Hatch hatch he has an interesting mr. Hatch he has an interesting way of trying to get his point of view across. It shouldnt b done here in this august body. The senate will soon vote on h. R. 1, the tax cuts and jobs act. Ive waited a long time to give this final statement in support of tax reform legislation. As you know, mr. President , ive been in the senate for a little while. Ive been party to a number of major legislative achievements like the passage of the americans with disabilities act, the creation of the chip program the Child Health Insurance program and the religious freedom restoration act, which has given, just to name just a few. These are landmark bills, and ive had a lot to do with them. The legislation before us is as important and farreaching as anything ive been privileged to work on. Its beyond gratifying to see the senate reach this point and i look forward to finally seeing real tax reform legislation signed into law. I apologize for this type of intemperate action and mouthing off inside of this august chamber. People feel very deeply about these things on both sides of the issues. Passage of this important bill will be historic. The combination of years of work for people by people in both parties, in both chambers, and on both sides of pennsylvania avenue. Many of us in this body have been waiting for years for this opportunity, and millions of americans outside of this body have been waiting even longer. Its no secret, mr. President , that our tax code is broken. Members of both parties acknowledge this. If you walked across the country and asked americans of all backgrounds an and ideologies, u wouldnt find being who would be willing to defend the status quo. In fact, i dont think you would find anybody. There is one apt phrase my good friend senator wyden uses to describe our tax code. He calls it, quote, a dying carcass. Unquote. Indeed our tax code is dying and rotting. It has hampered job creation, wage growth, investment in the United States, and has chased American Companies to foreign shores. I dont know how it could more harmful than it has been. It has also given Foreign Companies a leg up on u. S. Businesses in the global marketplace, leading to a Record Number of foreign takeovers and inversions. The bill before us will address these problems and help us turn the ship around. Our legislation will reduce the Corporate Tax rate to 21 , something thats long overdue. The lowest level in the modern history of the United States, placing our country slightly below the average of industrialized countries. These changes will once again give American Companies a Competitive Edge and bring more businesses back home instead of losing them the way weve been losing them. Hundreds of economists have said that our bill will boost Economic Growth, and Numerous Companies have indicated that once our bill becomes law, they will invest heavily in expansion and job creation right here in the United States of america. In addition, as the joint committee on taxation has made clear, reducing the Corporate Tax rate has distributional effects that go beyond the companies themselves, their highranking officers or even their richest shareholders. In fact j. C. T. , the joint committee on taxation, estimates that workers bear 25 of the Corporate Tax rate. And other economists have found that this number can reach as high as 75 . This means no matter how you slice it, americans will see their wages go up when Corporate Tax rates go down. Further, over the last few decades weve seen a massive expansion of pension and retirement assets, much of which are invested in corporate stocks. While many of my colleagues like to decry any business for merely earning a profit, the truth of the matter is that the continued rise of corporate profits has significantly expanded the wealth of middleclass workers and taxpayers who have continually set aside funds for the future. A representative from the Tax Policy Center testified before the finance committee in the spring of last year. At that hearing he stated that 37 of corporate Stock Ownership was held in Retirement Plan accounts. 37 . That was the largest share of overall Stock Ownership, and that statistic syncs up with the distribution tables put up by the nonpartisan joint committee on taxation. For all these reasons lowering the Corporate Tax rate has been a bipartisan goal for over a decade now. I said it before, president s clinton and obama, senators wyden and schumer and most of the other democrats on the Senate Finance committee have at some point in the recent past endorsed a significant reduction in the u. S. Corporate tax rate. Our bill will achieve this bipartisan goal and place our country well within the mainstream among our international competitors. This is a good thing. Not just for business, businesses and rich stockholders, but for the working middleclass families as well. Lets be clear, this bills chief focus is about helping the middle class. I know theres a tendency among some in this body, in which chamber to act and speak as though all money in this country inherently belongs to the government. I wont speak for everyone, but those of us who have worked on this bill tend to think differently. Aside from business reforms that will grow our economy, increase wages, and create jobs, our bill will lower individual tax rates across the board, allowing hardworking americans to keep more of their money. And our bill we also nearly double the standard deduction for individuals and married couples. This feature will significantly reduce the burden of tax filing for millions of middleclass families and decrease even further the overall Tax Liability of millions more. For the first time in more than 30 years, nearly every american will get more money back by just filling out an filing out an easy form. This fulfills our goal of simplifying the tax code. For individuals who are concerned about being able to itemize, again we believe the number of people with this concern will decrease dramatically under our bill. We retain a number of key provisions that benefit many in the middle class. For example, this historic legislation will allow individuals and families to continue to claim deductions for state and local taxes up to 10,000 a year. It will keep in place with relatively minor adjustments the deduction for mortgage interest. And americans who itemize and want to deduct their charitable contributions will be free to do so. This has made America Great and has helped us at the same time to be more charitable. Were also expanding the Child Tax Credit with this bill doubling it from 1,000 to 2,000 per child and making the credit far more refundable than ever before. The adoption credit will stay in place. The deduction for medical expenses will still be available. Credits in assistance for students and their families will be untouched. We made all of these changes. And when necessary preserved current law with an eye toward helping the middle class. I no he a number of my colleagues i know a number of my colleagues like to argue that this bill will have different results. So lets look at the numbers. Under this bill a typical family of four earning the median Family Income of 73,000 will see their taxes go down by more than half, about 58 . Mr. President , that number means something, more than just a simple percentage. It means that an average American Family will be able to keep 2,058, 2,058 more of their own earnings next year. Thats a mortgage payment. A