In a quorum call . The presiding officer we are not in a quorum call. Mr. Thune mr. President , were getting close to making tax relief a reamount imri reality. Last week the house released its tax reform bill. Both houses will review the bills and debate them on the floor and develop a final version. Mr. President , after years of economic stagnation, americans are ready for relief. They are ready to keep more of their hardearned money. They are ready to finally see a real pay increase, and they are ready for more access to economic opportunity. Thats what our tax reform bill is going to provide. To start with, our bill is going to put more money in americans pockets by lowering their tax rates and doubling their standard deduction. In our bill a family making 24,000 a year or less wont be paying any taxes. Families making more than 24,000 a year will pay significantly less than they are paying today. Were also going to help families by substantially increasing the child tax credit. Were going to simplify and streamline the tax code so that its easier for americans to figure out what benefits they qualify for so they dont have to spend a lot of time and money filing their taxes. But, mr. President , thats only the beginning. Americans dont just warrant to keep dont just want to keep more of their hardearned money, they also want to be making more of it, but americans have had a hard time doing that lately. Wages have been stagnant for years and new opportunities have been hard to find. So in addition to reforming the the tax code, we will reform the business side so we can give americans wages that will settle them up for a secure future. We need american businesses to thrive. Thriving businesses creates jobs, they provide opportunities, and they increase wages and invest in their workers. Right now, though, our tax code is not helping businesses thrive. Instead its strangling both large and Small Businesses with high tax rates. Small businesses are incredibly important for new job creation. They play a huge role in the economy in my home state of south dakota and other states all across the country. But the high tax rates that too many Small Businesses currently face makes it difficult for them to p even survive much less thrive and expand their operation operations. Were going to lower taxes for Small Businesses so they can grow and hire new businesses. Were also going to allow Small Businesses to recover their capital invested in inventory and machinery more quickly will which will create more capital. Right now it can take Small Businesses years, or in some cases decades, to recover the costs of their investments in equipment facilities. That can leave them extremely cash poor in the meantime. Needless to say, cashpoor businesses have a hard time expanding, hiring new workers or increasing wages. Allowing Small Businesses to recover their investments more quickly will mean more jobs and opportunities for American Workers. In addition to high tax rates on large and Small Businesses, another thing that is decreasing jobs and opportunities for American Workers is our outdated worldwide tax system which is discouraging American Companies from investing their profits here at home and american jobs and American Workers. Having a worldwide tax system, mr. President , means that American Companies pay u. S. Taxes on the profit that they make here at home as well as on part of the profit that they make abroad once they bring that money back to the United States. The problem with this is that American Companies are already paying taxes to foreign governments on the money they make abroad. Then when they bring that money home, they too often having to pay taxes again on part of those profits, and, i might add, at the highest tax rate in the industrialized world. Its no surprise that this discourages businesses from bringing their profits back to the United States to invest in their domestic operations and in new jobs and increased wages. From 1993 to 2003, there were 29 corporate inversions where u. S. Companies moved abroad. Between 2003 and 2014, when other countries were dropping their Corporate Tax rates and shifting to territorial tax systems, there were 47 such inversions. Our tax plan address this drag on our economy by moving from our outdated worldwide tax system to a territorial tax system. What does that mean, mr. President . Well, by shifting to a territorial tax system here in the United States, a move, a move that is supported by members of both political parties, we will eliminate the double taxation. Combine that with a reduction in the high Corporate Tax rate and we can provide a strong incentive for u. S. Companies to invest their profits at home in american jobs and American Workers instead of abroad. Business tax reform is essential to reversing the economic stagnation that weve seen in recent years. The white House Counsel of council of economic advisors estimates that the framework will boost Economic Growth by 3 and 5 . Mr. President , thats good news for the economy. More specifically, however, its good news for American Workers who can expect to see their incomes rise as a result. A study from the White House Council of check advisors shows that reducing the Corporate Tax rate from 35 , which is the highest in the industrialized world, down to 20 , which is more competitive with our