Understand why were upset. You cant understand when department of Revenue Services in the state of connecticut where not 6 , but 41 of the people, 41 make those deductions, so what youve asked the state of connecticut to do is what mr. Zelden your colleague described of new york and the same thing is happening in massachusetts and new jersey and in maryland and in california and oregon and washington state, coincidence dental but having said that what youre doing to them is asking this regional shift of money, youre asking them to pay more. Its double taxation and and youre taxing the success of professionals because theyve been successful in what theyve done, and youre doing it without a single expert or public hearing. Thats what were mad about. We started out what we thought was on the same page, with everybody saying that question, we certainly would like to see lower individual rates and lower Corporate Tax rates. And yes, we thought that it would be a good idea also that if they were both revenue neutral as they were in 86 and as mr. Neil has pointed out that they be distributionly neutral as well. We also thought it was a great idea to simplify the tax code but this neither simplifies it, nor is it revenue neutral, nor distributionly neutral. Id like to submit for the record, the gentleman from connecticut, mr. Peter gross who talks about the impact on just an Engineering Firm and what it does because theres always winners and losers and when theres no expert testimony, and when you just jam this down because you want to political win, not a win for the American People, but a win for the republican conference, congratulations, youll probably get that win for your conference but at the expense of many, Many American people. And its so disturbing to us on this side that not only and i quote mr. Brady here, when he was on morning joe, talking about when questionried about h this will possibly make up this money, you said, well, youre right about that. You make a good point. Were not going to see this growth. This is just phase one. The next phase is were going to make these cuts. What are those cuts . Those cuts come in the way of chain cpi. And what are they aimed at, theyre aimed at Social Security and medicare. So for all of you out there, you understand why theres no expert testimony because you know what that will do to you. Theyre out to cut not entitlements because Social Security isnt an entitlement, its the insurance that all of you have paid for, so is medicare, the fica, the federal insurance contribution act. Whose contribution . Yours. What are they out to cut . Your benefits. I yield back. Mr. Renee, strike the last word. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Wow, im sitting here thinking if the American People are watching this today, theyre wondering whats going on here because you know who the real losers are is the American People because were taking their money and were using it improperly and this bill actually starts to fix it and give it back to them. So when you shake your heads, yes, you had to let me finish the sentence. Thats the problem. The American People are sitting there saying, im working every day and i dont have enough money to pay my bills and i end up paying these taxes and they go to washington, and, by the way, you know who put those books together, not some lawyer. You guys did the ways and Means Committee did. If you were here back when these laws were being passed. Everybody on this committee as laws are being passed and tax laws are being passed you built this section of law and were trying to fix this section of laws by bringing it down to a simpler tax system. Dont blame somebody for putting those books together. Blame the committee for putting those books together. Yes, the committee. Thats who put all those laws together. But lets talk about what we keep you guys keep talking about stuff and i really dont get it. These are itemized deductions. The casualty loss. Thats an itemized deduction. Do you realize how that works . Somebody has a loss, if they have insurance, it pays for as much as of the loss as it can and whats leftover, theres a an amount 1 of adjusted gross income and then it becomes itemized. These arent actual losses. Mr. Bart hold, youve already said when weve doubled the standard deduction, i realize there are some districts, like connecticut has a unique situation, but on average how many people when you double the standard deduction will itemize . Mr. Renee said, it was the combination of doubled standard deduction and the itemized deductions that are still permitted under hr 1 and that was 6 . So well have 6 of the people and you also said the majority of those people are primarily the wealthier people. Top half of the income distribution. So again, this bill is once we do what this bill does, we are effecting people who are not able to itemize before, were not able to get the opportunity, not able to get this credit and now theyll get an opportunity to save taxes and that includes state and local income taxes, casualty losses, interest on home mortgages, that includes all this stuff, so if were going to keep talking about this, can we at least can we at least make sure were talking about its 6 except for some unique situations. Its 6 of the American People who are probably the more wealthier americans. Thats the key here. It is frustrating. And again, people back home have to be looking at this and saying, can i get a break . Im barely making ends meet. Can i get a little break here . Im paying too much tax. Its being wasted in washington. It is clearly being wasted. And how do i get how do i get some help and thats what this bill does. We can keep talking about all the wealthy people that you guys want to talk about who are going to itemize, thats 6 . In the end i think what we need to Start Talking about is that hard working american taxpayer and making sure that they are getting a little bit more take home pay so they can make ends meet and save a little bit of money. And i too, i think my friend mr. Pass cell said, he represents i represent firefighters, i represent Police Officers, i represent all those same people. I represent all those same people who will get a tax break and want the tax break and i think thats important. 