downpayment for a car or several months worth of groceries. What about a single parent . Under our plan a single parent with one child making 41,000 will see their taxes slashed by nearly 73 . Thats almost a three quarter reduction in Tax Liability. That means a savings in more than and more than 1,300 over the course of a year. That could be a month of day care expenses, multiple car payments, on a family vacation. These are things that matter to American Families, mr. President. And they well should. But our friends on the other side have been so caught up in partisan politics that theyve decided to ignore the americans who will benefit from this legislation. I think it started with the election of President Trump and the retention of the Senate Control by republicans. Their base protested, occupied and disrupted the transfer of power from president obama to President Trump. Here on the hill the, quote, resistance, unquote, was in full effect right off the bat with a coordinated effort to stall nominations in committee, which included unprecedented boycotts and refusals to meet with nominees. In his and its only gone downhill from there. While we heard words from our friends on the other side about participating in tax reform, their actions showed otherwise. I dont know how they can stand here and make some of the arguments they do. Unprecedented process demands were made. Resistance was the plan. And that plan was carried out. Now we hear about massive tax cuts for the very rich and huge breaks for corporations, but these claims fall apart when you look at the facts. Again, this isnt unchartered territory for my friends on the other side. Accusing republicans of hating the poor and loving the rich is one of their goto moves. Ive seen it for over 40 years. Every time you turn around its one of their goto moves. It has nothing to do with reality. But i do think theyre getting more desperate and vicious in their attacks because they regret their own decisions to sit out of this endeavor. And thats precisely how it happened, mr. President. Our colleagues were apparently so preoccupied with denying President Trump and Congressional Republicans any success that they chose not to engage and instead to sit in the peanut gallery throwing out baseless attacks. As ive said literally dozens of times over the past few years, i wish the democrats had joined us in this process, put aside their ultimatums and preconditions and helped to advance policies that theyve claimed to support for years now. But we are where we are and while the bill before us includes a number of ideas and proposals the democrats have supported, we are prepared to pass it without their votes, if thats what it takes. There have been some democrats who have worked with us, but theyve been few and far between. Once again this is a historic bill, mr. President. Im proud of the work weve done on the finance committee here on the floor and in conference to get us to this point. I again invite our friends on the other side to also support the bill. Im proud of my colleagues who have put in so much effort to get us here, and im proud of the staff on capitol hill who have labored day and night to assist in this endeavor. Like i said, mr. President , this legislation has been years in the making. I urge all of my colleagues to support the conference report and help us send it to the president s desk. You will not regret it. Those who support this will not regret it. Now, mr. President , i think we ought to get rid of this hatred for donald trump that currently exists in this country and in this body. I think we should give the man a chance. He hasnt even been president for a year yet. Give him a chance. Even though he hasnt been president for a year yet, weve had some amazing changes in this country for the better. And i think we could have many more. What really interests me is that donald trump six or seven years ago was working with democrats as well as republicans. He offered to work with the democrats on these matters. They have not taken up the off offer. Instead its as though theyre still bitter because he beat their candidate for president. Id like to have us get over that type of petty politics and see what we can do to Work Together. Heaven knows on the finance committee, i believe we have good democrats on that committee as well as good republicans, and i think we can Work Together. I have to say i dont think we have as well as we should, but i think we can. And im hopeful that we will. This is an important bill. Its a bill that really does need to pass. Its a bill that will help this country. Its a bill that will help the middle class. In fact, its going to help everybody but it certainly will help the middle class most of all. Mr. President , i hope our put aside politics on both sides and come together to support this bill which literally could help save this country an awful lot of pain over the next number of years. And give the government the kind of resources that it needs to be able to do what the federal government needs to do for its people. I think we can. People in this body know that ive spent years here. Ive been here longer than any other republican that i know of. And i have the legislative record to back it up, a record that has included working with democrats almost every step of the way. So im offering to make sure we Work Together but i havent seen it on the other side. Can they get over the bitterness that they have . Weve heard this loudmouth up in the gallery who has no good sense and a total lack of etiquette and a total lack of respect for this government and this senate. If i was on his side, id be humiliated. Because he was just a big loudmouth that didnt mean a doggone thing. Unfortunately, i think there are more people like that out there who are so bitter that theyll raise these type of issues without really trying to Work Together. Now, i have to say im won who has a reputation for working together. Im chairman of the finance committee. Ive enjoyed my work with the distinguished democrat leader on the finance committee, senator wyden. I care for him i care for the other democrats on the committee as well as all of our republicans. We work pretty well together, but its getting harder and harder to Work Together when all we see are screaming and shouting because they cant get their way because theyre no longer in the majority. I hope they get over that. I hope they start working with us. And if they will, we can do an awful lot of good things for this country. And we can bring people together across this whole country, people who right now are divided because they dont know what to do. They see us screaming and shouting around here and a total lack of willingness to get together. Well, id like to change it. Im open to changing it. But this bill that we have is a very, very important bill and we need to pass it. And my friends on the other side need to realize that. And i hope well get some of them to vote for it. They know its right. Deep down they know its right. They may not be everything they would like themselves. Its not everything i would like myself. But its a doggone good bill and something that could really help this country pull out of the mess that its in. Mr. President , i yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from georgia. Mr. Isakson mr. President , am i next . I see the distinguished senator from washington on the floor. Would she like to be id ask unanimous consent that after i speak, that she the