competitors around the world, would increase average Household Income by 4,000 annually. Well, think about that, mr. President. Reducing the tax on businesses in this country would increase average Household Income for families in america by 4,000. A Boston University professor and Public Finance expert, larry kutlakof, found that this would increase Household Income by 3,500 per year. This was found by the former chair of economic advisors who noted that Corporate Tax reform will boost Household Income by 3 toy 500 per year. There are lots of analysts looking at the proposed changes in the tax code that we are attempting to get through the congress this year and on the president s desk. Not only will it reduce the taxes, the tax burden, the amount of tax paid by middleincome families in this country, the reduction in the rates on businesses will also increase the number of opportunities for better paying jobs and higher wages and raise that average Household Income that is so desperately in need of a boost. Mr. President , its been a rough few years for the American Economy and workers. I think all you have to do is look at the numbers and know most americans havent seen a pay raise in almost the last decade. But with comprehensive tax reform, the next few years and the next few decades, for that matter, can look very, very different. Republicans tax reform legislation is going to provide direct relief to hardworking americans and its going to create the kind of economy that will give workers access to more jobs, to better opportunities, and to higher wages. Not just for the near term but for the long term. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Senate Finance committee under the leadership of chairman hatch to put the final touches on our bill and to take it up in the committee next week. And then i hope we can bring that bill to the floor of the United States senate and have an open debate, process amendments but put something, pass something through the senate that we can conference with the house of representatives, put on the president s desk and move our economy in a direction that will provide a brighter and more prosperous future for American Workers and american families. Mr. President , its time to give the American People some relief. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Van hollen thank you, mr. President. I rise today to strongly oppose the legislation thats emerged from the house of representatives that pretends to provide tax relief to middleclass americans. But if you take a look at it and you look at the analyses that have already come out, what it really is is another big tax giveaway to millionaires, billionaires, and big Multinational Corporations. I believe we should do tax reform. We should take our tax code. We should clean up a lot of junk thats gotten into our tax code thats not there for good Public Policy reasons. Its there because someone had a highpowered lobbyist. We need to clean up our tax code. We need to reform our tax code, and we need to do it in a way that helps the middle class and doesnt add more big breaks to Big Corporations. Unfortunately, this republican plan does the opposite of tax reform. What it does is doubles down on big tax breaks to Big Corporations and the super wealthy. Lets just take a headline we saw today based on the analysis. The New York Times looked at it. Republican plan would raise taxes on millions of middleclass families. I can tell you that is very true in my state of maryland. In fact, its going to be true in states throughout the United States of america. You are going to see millions of middleclass tax families pay more under this plan. In fact, this analysis that is discussed in the times found that 45 of middleclass families get a tax increase under this plan once its fully implemented. That means that families making between roughly 50,000 a year and 160,000 a year, about half of them are going to end up paying higher taxes under the republican plan. And heres one of the double standards that you see continuing throughout the republican tax plan. Big corporations not only get big tax cuts, 1. 5 trillion, but theyre going to go on forever. Middleclass families, many people will see an Immediate Tax increase, an Immediate Tax increase. Others will see initially a tax cut, a little tax cut. But for individuals and families, its the great disappearing tax cut. A little sweetener to make the bill look good in the early years, but the bill takes away all those tax cuts from middleclass families on average, and then actually increases the burden on a family of four making 59,000 or under, under the plan. So corporations, 1. 5 trillion tax cut over ten years permanent. Folks in the middle, many will see an Immediate Tax increase and it will stay in place. The tax increase. Others will see a little tax decrease, but many of those, as the years go by, are going to see their taxes go up. Again, major Corporate Tax cut financed in large part by millions of middleclass families paying higher taxes. Now just to give you a sense of how well the folks at the very top will do, theres a headline from the wall street journal. This is not a democraticleaning newspaper. Headline, banks sidestep a big tax plan pitfall. Right here in the second paragraph it says this, the wall street journal article at a 20 Corporate Tax rate, banks stand to be among the biggest winners from tax reform. Thats according to s p Global Market intelligence. The five biggest diversified u. S. Banks alone might have had tax savings of 11. 