94 of these people, 94 will not be itemizing on the average and we got to start thinking about those firefighters, those Police Officers who now will have an opportunity to bring some more tax money home. I thank you and i yield back. Thank you. Youre recognized to strike the last word. Its fun watching the opening bid of a process. My friends have been backing away from their proposal as soon as they first floated the framework and now that were finding other things, we wont know probably till it hits the floor but as a practical matter, what is clear is that they are focusing benefits on those who need it the least in this country. Very large corporations, very wealthy individuals, Hedge Fund Managers and athletes and professionals that are going to pretend to be Small Businesses and be able to exploit a new loophole. What is clear is that they have our friends in the republican side have established a up to a trillion and a half extra debt that well be taking on. In fact, its higher than that because as several of my colleagues have pointed out, you pay interest on that debt. So the 1. 4, 1. 5 is going to be over 2 trillion. If theres 1 increase in the historically low Interest Rates that we are facing, thats going to add another trillion and a half. I remember many of my friends on the committee used to be upset about deficits and were wiring in a very significant debt load. Now, there is an additional fact that concerns me is that if you really wanted to help low and moderate and middle income people, we couldve worked together to be able to fashion things that would do that. We have republicans in the senate who are willing to expand the earned income tax credit and make it refundable, to deal with the 35 of the people youre proposal leaves out all together, the poorest americans and we can further reward work. This was a proposal that came in the reagan administration. Its not partisan. If you wanted to work with us in the grand tradition of this committee and im wearing my ways and Means Committee bow tie that i created thanks, chairman brady, took a lot of time and energy but i found a way to cut it down and turn it into a bow tie, we couldve done that. Theres some interesting proposals here dealing with what happens to the mortgage Interest Deduction. You acknowledge that the benefit is focused on some people who need it the least. We could have crafted something that would be acceptable to the Home Builders and to the realtors and help americans who are struggling to deal with housing. Its not the most wealthy but you chose not to do that. Youre breaking a commitment with the Wind Energy Industry that a number of us Work Together on a bipartisan basis to have a five year phaseout and, by the way, there are more jobs in wind energy than in coal and petroleum, good family wage jobs made in america industry and the industry stepped forward with some 50 billion because congress, this committee included, worked out a compromise. And i think its the only provision that youve included that is retroactive. Why couldnt we have had a hearing to find out what thats going to do to the wind energy in texas . In the upper midwest . But no, youre going to pull the plug on it. Mr. Kelly and i have been working on private activity bonds. Pretty easy way to invest in infrastructure, gone. Did we have a hearing on why they should be sacrificed so you can concentrate benefit for those who need it the least . I dont recall anything like that. And it goes on and on. A number of you are from states that have stepped up and raised the gas tax. In south carolina, it was passed over the governors veto, over half the states. If youd had a couple of weeks hearing, we could put together a Broad Coalition of people who are going to come in and invest in american jobs, rebuild and renew america, raise my taxes the Trucking Industry will say. Engineers, contractors, unions. We couldve done this and bring people together rather than divide them and add to the deficit. But we havent had those hearings. Instead, we come in, we get something dropped on us that will continue to change until its oent floor of the house and its going to be changed again in the senate because a number of these things are absolutely nonstarters and sadly it didnt have to be this way if we remember the traditions of this committee and what happened with the last time this happened on a bipartisan basis with president reagan. I find it unfortunate. Thank you. Ms. Will lar ski, youre recognized to strike the last word. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I for one am excited to be here today. I waited 11 months that ive been on this committee to be here today to deliver tax cuts to a simpler and fairer tax code to American Families. We all know that the tax codes broken. The American People know it. Theyre reminded every day they look at their paychecks. Im excited that were taking action to actually help hard working families, farmers, manufacturers and workers in indianas secretary district. This day has been years in the making. Scores of hearing and bipartisan working groups have led us here for families, were delivering tax cuts and tax codes so simple you can file it on a postcard. Were enhancing the child tax credit, encouraging them to save for retirement, streamlining 15 different educational tax incentives so a family doesnt have to dig through 90 pages of irs legalese to figure out what works and what doesnt. Were doubling the standard deduction to simplify the tax code to allow hard working hooziers to keep more of their money. So for