presiding officer without objection. Mr. Isakson with the exception of broken glass, it looks like that works fine. Mr. President , id like to take a moment and commend senator orrin hatch. You know, i listened to the debate over this bill. Not just today but for the better part of three years ive been a member of the finance committee. Ive never heard a more dignified, deliberate, intelligent delivery on any subject than we all just heard from orrin hatch on the tax bill. Regardless of your politics, regardless of where youre from, its good to know that america has dignified statesmen like orrin hatch who take the tough issues, simplify them, get people to join hands, Work Together, and pass whats right for the American People. And im glad the American People are going to get to see that over the next couple of days, and i publicly want to thank senator hatch for all that hes done during the last three years. In the three years on this committee, ive seen us republican and Democratic Committee and subcommittee work on every facet of the tax code to simplify changes down to doable amounts and doable jobs. Ive seen everybody have input. Ive seen everybody Work Together. Sure, weve had differences. Senator hatch has always kept the mainstream there, kept his hand on the tiller and saw to it we never lost sight of what we need to do which is reform our tax code. I want to commend senator hatch and senator enzi as well for the work hes done on the Budget Committee to get us to this point and the Unsung Heroes that all of us know about, our staffs that we cannot do without, jay, mark on the finance committee have been outstanding and have made this thing work and i commend them for their work. On my staff i could not have done without monica mcgwire and jay schultzman, and others, who all worked hard to make sure that we made the right decisions for the people of georgia. Im very proud to be a part of the senate and will prove to be a historic day in the future. There are a lot of nay sayers saying that it will not work. I want to for just a minute talk about what i think this tax bill means for the American People, for the folks who voted for me to come represent them and for whats going to happen in the years ahead. I had a reporter stop me while coming to the floor. He said, senator, where are you going to find the 1. 48 trillion that its costing us by passing the tax cut. I said, ill be willing to bet you we will take in more money because of a dynamic economy than we will lose because of a single cut. There are some people whose thought process is tunnel vision. They dont understand that tax policies drive decisions. There are those who think about leaving america because of our tax rate and now deciding to change because of the new change. Dont underestimate the power of the territorial tax change this makes for american business. A lot of c. E. O. s who go to the stockholder meetings have to go with a game plan to raise the return on their stock to have people invest in their company. Unfortunately the easiest way to raise the return on your stock today would be a domestic American Company and move your company out of the United States, to ireland or someplace else, to a lower tax rate. You can put more money on the table for the stockholder, but it could be bad for your company and bad for the American People. Now that we have a territorial system, you can come to america if youre located there or come to america if you dont. We wont have Companies Moving their companies to new headquarters to get a lower tax rate. We will have more coming to the United States because the tax system we have is fair and equitable for Economic Development and building growth. On the personal side, you really cant argue with doubling the exemption, you cant argue with increasing the Child Tax Credit, you cant argue with simplifying the tax process itself and the filing of taxes, you cant argue with lowering the rates, you cant really argue all of this because this is better for the American People and their pocketbook. In the long run it is better for them, their children, and grandchildren in terms of employment. I have eight grandchildren, the oldest just graduated from college and the youngest is nine. I hope to see them go to work, raise families. What we have done will make it easier for them to find employment for the kids and peace of mind because they live in a country thats vibrant and true. For those who ask, what are you going to do with the money that youre giving up. I dont deal with static scoring. I deal with dynamic scoring. When i ran a company, i made Business Decisions where there was places to grow and positive growth ahead. This change in the tax code, this opportunity that we have does all of those things. Do i know exactly what will happen . No. I am willing to bet my vote, and have already in the committee, and will later tonight, i will bet on the American People, the american worker, and the american entrepreneur, i will bet on them with a tax code that is better for them and expand their personal opportunity. I will bet on them that they are willing to move forward with a better tax code for all the country. Im make my bet on them that their children and grandchildren will have the opportunity theyve had as well. Chairman hatch, thank you for what you have done to make this opportunity come about, to the distinguished senator from washington, unfortunately the senator were losing from alabama in the next few weeks, thank you for what you have done for this legislation. Did we make any mistakes . Maybe. But you never make mistakes when youre trying to do the right thing. You never make mistakes when you try to do the good thing. You never make a mistake when you take a risk. When you take a risk is at the end of a rainbow, which is more jobs, more opportunity and a better america for our children and grandchildren. Thank you, senator hatch, for your work and all you have done to make america a better country and to make our tax system a better system for all the American People. I yield back. The presiding officer the senator from washington. Ms. Cantwell mr. President , i come to the floor to speak about this legislation and i want to, at the outset, thank my colleague from georgia and the senator from utah for their work on the Affordable Housing tax credit. I stand ready to work with him on Affordable Housing in the future and hopefully with the senator from georgia we can make progress with what is a crisis in america. I come to speak in opposition on the tax reconciliation bill. One of the requirements of the legislation that i most ardently oppose is the arctic wildlife refuge for oil and Gas Development. This bill pays for the tax cuts for corporations and middle class, by undermining health care an requiring drilling in our nations most Iconic National wildlife refuge. Everyone should understand that the vote for this reconciliation bill is a vote to go to the howrt biological heart of the refuge and require drilling. I believe opening up the refuge to oil drilling is being done as a supposed revenue raiser to offset the soaring cost of this tax bill for corporations and the wealthy. But the process it went through is a sham. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that drilling for oil in the arctic will raise less than 1 billion over ten years. This doesnt even meet the 1 billion reconciliation instruction and it certainly doesnt represent a serious offset to the huge deficits in the bill. To put that into perspective, less than 7 100 of 1 of the increase in the National Debt will be from this policy in this legislation. So drilling in the arctic really has nothing to do with the serious budget policy. It has everything to do with evading regular order to pass something that could never, through the regular order of legislative process, pass. In addition to drilling in the arctic wildlife refuge, this bill would sell seven Million Barrels of oil from our Nations Strategic Petroleum reserve. A portion of that sale is simply to meet the reconciliation structure, that is to say, make this bill work. But the sale of oil from the Petroleum Reserve would produce 300 billion of windfall to texas, louisiana, mississippi, and alabama. So this bill is selling off oil in order in order to pay for oil drilling in the arctic wildlife refuge. I do not believe that makes sense. Under this sham process, the bill will turn one of our nations wildest and most pristine areas into an oil field. The arctic wildlife refuge is the largest refuge in our nation and one of the crown jewels for us in the United States for wildlife refuges. I believe it is a u. S. Er isen getty serengetti. Jane goodle all said, quote, around the globe so many Indigenous People have been harmed in the name of progress. Let us not add one more tragedy to that list. We have other sources of energy. End quote. I would like to enter in the record the entire letter. The presiding officer without objection. Ms. Cantwell the u. S. Fish and wildlife refuge describes it as the only conservation system unit that protects in an undisturbed condition a complete speck truck of the arctic spectrum an arctic echosystem in america. It has 47 different species of mammals including polar bears, grizzly bears, and caribou. It has over 40 species of fish and 200 species of birds. Why would we want to destroy this refuge . It was first established by the Eisenhower Administration and Congress Later protected this amazing arctic area and its echosystem to protect the wildlife and protect the habitat because of its incredible diversity. The arctic wildlife refuge is really known as the last great wilderness in our country, one of the great last wild places. But this legislation turns that on its head. It would make oil and Gas Development one of the statutory purposes of the wildlife refuge. And under this legislation, this refuge would become the only refuge where oil and Gas Development is required by law. It opens up an entire 1. 5 millionacre coastal plain for gas and oil exploration, leasing 100,000 acres. It will lease the areas with the highest cost of oil and gas no matter the consequences for the environment. The bill requires that the arctic National Wildlife be managed as a petroleum preserve. It is not consistent with the refuge management of wildlife. This bill includes no clear requirements to comply with environmental laws or to protect wildlife. It response its sponsors, however, are saying, they are not preempting environmental laws that, like the National Environmental policy act, will fully apply. But this bill undercuts those assurances of compliance with environmental laws by adding Oil Development as the purpose as the purpose of the arctic wildlife refuge. Adding Oil Development as a purpose is contrary to the purpose of a wildlife refuge. The purpose of a wildlife refuge is to protect wildlife and to make sure that managers of wildlife do so in a management fashion. At every other wildlife refuge in the country, development when the refuge is only permitted to the extent combatable with protecting wildlife. So this bill tries to waive one of the most important management that Development Must be compatible. They do this because they know that oil and Gas Development in the arctic wildlife refuge is not compatible. It is the opposite. It is important to know that this bill does not also provide any energy security. Theres no prohibition in the bill against exporting oil in the wildlife refuge. In all likelihood much of the oil will be exported. In addition to opening up the arctic wildlife refuge, the bill includes seven billion barrels of oil from the Strategic Reserve to give to texas, louisiana, mississippi, and alabama. So, at the same time were being told we must we must ruin a National Wildlife refuge because we need the oil, we are selling oil out of the Strategic Petroleum reserve. It just does not make sense for america. It just doesnt add up. The impact of oil and Gas Exploration in the wildlife area and the danger to our wildlife cannot be overstated. The arctic wildlife refuge coastal plain and nearby waters are designated as critical habitats for polar bears which are listed under the protected species act, female polar bears, and the arctic wildlife refuge has a higher concentration of polar bear denning and habitat than any other area on the north slope. Some are cabin grounds for the caribou herd and we have a treaty between canada and america to protect this herd. The almost 200,000 herd has an annual migration of hundreds of miles and sometimes thousands of miles wintering in the south of the refuge. Now, i think this herd of caribou is so important because Scientists Say they have an entirely different migration pattern than other caribou in alaska. That they have been adept at dealing with the adaptation that comes along with climate change. Why not, instead of ruining their habitat, study and understand that migration that has been studied since the 1950s. It has been part of our National Investment in understanding wildlife. Its been supported by both democrat and republican administrations to understand the science and background of this caribou herd. And these caribou are important food sowrses for sources for many alaskan natives. Wildlife biologists argue that the risks to the caribou herd and those who rely on them could be quite significant. So why are we doing this . Why are we doing this . The last few years have been a difficult budget situation in alaska. Relying on oil for 90 of the budget i agree is unsustainable. And every dollar the price of Oil Per Barrel drops, the state budget, it drops by 30 million or close to one percentage point per dollar. The General Revenue Fund in alaska dropped over 80 in 2012, and that situation caused alaskas 4 billion deficit reduction last year so difficult choices had to be made about taxes, savings, spending, and what the State Government should do. Thankfully their economy hasnt collapsed, but in the last big oildriven recession in the 1980s, alaskas banks failed and housing prices collapsed and 15 of the population left. Why am i bringing this up . Well, because the good news is in todays alaska economy, its more diverse than it was 30 years ago. I know this because i talked to my colleagues and because were interacting in a lot of ways in the pacific northwest. Alaska is well known for its tourism, two million visitors to alaska spend 1,000 per person in the state supporting a 7 billion outdoor industry. My colleagues here may not realize what my colleagues from alaska and washington know, and that is that the state of alaska and washington have a lot of independents. A recent study found 113,000 jobs in puget sound are tied to alaskas economy and this number has doubled in the last 30 years. So what are those jobs . A quarter of those are in the seafood industry, almost a thousand commercial fishermen that work in Alaska Fisheries are part of the trade between us. The alaska trade