00:00All right. Good afternoon. Today, the Ways and Means Committee will mark up legislation
00:12making permanent the 2017 tax cuts and build on its success by delivering more pro-growth
00:20tax relief for hardworking American families, small businesses, and farmers. This bill will
00:27also deliver on the President's campaign promises of no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and
00:35tax relief for seniors. For over two years now, the Ways and Means Committee has been
00:41preparing for this moment. We've been traveling the country. In fact, we've had more than 120
00:50different meetings in 20-plus different states listening to real Americans. Whether they're
01:01working moms, small business owners, or farmers, they all proclaimed how valuable the original
01:092017 Trump tax cuts were and are. That is exactly why the American people voted in November to
01:19bring back the Trump economy because they remember the historic success of President Trump's first
01:25term. Families had more breathing room. Small businesses, they grew. And America's economy
01:34took off. Under Joe Biden and total Democrat control in Washington, we saw the complete opposite.
01:43And interest rates exploded while Democrats ran through more than $10 trillion, $10 trillion of reckless
01:53spending. I come from a very small rural community in southern Missouri. My family, my friends, and neighbors are salt of the earth people who I've never met work harder than them.
02:12I grew up a family of four for most of my life in a single wide trailer. That is why my priority has been to deliver for the working class and working families. And that is in fact what this bill will do. It is great to have a president in the White House that is advocating for those forgotten Americans and delivering policies that greatly, greatly benefit
02:41benefit their lives. Our economy thrives when our workers thrive. Behind every factory, every storefront, and every delivery truck is an American family that's counting on that very job. The legislation that we're marking up today contains four key achievements.
03:05One, it makes permanent the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act. Two, it delivers additional tax relief for workers, families, farmers, and small businesses who have struggled over the last four years of the Biden economy. It will deliver on no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and tax relief for seniors. It rewards workers and business
03:35businesses who invest and grow right here in the United States who invest and grow right here in the United States. And lastly, it holds elite institutions accountable and ends tax giveaways to China and illegal immigrants. The American people that this bill was crafted for may not have an army of DC lobbyists to defend them.
04:05The American people that we're here to fight for the American people that we're here to fight for the working men and women who built this country. Failure is not an option through this process. America first is what President Trump promised, and that's what this committee will deliver in the one big, beautiful bill. Happy to take a couple questions.
04:25Lydia? The bill was scored 3.7, 3.8. Does that additional money, which is lower than expected, go towards salary?
04:35So, it scores at over 3.9 right now. I believe it's 3.92 is the most recent score, right under the $4 trillion. Originally, the House instruction was $4.5 trillion. It goes to $4 trillion. So, there's a little bit of wiggle room there to try to deliver additional priorities, but it's very simple.
04:53Wiggle room within that instruction. But we'll get it done.
04:58Mr. Chair, Mr. Chair. Yes.
05:00On the sole tax, I mean, there are six Republicans right now who say that they will oppose this bill if the cap doesn't go higher. Are there negotiations underway to try and find a way to raise the cap a little bit more to make those six on board?
05:12This is the House Republican Conference. The Speaker is negotiating every day on numerous policies. The issue is,
05:21the issue is, is that if we don't deliver on this, every single American, 207 million taxpayers will face a 22% tax increase. So, failure is not an option. There's going to be bumps along the road throughout this process, but we're going to get it done. And we're going to get agreement. And the Speaker is in the middle of all kinds of negotiations.
05:44Mr. Chair, Mr. Chair, Mr. Chair over here. Just in terms of this package, it doesn't appear to include an increase in the tax rate for high earners. You're bumping it up to 39.6%. It also doesn't close the hearing interest loophole. You were at the White House Friday. Is this something the President urged you to do? And if so, why did it include it in this package?
06:05So, first off, the tax package that's before us makes permanent current tax rates. All the current tax rates are being made permanent. They're not being changed whatsoever. That is a priority, in fact, of the President's, is to make permanency of all the expiring provisions of the Trump tax cuts.
06:24If you look at our bill, we're delivering on the President's priorities. I sat with him on Friday, and I went line by line of the different items in this bill. And he was very happy with what we're delivering, because it's delivering for working families, small businesses, and farmers. That is what this bill is all about. Look at the provisions of the increased tax relief for small businesses. Look at the increased child tax credit that goes from $2,000 to $2,500.
06:54There's numerous different provisions it's delivering for working families, small businesses, and farmers. The standard deduction, which 97% of my constituents use to file their taxes, and 91% of all Americans use, we increase that. So it makes a flatter, fairer tax code. And so the President's very excited about that. That's why yesterday, even his Truth Social post, he said, follow behind your respected chairman. And I was appreciative that he put my name.
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