the vast majority of people in my district, they can keep the standard deduction and they can keep even more of their own money. Many of the remaining 20 who itemize will now be able to save time, money and stress by taking the standard deduction instead. Ive been traveling, my district, for 11 months with this postcard and while none of my constituents are excited about filing their taxes, theyre excited for a simpler, quicker process that makes it more painfree. Hr 1 also helps the manufacturers and farmers in my districts. These vital Small Businesses get a lower rate of 25 , Family Businesses passed down for generations wont have to worry about the estate tax. Were repealing it. Finally, this bill makes america a far more competitive country against our foreign competitors. This tax code discourages companies from actually bringing back money to invest here. It diskurjz company from locating facilities here. No more. Hr 1 lowers the corporate rate for among the highest in the world making it more attractive for companies to make new investments here or to kbroe the ones they already have. It ends the lockout effect. The incentivize u. S. Companies to keep profits abroad rather than bring them back here to reinvest or raise wages. Mr. Chairman, there is a lot to like in this bill. I know we have a long week ahead but im excited to work with you and my colleagues here today as we deliver tax reform that allows all ships to rise. Actual and i yield back. Thank you, youre recognized to strike the last word. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I do strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, i think what youre hearing today in this discussion so far is a whole lot of release of pentup frustration about the process that brought us to this point. Its really unfortunate because it didnt have to be this way. I think there is great consensus here in congress and throughout the country that 31 years to take a serious run at the tax code is too long and we have to try. There was bipartisan agreement with the overlying concepts of trying to simplify, simplify, simplify the code to make it more competitive in light of what the rest of the world is done and make it more fairer for my working families back home in wisconsin, my Small Businesses, my family farmers. What we were hoping we wouldnt see say redo of more trickle down economics that have failed in the past, tax cuts at the top for the most wealthy and multinationals expecting that to lift everyone else out. Weve been down this road before. What really is troubling about this is that, in order to develop consensus this committees got to do the homework. Weve got to do the hard work and that is having proper hearings, having proper discussions across the aisle, proper vetting, listening to the people back home. Unfortunately, too many of my republican colleagues have chosen not even to have town hall listening sessions any more. When instead what we ought to be doing is running towards the criticism. Finding out what people are concerned about with this legislation and quite frankly, other things that congress is or isnt doing and run to that criticism to find out what were getting wrong and to learn from it and to adopt those principles into the underlying bill that we have before us. None of that work has taken place. We have been completely shut out from this process and it didnt have to be this way. I mean, our bipartisan muscles have atrophied to such a state that we are a pathetic shell of what this committee and what this congress should be looking like with the American People. Its all behind closed doors. Dark of night legislation, top down, directing everyone else to fall in line with their respective parties and instead the great loser in this is the American People who should be out front of us testifying, raising some alarms or telling us you may want to think about this or the unintended consequence about that, but we had none of that leading up to today and now were just flying in the dark, hoping that theres a safe landing zone out there. And weve been down this road before. 1981, reagan tax cuts, the trickle down, that was expecting to lift all boats. In fact, it didnt materialize. Theres very little Economic Data that shows that under your plan youll get the type of growth that we need. But whats different this time and ive asked the staff to put up the chart to help me illustrate this point. Is that from 81 to 2001 to 2003 where we are today, weve run out of time. We dont have the luxury of making a huge fiscal mistake and having time enough to recover before we have 70 million baby boomers who are beginning to start their Massive Retirement, 10,000 a day entering Social Security and medicare. We make that fiscal mistake today and theres no time to recover. 81 our debt to gdp ratio was 31 with the reagan tax cut. That was followed, by the way, with nine subsequent tax increases under president reagan because of the exploding budge jed deficits and the 01 bush tax cuts, and then followed with the 2003 tax cuts to 57. 5 , debt to gdp, were at 103 , mr. Chairman. The clock is run out on us and we cant take this gamble. A massing a bill expecting for some mythical Economic Growth thats going to somehow bail us out from the 1. 5 trillion of unfunded tax cuts that was in your own budget resolution, none of it paid for, you add the interest on that debt, you add the expiring tax provisions that are gimmicks in this tax proposal because we know future congresses are going to be hard pressed not to extend those out and youre talking 2. 3, 2. 4 trillion of Additional Debt over the next ten years, just when the demographic time bomb is going off in this country, with no chance to recover. And what will be in jeopardy will be the longterm solvency and security of Social Security medicare. That will be next. Under your own budget resolution you called for 1. 5 trillion worth of cu