The things that are happening in their own local communities are about the ability for people. People, whether they have just graduated from high school, whether theyre graduating from a technical school, whether theyre graduating from college or whether theyre looking for the second job or a longer career to be successful in the marketplace in their own area, in their own home. Not having to move somewhere to find a job but in their own community. That is what were trying to do. Were trying to increase wages for every Single Community across this country. My home of dallas, texas has been home to so many people who have moved there as a result of the really unlimited opportunities that we see right now in texas, and that comes because texas has found itself to be the home because so many other places, so many other companies have literally been run out of their states because of high taxes, high taxes that are placed on those companies and the employees to where it makes living and being competitive more difficult. During consideration of this legislation, the senate, a few relatively few small provisions were removed through points of order in the senate under whats called the byrd rule, a parliamentary rule used during reconciliation. The first change was made by the senate under the byrd rule strikes the language that allowed 529 accounts to be used for homeschool expenses. The second change modifies a provision that imposes an excise tax on the Investment Income of certain educational institutions. The change strikes a reference to, and i quote, tuition paying, end of quote, students making the exception to the excise tax available only if the institution has less than 500 students or if 50 or less of the students are located in the United States. A third small change simply strikes the short title. Mr. Speaker, all of these provisions were included in the bill, the underlying bill as it first passed the senate and came to the house and passed. However, at the time that this was done, there were no parliamentary points of order which were raised which were later done. These minor changes, mr. Speaker, will allow us to advance exactly the same discussion that we had on this body, exactly the same discussion we had with the American People, exactly the things that we talked about up in the rules committee and across this country as republicans have talked about the importance of the status o tax bill that we presently have move so Many Companies overseas, move jobs overseas, and is not encouraging American Companies to be competitive because america, when combined with state and local taxes and federal taxes, are among the highest in the world, which means that American Business finds itself in a competitive marketplace, may be a graduate product but on price we are not may be a great product but on price we are not competitive. This bill will achieve the greatness that we need for a people that want and needs. This will make sure that the rising worker, whether theyre brand new in the marketplace, or whether theyre an entrepreneur or a mother or a father out in the marketplace looking for a job will find the ability to be successful. The United States is already the best place in the world to live. Were an incubator for new ideas and Small Business but now were going to be able to celebrate that to make it easier. Were taking the tax code, instead of being the highest tax nation in the world, to be one of the lowest. It is going to mean great things for the American People, the American Worker and most of all for people who believe that we want america to be great again. Mr. Speaker, i reserve my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time is reserved. The gentlelady from new york. Ms. Slaughter good morning, mr. Speaker. It seems like only yesterday we were here, does it not . Mr. Speaker, i thank my colleague for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized. Ms. Slaughter we are five days away from christmas, but it feels like groundhog day. Less than 24 hours ago, the majority stood in the chamber and passed its partisan bill to provide tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires, and one president. Speaker ryan called it a onceinalifetime opportunity, but apparently by a twist of fate hes getting that great opportunity again today, much sooner than i am assume he anticipated, because we are taking the bill up this morning. Maybe because providing tax cuts to the 1 the majority failed to do Due Diligence to properly vet the bill. We found out after it passed that several of the provisions violated the byrd rule in the senate. Now, Everybody Knows about the byrd rule in the senate and i dont understand why. This is not found in the conference. This is the rule that prohibits the senate for considering extraneous matters as part of a reconciliation bill. After passing the house, governing 529 accounts, and exempting certain universities from an excise tax were ruled out of order by the senate parliamentarian. The bill was so rushed that even the title of h. R. 1, tax cuts and jobs act, was found to be a violation. Let me repeat that. The very first words of the bill didnt pass muster with a nonpartisan rule keeper in the senate. Imagine what other errors we have yet to discover. This is a consequence of a process that was nothing short of an abomination. There were zero hearings on this bill. Not a single expert was called in to give his or her experience. It passed only after a series of closed or back room dealings and the republicans i think there were some democrats there , the ne of them signed it conference. The senate was such a sham that the First Agreement happened before the first meeting took place. I know this wont the last time that we will meet to fix this bill. Mark my words, we will make socalled technical fixes because of hasty consideration. Majorities rushing to pass a bill is historically unpopular, clearly deeply flawed and will be forced to clean up its impacts and unintended consequences for many years to come. And i really wish i think we all got a Second Opportunity here, and i would rich that my friends to whom i would grab up all their papers and run for the door and forget about this tax bill altogether, but i know that wish will not come true. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady reserves her time. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Sessions mr. Speaker, thank you very much. I thank the gentlewoman from new york. She has, as the rules committee has, taken a lot of time on this bill. Weve spent hours not only discussing and debating the effects of the bill, what the bills about, why we would do it but most of all her abiding ability to stand up and represent her party in their context and i respect that. Mr. Speaker, at this time id like to yield five minutes to the distinguished gentleman from the rules committee, mr. Byrnes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from alabama is recognized for five minutes. Mr. Byrnes thank you, mr. Speaker. Thank you, chairman, for yielding me some time. Ive been listening to my colleagues from the other side of the aisle talk about the 1 , the people at the top of america. Let me tell you who benefits from the status quo of our tax code. Its the 1 . They can afford the lawyers, the accountants, the lobbyists to get them all these special tax treatments that the rest of us dont get. So if you want to do something about the 1 , fix the current tax code. Instead, what our friends on the other side of the aisle keep doing is defending the present tax code because if you dont pass this bill, we have the present tax code, we have the status quo. And the rest of us dont see the benefits from the present tax code. The rest of us need a break. Now, i asked the chair of the house ways and Means Committee when he was before the rules committee the other night three questions that i think is relevant to everybody in america. The first thing i asked him was, will the average individual taxpayers in my district get a tax cut . He said absolutely. And he pulled out a sheet of paper. He says, in fact, in your district, congressman, the average family of four is going to get a tax break of over 2,100 a year. I know in some places in america, 2,100 a year extra in peoples pockets doesnt sound like a lot of money, but in South Alabama, an extra 2,100 in the pockets of hardworking parents that are trying to raise two kids, thats a lot of money. So thats a good thing thats coming out of this bill. I asked him, will it be easier for those individuals to fill out their tax returns . He said absolutely. By making the changes we made in here and taking out some of these special tax breaks we made it easier for everybody to fill out their tax return. Then i asked the third question. I just heard the gentlelady from new york talk about how this benefits big corporations. I dont have big corporations in my district in South Alabama. Ive got mainly Small Businesses. Let me tell you about one. Its called fast time convenient store. Now, we call those in alabama filling stations because you go there and you get gas in your car, in the morning you go get a cup of coffee, get biscuits, you go in there at lunchtime. Also got something there called freds kicking chicken. You get a good thing of Fried Chicken and a soft drink and hes got some barbecue in a trailer across the way. Thats the sort of businesses i got in my district. And i think those businesses are darn important, and so the owner of that business asked me the other day when i was in there. He says, i dont care about the big boys. Are you going to do something that helps me, that helps the businesses like me . And so i asked the chairman of the ways and Means Committee. Are we going to be helping those Small Businesses . Absolutely. They are going to see historic tax cuts, particularly if theyre one of these passthroughs. Historic tax cuts. And, yes, their tax returns will be simpler to fill out. So when i think about it from the standpoint of South Alabama and i dare say my district is not much different from most every other district thats being represented here, i see a threefer. Individuals get a substantial tax cut. More money in their pocket, individuals will have an easier time filling out their returns and these Small Businesses that are the backbone of america, they are getting a real break. Now, i know that our friends on the other side of the aisle think that the government needs to be more involved in the lives of ordinary americans. But you know in order for the government to do that, the government has to have money, and the government doesnt produce anything and it doesnt provide a Single Service so they dont sell anything. So how does the government get money . It takes money. A tax is taking. It takes money from people in the private sector. We on this side of the aisle dont think the government should be so involved in peoples lives in america, and we dont think we should be taking so much money from them through taxes. We believe that that benefits the america we believe that gives control over their open money. Number two, were absolutely convinced and dozens and dozens of economists have told us that this is a major shot in the arm for the american economy. This is also a jobs bill. Because this is going to pump up the american economy, get our economy growing at a faster rate. When we do that, we not only create more jobs, but we create the sort of lift in our economy where we start seeing real wage growth. What we have been missing out there is real wage growth. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from new york. Ms. Slaughter thank you, mr. Speaker. Im pleased to yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from washington state, ms. Delbene. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from washington is recognized for three minutes. Ms. Delbene thank you, mr. Speaker. It should come as no surprise today were voting again on a bill that couldnt pass muster because it was cobbled together in a hurry, hidden from the public, and denied any meaningful vetting or debate. Tax reform is hard. Its even harder when you go it alone, cooking up things in back rooms out of the light of day. But the real travesty here is that this bill wont help Everyday Americans in the long term. To call it once in a generation tax reform is an insult to those who came before us. Republicans and democrats who linked arms and through years of partnership and compromise crafted the 1986 bill that House Democrats passed with president reagan. Thats the model we should have followed because the fact is we can all agree that our tax code is out of date and leaves countless families behind. This year the u. S. Department of labor released data showing that there were around six million open jobs unfulfilled across the country. At a time when around 6. 8 million americans are looking for work. I believe congress has a responsibility to the American People to tackle this problem from every possible angle, including tax policy. But the ryanmcconnell plan doesnt just fail to acknoming or address the problems that American Workers are facing today, it cuts peoples legs off from underneath them just when they are trying to get traction. Chairman brady likes to talk about this bill leapfrogging us to the front of the pack, but the truth is this bill doesnt leapfrog us anywhere but backward. This bill does nothing to put educational students in the reach of more americans trying to get ahead in the 21st crepetry economy. And does nothing to moderpize research consecutives that could support new breakthroughs that create the jobs of tomorrow. It explodes the deficit, making it that much hardtory finance desperately needed invest harder finance desperately needed investments in infrastructure. Why are republicans giving away the house to republicans whose c. E. O. s are talking about stock prices not jobs . As a former c. E. O. Myself i know Economic Growth is created by great ideas and great talent, not indiscriminate Corporate Tax cuts at the expense of investments in the people who have always owpord our economy powered our economy. I think it should be about modernizing our code to make us competitive in the 21st century. That means being fiscally responsible, forwardlooking, and envesting families. This bill is a letdown for the American People and we will no doubt be cleaning up this mess years to come. Years to come. Not just today. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas. Mr. Sessions thank you very much. We do recognize we have a difference. We recognize we had a difference at the time we announced we were going to do this bill. We were going to chaping the direction we were going. This change the direction we were going. This was part of the debate that happened during the president ial election where we had an argument, the Democratic Party very clearly said we need to raise taxes every year we see where they are on the floor during budget time to raise spending 1 trillion. Raise taxes 1 trillion. That is more than what they had done under president obama, speaker pelosi, and mr. Reed. Reid. Except what happens when do you that is you kill the economy. You kill the investment in families and in jobs and in Small Business. And the year after we had the massive tax increase, we had g. D. P. Rate of zero. Thats because there was this free justice from uncle sam. Prize to so the economy failed to grow. And then as the economy began to normalize, it uncle sam. Normalized over the next seven years at 1. 2 . Thats what the election was about, mr. Speaker. And since the election what has happened is we have added over one million net new jobs, despite a huge storm summer thar impacted a lot of employment. And our stock market has risen dramatically. Meaning that america wants to be great again, too. And were going to make it together. We do recognize differences. They want a 1 trillion increase in spending. They want a 1 trillion tax increase. And we want to move it the other direction. I reserve my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentlelady from new york. Ms. Slaughter im pleased to yield one minute to the gentlewoman from california, ms. Chu. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. Ms. Chu less than 24 hours after it passed, and already we have to come back to vote on fixes to the republican tax scam. This bill was so needlessly rushed it wasnt even time to proofread. I can only wonder what other mistakes well discover in the coming days, weeks, and months. This was sloppy lawmaking and bad policymaking. In order to give massive tax cuts to corporate interests and the top 1 , republicans have created trillions in new debt that will have to be paid for by you guessed it, the rest of us. Republicans claim that everybodys getting a tax cut. But if you read it, something they clearly didnt do, youll see that 83 of the benefits go to the top 1 . The average savings for the lowest earner is just 60. My own constituents in california can actually expect to pay more in taxes thanks to the capping of the state and local Tax Deduction. Im opposed to this tax scam and i urge my colleagues to vote no. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas. Mr. Sessions mr. Speaker, thank you very much. At this time id like to yield three minutes to a distinguished member of the rules more commit the gentleman from georgia, the gentleman, mr. Woodall. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Woodall mr. Speaker, i very much appreciate that. Mr. Chairman, i appreciate you yielding me the time. I have a great pleasure of serving on the rules committee. Also have the great pleasure of serving