accounts for one in five containerized ships that travel through the port of seattle and port of tacoma. Jobs are tied to transportation including passenger cruise ships that come flew puget sound through puget sound every year. Thats one way of saying the washington and alaska economy are tied together. And as a hub for arctic commerce, ive worked with my colleague senator murkowski and senator sullivan on issues like a new coast guard arctic ice breakers that are so needed for the future. And ive supported more funding for demonstration of Renewable Energy and microgrids in an effort to help the local economy. I feel the same way about Rural Broadband across the nation, and we want to make sure that were deploying and helping with everything we can to bring more Economic Activity to alaska. But i really question how opening the arctic wildlife refuge is a solution to that problem. Even under c. B. O. s aggressive view, if leasing occurs in the refuge, it will be many years before alaskans see any significant revenue. So my colleagues should be aware that doubling down on oil by sacrificing one of the great wildlife refuges wont help close alaskas budget deficit, and it wont help them diversify for the future. This arctic wildlife refuge is just too special. Its too important. Its one of the crown jewels of our National Wildlife refuge system. We should be preserving it. We should not be destroying it. We should not be turning it into an oil field. I am reminded that many people over many decades have fought for this great area of our country, to maintain its environmental stewardship. Starting with murray who went there and did great exploration that convinced many people here in this washington that it was something so special worth preserving. After decades of his scientific exploration of alaska, he testified in 1959 in support of creating the arctic wildlife refuge. He said, quote, we long for something more for something that has a mental and a spiritual impact on us, this idealism more than anything else will set us apart as a nation for striving for something worthwhile in the universe. End quote. So what is setting us apart today . Some very shortterm gains. In a hundred years when this economic tax bill will long be forgotten, the question will be whether something important in the universe still exists in the arctic wildlife area. We didnt create the arctic coastal plain, but i can tell you this. We cannot recreate it. What were doing today is taking a step towards destroying it. I urge my colleagues to oppose this reconciliation bill. Do not sacrifice the arctic wildlife refuge to Oil Development. Dont take one of the great wild pristine places on this planet and turn it into an oil field. We can do better as a nation. I know we can do better as a region. And we can do better with a better Arctic Strategy for our nations future. I thank the president and i yield the floor. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from massachusetts. Mr. Markey mr. President , thank you. And i thank the great senator from Washington State for her leadership on this incredibly important issue. If this tax bill werent terrible enough, it goes after one of the most beautiful places on earth, the arctic National Wildlife refuge. But drilling in the arctic National Wildlife refuge is nothing more than a big oil polar payout. This isnt about drilling for oil. Its about drilling for votes. This isnt about crude oil. Its the crudest of politics. We now have 41 cosponsors of my legislation with senator bennet to permanently protect the Arctic Refuge by designating it as a wilderness. That is enough to sustain a filibuster and that is precisely why they are circumventing the normal legislative process by including it as a rider on a tax bill. In reality, drilling would turn this pristine wilderness into an industrialized wasteland. The coastal plain is the biological heart of the Arctic Refuge. And allowing oil and gas drilling would drive a stake right through the heart of it. Were currently sending nearly one Million Barrels of oil a day of American Crude Oil overseas, but republicans and the oil industry allies are saying that we need to allow drilling in the wildest place left in america so that we can export even more oil to china and other foreign nations. Its an abomination. Its a disgrace. Drilling in a wilderness area . In order to send oil to china . Its a disgrace. And if the republicans persist in passing this monstrosity of a tax bill and pass this big oil polar payout, theyre the ones who are going to be left out in the cold in 2018. If the republicans want to see what real wilderness looks like, they dont need to travel to the Arctic Refuge. The wilderness is about to come to them. Theyre about to be sent deep into the political wilderness if they pass this tax scam legislation. If the republicans are successful in ramming through the Arctic Drilling rider in the dead of night, we will never give up. We will keep fighting because the Arctic Refuge should forever be the home of caribou, not crude, bears, not barrels of oil. Sand pipers, not pipelines. We will never stop fighting. They may win tonight in the dark of night, but this fight is not over. This is a crime against the environment, which is being committed here tonight. We do not have to sacrifice this wilderness. We are exporting oil out of our country,est porting it. Country, exporting it. We dont have to go here. Export more oil and thats where its going . Its just wrong. And just remember that this is all a part of the socalled republican reconciliation process. And now that we have the final product, that process is being exposed as the giant con game that it truly is. The key phrase in reconciliation is con. Its a con job. The whole thing is nothing more than a masquerade, a trojan horse in order to get a tax break for the upper 1 percentile. Its a con job. The polling in our country says the American People are not buying it. Theyre seeing right through it, through all the political noise, all of the incredible distractions, all the red herrings. The American Public knows that this is a tax break for the wealthiest people in our country and not for the middle concludes. Republicans middle class. Republicans are not even trying to hide what theyre doing anymore. Theyre moving ahead with reckless speed to pass this disaster of a bill in the middle of the night so that is why we will all be back here in a few hours yet again voting in the dead of night on a 500page bill that has no hearings, no amendments, no real debate because thats the only way you can get a tax break for the upper 1 percentile and the wealthiest corporations in the country while trying to market it as a tax break for the middle class, when they know it is not. They know it, by the way. They know what they are doing. It is the height of irony that we will be here tonight ramming through legislation before the senatorelect from the state of alabama can be seated. Just eight years ago republicans called on democrats to step up and repeal the Affordable Care act until senator scott brown was sworn in. They said at the time stop progress. Dont do anything. We need to wait for scott brown to show up. But then when doug jones gets elected, its just put your foot to the accelerator, move as fast as you can, no hearings, no anything. And alabama will not be represented with their new senator out here. Back then democrats actually listened to those calls and today our concerns are completely