreign companies and workers, while protecting American
jobs and the U.S. tax base.
Our expectation is for this legislation to move through the committees this fall under regular order, followed by consideration on both the House and Senate floors. There is a great deal of bipartisan consensus about what ails our Tax Code, and my hope is that our friends on the other side of the aisle will join us in a serious way to address it, because the American people deserve a tax system that works for them instead of against them. They deserve a tax code that encourages companies to bring jobs home instead of encouraging just the opposite. Americans deserve true comprehensive tax reform.
I appreciate the good work of our colleagues in the administration and by Members in both Chambers already to get us there, particularly Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch. Chairman Hatch has been working hard with his fellow Finance Committee members--Senators from both sides of the aisle--literally for years, on this issue, and he continues to lead the way today. Under his leadership and the leadership of Chairman Brady in the House, Congress's tax-writing committees will advance these principles through regular order, so that Members on both sides of the aisle will have an opportunity to participate in this historic effort, if that is what they choose to do.
This will not be an easy process, but the people we represent are depending on us for help. Now is the time to deliver tax reform, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to accomplish it.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.