5 billion in 2016 at that rate. The biggest sum for any subindustry group tracked by s p. So big banks, the biggest banks, they do just great under this republican plan. Middleclass families are left paying the bill. If you look at this on the individual side, the top 1 wealthiest americans in this country, the top 1 are going to get an average tax cut of 65,000. Thats per person, on average. If youre in that top 1 , an average family will get a 65,000 tax cut. That means that 48 of the benefit of all the tax cuts in this republican plan go to the top 1 . Let me say that again. Flip it around. The top 1 wealthiest households are going to get 48 of the Dollar Benefit of this tax cut. That doesnt sound like a plan focused on improving the situation of middleclass taxpayers. They are the ones who are going to have to finance many of those tax cuts for the very wealthy and Big Corporations. I know our republican colleagues recognize what a vulnerability this is because our colleague, Senate Majority leader, mr. Mcconnell, said about the tax bill in an interview last saturday, he said at the end of the day, nobody, nobody in the middle class is going to get a tax increase. Lets understand what that means. Hes saying that not a single middleclass household out there in the country is going to see their taxes go up. Well, i dont know what tax plan hes talking about. Its certainly one that hasnt seen the light of day yet, because the bill thats coming out of the house will raise taxes on millions of middleclass families, and that is a fact. Speaker ryan just said the other day, he said an interview on fox news he said, quote, we are making sure every middleclass taxpayer is a winner here. Every middleclass taxpayer is a winner here. Well, thats certainly not true of the plan that just was marked up in the ways and Means Committee of the house, because there are a whole lot of families in the middle class who are big losers on the republican plan. In fact, millions of them around the country. So i dont know what plan theyre talking about. Im looking forward to seeing the republican plan that doesnt raise taxes on any middleclass families in the United States. That should be our policy. We should not be increasing the burden on middleclass families in order to finance a 1. 5 trillion tax cut for big Multinational Corporations. But thats the way it is right now. Now homeowners are going to be especially hard hit under this republican plan because a lot fewer homeowners will utilize the mortgage interest deduction, and the republican plan also slashes the deduction for state and local taxes. In fact, they eliminate your option to deduct state and local income taxes. The result is going to be a lot of middleclass homeowners are going to pay a lot more. Thats why the realtors oppose this bill. These are the folks in our neighborhoods who are buying and selling homes. They are folks who have their ear to the ground in our communities. Heres what the realtors said about this bill. It said it threatens home values and takes money straight from the pockets of homeowners. In fact, they had a study done by coopers Price Waterhouse that said if youre a homeowner and your income is between 50,000 and 200,000 adjusted gross income, you will see an average tax increase. They also predicted that ohm values across the that home values across the board could drop by 10 , and its not clear when they would recover their value. The National Association of Home Builders is also opposed to this legislation because the impact it will have on homeownership and the prices and values of peoples homes around the country. Im quoting from them. The House Republican tax reform plan abandons middleclass taxpayers in favor of highincome americans and wealthy corporations. The bill eviscerates existing housing tax benefits by drastically reducing the number of homeowners who can take advantage of mortgage interest and property tax incentives. Mr. President , i think all of us know that this is not some leftleaning group. Were talking about the National Association of Home Builders finding that the republican plan abandons the middleclass taxpayers in favor of highincome americans and wealthy corporations. Thats their finding based on their analysis of the bill. And heres the catch. Its that double standard again. Just as i said earlier that youve got the tax cuts for Big Corporations going on forever, but theres much smaller tax relief for middleincome taxpayers taking effect early but phasing out. You have the situation if youre a Big Corporation you get to deduct your state and local taxes, all of them. In fact, if youre a Multinational Corporation and youre in china, you get to deduct taxes you pay to the government of china. But if youre a household in maryland or any of our states, you dont get to deduct the taxes you pay to your state and local governments. So youre paying taxes twice on that dollar. Once to the State Government and again to uncle sam out of the same dollar. Fitch ratings looked at this and concluded it will put dramatic strains on state and local budgets since people in those states are not going to be able to take those tax deductions. S