ignored by the republicans, all so they can continue playing their con game on the American People. And the American People are waking up to the fact that they have been sold a bill of goods. They are seeing that this plan is simply a trojan horse of giveaways to the wealthy, the corporations, and republican political donors. What are some of those giveaways . Well, front and center is the massive cut in tax rates for mega corporations. We know this wont create jobs or trickle down to their employees because weve tried it before. In 2004 we gave a massive tax holiday for huge corporations on the money that they held overseas. But the 15 companies that benefited the most from those giveaways cut more than 20,000 jobs and decreased their research spending. Mark twain says history doesnt repeat itself but it does tend to rhyme and this bill rhymes with that 2004 bill. The tax cut in this bill is even more egregious. Corporate tax cuts floated c. E. O. s and shared stockholders and those stockholders arent all american taxpayers. Foreigners hold 35 of u. S. Corporate stock, foreigners. That means that the republican tax is a giveaway of 48 billion to foreigners in 2019 alone. So think about this. The republicans can find 48 billion to give away to foreign shareholders, but in the same bill raise taxes on millions of middleclass families. By 2027, this bill will raise taxes on over 53 of american households. And at the same time, a full 83 of the tax cuts will flow to the top 1 of americans. So the more the American People see what is in this bill, the more they realize that they will have to foot the bill, the American People are saying no way. New polls today show that over half of the American Public opposes this bill. Twothirds of the people recognize that the bill will benefit the wealthy over the middle class, and according to the polls, the only thing more unpopular than this tax plan is President Trump himself. But the republicans will push ahead anyways since this is all part of the bigger con game. Because when these tax giveaways pass, the deficit will explode by over 2 trillion. And republicans arent even waiting for those deficits to become reality before using them as an excuse to move to the next days of phase of the con gam. They are already using future deficits to justify a brutal, vicious cut to programs for the poorest, for the sickest, for the neediest people in our country. Earlier this month, speaker ryan said, quote, were going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit. We know exactly what republicans mean when they talk about entitlement reform. They mean taking a machete to the programs that working and middleclass families in america rely upon. Republicans want nothing more than an excuse to slash medicare and make it harder for grandma to buy her medicine. The ability to gut medicaid, because in their opinion, health care is only a right for the wealthy. To empower their historical emnity toward Social Security so they can steal benefits from every american who has paid into that system. They are doing this because the modern Republican Party has a sacred obligation to their donors, to the koch brothers, to the massive corporations that help fund their campaigns. They promised them tax breaks, and it will be average working families who will end up footing the bill. When the bill becomes due, the mearp will not forget who sent it to them. Mr. President , here we are at the end of the year. We have truly important issues to address. We need to Fund Health Care for nine million children and show that Community Health centers can keep the lights on, secure the dreams of 800,000 young dreamers and combat the crisis that American Communities face from opioids and natural disasters. But sadly, we are doing none of those things. Instead, we are looting americas middle class to give away massive amounts of money to the rich, which will then create deficits, which will then have them going after medicare, medicaid, and Social Security. Grandma and grandpa who built this country. Thats always been their plan. They have an ancient animosity toward all of these programs, and now they believe that they can leave them as debtsoaked relics of what they are today by creating this huge debt in this tax bill and then turning on the very programs for the very people who made this country who we are today. Mr. President , i urge a no vote on this bill. It will go down in history as one of the worst single pieces of legislation ever to be considered by the United States senate. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from south dakota. Mr. Thune mr. President , relief for americans is on the way. This evening, well vote on the First Comprehensive overhaul of our tax code since 1986. Mr. President , in 1986, i was a young senate staffer. I watched as that tax bill passed on the floor of the United States senate. I was a 25yearold staffer back then. In a couple of weeks, my wife and i will welcome our third grandchild into the world. So it seems only fitting that after about 30 years, that we go about the business of reforming the tax code, because a lot has changed in this country. A lot has changed in this country in the past 30 years. The one thing that hasnt changed is the tax code. Our tax code needs to be updated and modernized to reflect the times in which we live. Since president reagan signed the last overhaul into law, our tax code has ballooned into an unwieldy, complex maze that costs american taxpayers an incredible amount of time and money and acts as a drag on Economic Growth and job creation. And, mr. President , i will say that when i got here, got elected to the senate, i came here like most of us do because we want to do big things. We want to do consequential things. We want to do things that will impact the American People in a beneficial and a positive way. Thats certainly the case with tax reform. And i saw to get sought to get on the Senate Finance committee for that reason. The Senate Finance committee has jurisdiction over tax and trade and health care and issues that really impact and affect the American Peoples everyday lives. And so in 2011, i had the good fortune of getting on the committee. Ever since that time, mr. President , we have been working aggressively, planning for this very day. The suggestion by our colleagues on the other side that somehow this cropped up all of a sudden overnight is just absolutely inconsistent with the facts. Since i got on the finance committee in 2011, we have had no fewer than 70 hearings, 70 hearings on tax reform and taxrelated issues. In 2015, the chairman of the committee, senator hatch, created one of the working groups. I was fortunate enough to chair one of the working groups. They were bipartisan. They were tasked with looking at all aspects of the tax code. Broke it down into five sections, and make recommendations for tax reform. We went about that in a very diligent way. We spent weeks and months developing those ideas, reported those recommendations to the full committee, and those recommendations today serve, mr. President , as the foundation for the legislation that we are considering. And that was a bipartisan process. The democrats participated in that. A lot of the suggestions are bipartisan ideas. The foundation for this legislation, frankly, in many respects, mr. President , originated with those working groups that were worked upon by both republicans and democrats. So we stand here today with a piece of legislation that has a lot of bipartisan substance in it even though the democrats have refused to participate in the process. But we started out with two major goals in tax reform. World cup was to put more money in the pockets of hardworking americans and to create a tax code that would foster Economic Growth and make American Companies competitive again in the global marketplace. Those are the two goals, mr. President. The bill before us today, the tax cuts and jobs act, succeeds on both fronts. The bill provides immediate, direct relief for hardworking americans starting next month. It lowers tax rates for americans in every income bracket. It nearly doubles the standard deduction, simplifying the code and meaning that fewer people will have to itemize. Across the country, it varies state by state, but there are less than a third of the people on average who itemize across the country today. Well, this will lessen that number even further. There will be fewer than 10 of the people in this country who will have to itemize because of the doubling or near doubling of the standard deduction. The doubling of the Child Tax Credit and significantly increases the refundable portion of the credit will provide important additional help for lowincome families, and it maintains the earned income tax credit. All this means, mr. President , that American Families are going to see a significant drop in their tax bills for next year. And just as a case in point, a family in this country, a family of four with a combined annual income of 73,000 per year will see a tax cut of over 2,000. That represents a 58 reduction over what they are paying today under current law. If you are a single parent with one child, an income of 41,000, you are going to see a 1,300 reduction in your taxes, which represents a 73 reduction over what you are paying today under current law. So the idea as has been advanced by the other side, mr. President , somehow middleclass taxpayers dont benefit from this, is just absolutely false. It is inaccurate, because these are objective facts, a doubling of the standard deduction, a doubling of the Child Tax Credit, a doubling of rates means that people in all income groups are going to see significant tax relief. And just to put a fine point on that, this is based on the latest analysis by the joint committee on taxation. They assess and look at how these proposals will translate in terms of income groups and who gets impacted by that. I want to point out that if you look at income by level here, different groups and their incomes, as you can see, every income Group Receives a significant tax cut. And, in fact, lower income americans receive the largest tax cuts, and that again, according, mr. President , to the joint committee on taxation. The point that was made earlier by my colleague from the other side was that somehow, you know, that this was going to be a huge tax shift in terms of who is going to pay taxes after all this is said and done. Well, if you look at the tax burden and by that, i mean who pays taxes in this country. The share of taxes currently borne by each different income category. As you can see from this chart and this is broken down, this is about by quadrant. 25 of the filers are in this category, 25 in this category, 25 in the 50,000 to 100,000 in income, and the final 25 , the final quadrant is those making 100,000 and above. Well, if you look at those in the lower income categories, and this according to the joint committee on taxation, their share of the tax burden relative to what it is today is actually the same or lower. So those lower income categories, those making 20,000 to 50,000 a year, and that represents about 25 of filers today paid 4. 3 of total taxes in this country. After implementation of the bill, they will pay 4. 1 of total taxes in this country. Their overall tax burden will have decreased after passage of this legislation. You take the next category, the 50,000 to 100,000, and they pay today under current law 16. 9 of the total tax burden in this country. After this legislation has passed, they will be paying 16. 9 of the total tax burden in this country. So what about those making 100,000 a year and more, which represents about 25 of all filers . Well, mr. President , according to the joint committee on taxation on which these distribution tables are based, those in that income category who are paying today 78. 7 of all the taxes in this country after this has passed will pay 79. 1 . So their overall tax burden actually goes up after this legislation is passed and enacted into law. Now, interestingly enough, mr. President , this is the most recent analysis by the joint committee on taxation. This is the distribution table that they just put out. The category that has the biggest increase in terms of overall tax burden is those making a Million Dollars a year and more. Today they pay 19. 3 of all the tax burden, all the Tax Liability in this country. After this is all said and done, they will pay 19. 8 . So their taxes, those a million and more, are going up under this legislation. So this idea you know, they keep saying it on the other side, but just because they keep saying it, mr. President , doesnt make it true. The facts tell a completely different story. These are the facts. And again, i come back to the point i made earlier, and that is lets put it into language that people in this country understand. When they go do their taxes, they are going to see a doubling of the standard deduction. They are going to see a doubling of the Child Tax Credit. If youre a family with kids in this country, that means for every child that you have, instead of getting a 1,000 Child Tax Credit, you will get a 2,000 Child Tax Credit. Couple that with the lower rates and the rates are going to be, the marginal rates with the 10 rate, a 12 rate and where those kick in at different brackets, youre going to see significant reduction in your taxes across all income groups. Thats just the reality. And so i think its important, mr. President , that we at least as were talking about this subject talk about it in terms of the facts. Now, the tax cuts and jobs act also preserves elements of the current tax code that have been working for americans. Under this bill, homeowners and those aspiring to own a home will still be able to deduct their mortgage interest if they itemize on their taxes. Individuals who donate to charities, to churches, and educational institutions will still be able to claim those contributions as an itemized deduction. And working americans will retain all the current options for saving for retirement, from individual retirement accounts to the various types of employerprovided Retirement Plans like 401 k s. This bill also provides families with permanent relief from the burdensome individual mandate which is a tax on lower income americans. Under the tax cuts and jobs act, americans will no longer be required to buy Health Insurance that they dont want and cant afford or face significant financial penalties which today disproportionately fall on those who make less than 50,000 a year. Mr. President , this bill also restores the deduction for Major Medical expenses to where it was before obamacare. For this year and next, americans facing the burden of significant medical expenses will once again be able to deduct any expenses that exceed 7. 5 of their adjusted gross income. I hope that, mr. President , eventually well able to make that change permanent. But thats not all this is going to do. Its not just going to help americans now. Its going to help them for the long term. Its going to give them access to the kinds of jobs and wages and opportunities that will set them up for a secure future. How does it go about doing that . Well, it rebuilds our broken tax code into a modern tax system designed for a 21st century economy. In order for individual americans to thrive, american businesses need to thrive. Thriving businesses expand. They hire new workers. They can afford to offer those workers higher wages, but our current tax code has not been helping businesses thrive. On the contrary, mr. President. Its been strangling businesses large and small with high tax rates and provisions that discourage growth and drive those goodpaying jobs overseas. Plus, our outdated tax structure has left american businesses at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy. Well, this legislation changes all that. This bill lowers tax rates across the board for small and medium size businesses, farms and ranches. It provides a 20 deduction on passthrough income reducing the top effective tax rate on this income to no more than 29. 6 . It permits businesses with gross receipts of up to 25 million to use the cash method of accounting and to expense their inventory costs. It allows businesses to expense new investments and machinery, equipment, and building improvements. And it expands the amount of startup and organizational expenses that new businesses can write off upfront freeing up cash flow to get the business up and running. Mr. President , accelerating businesses ability to recover the money that they invested if things like property, equipment, and inventory will encourage new Business Growth and help existing businesses, including farms and ranches, expand their operations, create new jobs, and grow the economy. The bill also helps familyowned business, farms and ranches by providing substantial relief from the death tax. Now, i would have preferred to eliminate what i think is a confiscatory tax once and for all. But in this legislation, we double the current exemption to over a Million Dollars and by doing that, this bill will take a vast majority of familyowned businesses, farms and ranches out of the taxes crosshairs. Too many of these businesses have wasted tens of thousands of dollars a year on costly Estate Planning simply to avoid the death tax and to preserve that Family Business for another generation. Thats money that these individuals would rather be investing in their businesses and their workers. Mr. President , this legislation allows these businesses to save critical capital for their businesses instead of forcing them to spend it to pocket themselves from the heavy hand of government. In addition to improving the Playing Field for small businesses, the tax cuts and jobs act will boost our economy by lowering the tax rate for larger businesses. Right now americas global businesses pay the highest Corporate Tax rate in the industrialized world. By reducing the Corporate Tax rate to 21 , this bill will allow american businesses to compete and win in the global economy. And just as importantly, this bill brings the u. S. International tax system into the 21st century by replacing our outdated, worldwide tax system with a territorial tax system so that american businesses are not operating at a disadvantage next to their foreign competitors. We havent talked a lot about this, but one of the most important reforms, mr. President , in this bill or the changes that we make to the International Tax system. This bill also eliminates the incentives in our tax code that encourages businesses to shift jobs, profits and manufacturing plants overseas. Mr. President , this bill makes it easier for american businesses to bring home foreign earners to invest in growing jobs and paychecks in our local communities here in america. Lowering the Corporate Tax rate and transitioning to a territorial tax system will boost wages, job, and opportunities for American Workers employed by our nations global economies and also increase wages, jobs, and opportunities for workers at the countless small and medium size businesses throughout our country that make up the supply chain for americas global companies. Mr. President , thats a resounding win for American Workers and businesses and for our economy overall. This bill is the product, as i said earlier, of literally years of work by members of both parties. Im excited to be here. As we get an opportunity to take this bill across the finish line later today. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. Daines mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from montana. Mr. Daines mr. President , the tax cuts and jobs act will keep over 700 million per year in montanans pockets. Now, thats not a number that i calculated. That came right from the Montana Department of revenue. And that is just for the individuals in montana. 700 million is going to be moved from washington, d. C. Back to the people of montana. And i can tell you something. Hardworking montanans could use a pay raise. In fact in montana, we have some of the Lowest Per Capita wainls in the nation wages in the nation. Now, contrast that with whats going on in washington, d. C. In fact, if you google wealthiest counties in the u. S. A. , i challenge you to do that. Take your smartphone, google wealthiest counties in the u. S. A. Look at what youll find. The top three wealthiest counties in america are suburbs of washington, d. C. In fact, six out of ten of those counties are suburbs, counties adjacent to washington, d. C. Montanans dont need to send an additional 700 million of their money back to washington, d. C. In fact, according to the Montana Department of revenue, nearly 99 of montanans will see a tax cut under the tax cuts and jobs act. On average montanans will keep approximately 1,600 of their hard earned money each year. More qoafer the tax cut moreover the tax cuts and jobs act repeals once and for all obamas poverty tax, the socalled individual mandate. This tax has systematically penalized the low income for not being able to afford Health Insurance. Frankly, repealing this tax is one of the most compassionate things that we could do as part of this legislation. Now, adding insult to injury, when you peel back whats going on with this poverty tax. 42 of those paying that poverty tax, that Obamacare Mandate tax, make less than 25,000 a year. In fact, 82 of the penalty payers paying this tax make less than 50,000 a year. Repealing this tax is the right thing to do. And at the end of the day the question here is pretty simple. Who deserves more money, who deserves more control . Is it right here in washington, d. C. Or is it the American People . Is it the people of montana . I think the answer to that question is pretty easy. I believe montanans do. So i will be voting for hardworking montana families so they can keep more of their own money. As we debate what we should do with the cash here in washington, d. C. , whose money is it anyway . It came from the people of this country. It came from the people of montana. Ill be voting for montana main street businesses, for the hardworking middle class in montana so we can grow wages, some of the lowest in the nation, and grow jobs. Ill be voting to return some of montanans hard earned money back to the people that sent us here in the first place. Mr. President , i yield back my
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